Crabitat Heating

Huntley15 · Post by **Huntley15** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 11:55 am

My crabitat for my pp's generally stays a little above 70 degrees F and I have a 4 watt heating mat on the back of the terrarium.
Should I buy a stronger heating mat?

hermitcrabdc · Post by **hermitcrabdc** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 12:03 pm

I would say yes. 70 is a little low, even for PPs. I would also worry as it gets into the Fall and Winter months that the temp would drop lower. I think it would benefit the crabs if you bought a stronger mat

Huntley15 · Post by **Huntley15** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 12:26 pm

Thank you!
Any suggestions on what kind?

hermitcrabdc · Post by **hermitcrabdc** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 12:32 pm

The brand Ultratherm is a great brand. Their mats are sold only online at Reptile basics, Amazon, and Bean farm (I've been told Reptile basics has the cheapest shipping) They usually heat the best when they are insulated with Styrofoam, card board and/or aluminum foil.
When you choose the size mat make sure it will cover the back of the tank from the top of the sub to the rim of the lid

Huntley15 · Post by **Huntley15** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 12:52 pm

Ok, thank you so much!

Huntley15 · Post by **Huntley15** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 1:02 pm

I also have a climbing material on the back wall of the tank. Could that be affecting the ability of the mat?

meg_and_the_zoo · Post by **meg_and_the_zoo** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 1:54 pm

Depends on the type of climbing background I'd think. What is it made of?

Zoo mom of 3 cats, a dog, a fish and 3 (for now) crabs

Huntley15 · Post by **Huntley15** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 2:59 pm

Its like a thin fiberous material.

soilentgringa · Post by **soilentgringa** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 3:15 pm

Yes, if you have coconut fiber against the wall with the heater, it can block heat from warming the tank.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

Huntley15 · Post by **Huntley15** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 8:45 pm

Ok, thanks guys!

meg_and_the_zoo · Post by **meg_and_the_zoo** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 9:04 pm

Huntley I'm going to tag onto your thread if that's ok

I've got my temp at 78-80 but I'd like to see it at 80-82 and consistent. Right now I have an Ultratherm that covers the full tank back and it's insulated with foil & foam board and taped up to within an inch of its life to prevent any heat loss. I think my issue may be my "lid". Right now it's just a piece of plexiglass like material cut to size and I'm curious if glass would insulate better? I've been thinking about lights for better viewing but not sure what kind of lid/hood to use and if I need lights that heat or if a glass lid w/ lights for visual only would/should get me where I want to be. I'd also like to reincorporate a mesh lid of some sort to let them climb but not sure how that goes with lights and hoods.

Zoo mom of 3 cats, a dog, a fish and 4 crabs (Balla, Spot, Twitch & Big Shug)

Huntley15 · Post by **Huntley15** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 10:36 am

Thanks for tag in along, I just got a new Zoo Med heating mat and the temp. still reads only a little over 70 degrees F.

So before i move the mat to the side I was wondering if I need to get a new thermometer/hydrometer from Walmart maybe ? I currently have one that I bought at Pet smart but i'm not sure if its accurate.

Arlo-Duck-Tony · Post by **Arlo-Duck-Tony** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 8:31 pm

Could someone recommend an UTH size (watts or inches) for a 10-gallon tank with 6" of substrate? Room temp in winter will vary 65 - 70F, and heat would be taped to wall of tank above substrate.

Thanks!

fantasybookworm · Post by **fantasybookworm** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 9:10 pm

I know a couple of these are from a few days ago, but better late than never, right? Just my comments on the different situations...

meg_and_the_zoo wrote:Huntley I'm going to tag onto your thread if that's ok

I've got my temp at 78-80 but I'd like to see it at 80-82 and consistent. Right now I have an Ultratherm that covers the full tank back and it's insulated with foil & foam board and taped up to within an inch of its life to prevent any heat loss. I think my issue may be my "lid". Right now it's just a piece of plexiglass like material cut to size and I'm curious if glass would insulate better? I've been thinking about lights for better viewing but not sure what kind of lid/hood to use and if I need lights that heat or if a glass lid w/ lights for visual only would/should get me where I want to be. I'd also like to reincorporate a mesh lid of some sort to let them climb but not sure how that goes with lights and hoods.

Personally, I'd go with a mesh lid, cover it with tin foil or plastic wrap (to hold in humidity & heat) with a window or two for ventilation, and put a quilt or blanket over it to insulate it a little better. It's what I'm currently doing & it's working pretty well, even in the very cold room I'm staying in with my crabbies. For the light, I have an under cabinet light and just have it set light-down on top of the mesh, I cut a window from the tin foil so the light goes in. It's working well enough for me right now until I can figure out a better set up down the road. I didn't want to get too fancy due to lack of money, and I'm hoping to add an Exo Terra topper onto my 40g in the next few months, so I was going for short-term, cheap solutions.

Huntley15 wrote:Thanks for tag in along, I just got a new Zoo Med heating mat and the temp. still reads only a little over 70 degrees F. So before i move the mat to the side I was wondering if I need to get a new thermometer/hydrometer from Walmart maybe ? I currently have one that I bought at Pet smart but i'm not sure if its accurate.

Have you already gotten a new thermometer or had the temp change at all? I've found that it takes quite a while for the heating mats to really get the temperature up to their top temp and I keep panicking early.

If you can, insulate the heating mat & see if that helps (not all can be safely insulated, check the instruction manual for it). How big is the heating mat? Do you still have the climbing material on the back of the tank?

Arlo-Duck-Tony wrote:Could someone recommend an UTH size (watts or inches) for a 10-gallon tank with 6" of substrate? Room temp in winter will vary 65 - 70F, and heat would be taped to wall of tank above substrate.

Thanks!

I could be off on the 10g measurements, but I think the 6x11" Ultratherm would probably fit fairly well - http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultratherm-heat-pads The room I'm in right now stays around 65F all the time, and I've had a lot of trouble keeping my tank warm enough because of it. My tank's bigger (40g), but I found a heating mat that covered the whole back wall of the tank above the substrate was not enough to heat the tank properly. I ended up sticking a second one on the front, which does go below the substrate quite a bit. You may have to do a bigger heating mat that covers more of the back wall of the tank for the winter if you find they're not staying warm enough. It's fine, you just have to watch the sub since it'll dry out faster. I've been misting my sub & mixing up the top 1" of sub next to that heater every other day to make sure it stays at the right consistency & so far so good.

Arlo-Duck-Tony · Post by **Arlo-Duck-Tony** » Sun Aug 02, 2015 9:50 pm

10-gal is 20"W x 10"D x 12"H, so with 6" of substrate, a 6" x 20" would cover back wall of tank above sub.

I'm thinking a good plan might be go with two 6" x 8" heaters, so I can run one or both to keep tank temperature in the happy range, with varying seasonal house temperatures. Thoughts?

HCA: Hermit Crab Association