Post by ryanshermies on Mar 1, 2014 13:37:13 GMT -5
This is a long one, but I feel compelled to share my story and maybe help some people who might find themselves having the same issues that I encountered as a new crab owner, so here goes:
I got my son a hermit crab on the Jersey shore at one of those boardwalk stores. I quickly started researching hermit crabs and proper care. I felt well equipped with the information I had. I gotmyself a 10 gallon tank, two Petco gauges; one for heat and onefor humidity, and two more hermit crabs. They are all “small” in the hermit crab world. Now we had two happy PPs and one E. (Ona side note, Es are awesome. Mine was much more active than my PPs; always climbing and out.) I used sand and coconut fiber as a sub and a water bottle for humidity. Did I forget to mention that I, the reluctant mother to even buy a hermit crab, absolutely fell in love with these fascinating little creatures!?
Humidity was a problem from day one. I read online that placing Saran wrap over the tank would help hold in humidity, so that’s what Idid. I also live in a climate where winter is very cold. I was stalking the gauges to be sure that they had proper heat and humidity (75/75). Well what a struggle!! Once October hit and with it getting colder and my house set at a constant 60-65, the temperature was a problem. And the only time my humidity seemed right was immediately after I sprayed the tank. A friend of mine gave me a red reptile light for warmth. Well, that didn’t work. It sucked the tank dry of all humidity within minutes, plus I had to remove the Saran wrap when using the heat lamp. I was at a loss. My crabs went down and buried.
In November I cleaned the tank and changed the sub. They hung around for a day or so and all buried again. I sprayed and sprayed my tank and my humidity was still no good and I used the light as often as I could. I left the crabs alone as I figured they were burying because (1) I readcrabs like to molt after a sub change or (2) they were staying under the sand to keep warm.
Fast forward to the end of Decemberand I had a tank that never had proper heat or humidity despitemy spraying the tank to the point that I had condensation bubbles on the Saran wrap that dripped like crazy. I knew I needed todo something to change this quickly and Googled like crazy. I didn’t find much help on the internet for solving my heat AND humidity problem. Until I came across what I consider to be one of the best hermit crab stores out there: www.hermitcrabpatch.com. I purchased Florida sand and their heat kit and some fooditems. The heat kit solved my problems – almost. I now had two heat lamps that didn’t suck out the humidity they way the previous one did and I now had an acrylic screen cover to hold in the humidity without worrying about Saran wrap.
I was so excited toset up the crabitat with my new stuff. So now it’s early January. I go to clean out the old tank and find two of my crabs dead and one still alive (as some of you may remember from my post onthe Emergencies board back then.) So I put my alive guy into the new sub and down he goes. AND my humidity still stinks!!! My gauge readings were consistent but low.
I waited almost a month and purchased two new crabs: Ginger and Lieutenant Dan.
I then proceeded to purchase a Tropic Aire humidifier and pump. This made zero change in my humidity. My own fault for not realizing itspurpose is to supply fresh clean air to the tank. So now I go to my local reptile shop and purchase a Zoo Med Reptifogger and Lowe’s to buy a timer. I set that up and let it go off for a halfan hour about three to four times a day. I was obsessed so played with that timer constantly to try to find the “right” spot that would give me proper humidity. Oh, and the crabs were gone: dead, buried, molting, I had no idea.
I was worried about my survivor from the beginning because he had been in the same conditions that killed the first two crabs. One day one of the crabs wasout and I thought it was my survivor, until I picked him up andlooked at him. He was missing a portion of his leg and when I placed him in my hand he started crawling backwards. It was Lieutenant Dan in my original crab’s shell! I was sure my survivor had died down there and Lieutenant Dan stole his shell.
Then I noticedpools of water appearing at the top of the sand. The last thing I wanted was to overhumidify AGAIN and the sand was soaked,despite my humidity gauge always telling me it was low. Time tochange the sub once more. Lucky for me I was smart enough to buy 2boxes of the Florida sand.
So as I am changing the soaking wet sand I find my two guys, Ginger and Lieutenant Dan, and put them into my original boardwalk crate for the time it took me to clean. Then as I got to the very last corner of the tank I foundpieces of legs, et cetera. Again, I’m sure this is my dead survivor. To my disbelief when I got to Lieutenant Dan’s old shell (remember, he changed shells), there was a very pink crab hangingalmost completely out of it. Now after all of my research I know not to disturb a molting crab. However instead I absolutely panicked not even realizing he was molting but instead thinking him for half dead. After movinghim from the sub I was cleaning and placing him in a separate spot from the other crabs, I realized what exactly was going on. I placed all the original sand around him that I took from the area he was in. Like a mad woman I quickly cleaned the tank and tried to place him back exactly where he was.
Now back to my original humidity issue that’s been causing all my problems. I went and purchased a ZooMed Hygrotherm (which monitors temp and humidity and turns on apparatuses when the readings get below what they’re set at). It was pricy (about $70) but my last resort. Let me just say I wish I had heard Sacha little louder when she said I should probably ditch the Petgogauge and purchase a better one. Since purchasing that my heat and humidity are FINALLY PERFECT!! And the Petco gauge is still in the tank just because I haven’t taken it out yet and still reading as though the humidity is too low; while my Hygrotherm is set at a beautiful 75%. I now have what looks like a science experiment tank with the TropicAire still running and the Hygrotherm running the Reptifogger and the heat lamps.
Two days ago my molter who I thought I had killed by disturbing during a molt was out eating worm casings andhas been out since. Ginger came out yesterday. As to Lieutenant Dan’s whereabouts I’m unsure but I’msure he’s safe down there in his perfect environment; maybe evenmolting himself a new leg.
I got my son a hermit crab on the Jersey shore at one of those boardwalk stores. I quickly started researching hermit crabs and proper care. I felt well equipped with the information I had. I gotmyself a 10 gallon tank, two Petco gauges; one for heat and onefor humidity, and two more hermit crabs. They are all “small” in the hermit crab world. Now we had two happy PPs and one E. (Ona side note, Es are awesome. Mine was much more active than my PPs; always climbing and out.) I used sand and coconut fiber as a sub and a water bottle for humidity. Did I forget to mention that I, the reluctant mother to even buy a hermit crab, absolutely fell in love with these fascinating little creatures!?
Humidity was a problem from day one. I read online that placing Saran wrap over the tank would help hold in humidity, so that’s what Idid. I also live in a climate where winter is very cold. I was stalking the gauges to be sure that they had proper heat and humidity (75/75). Well what a struggle!! Once October hit and with it getting colder and my house set at a constant 60-65, the temperature was a problem. And the only time my humidity seemed right was immediately after I sprayed the tank. A friend of mine gave me a red reptile light for warmth. Well, that didn’t work. It sucked the tank dry of all humidity within minutes, plus I had to remove the Saran wrap when using the heat lamp. I was at a loss. My crabs went down and buried.
In November I cleaned the tank and changed the sub. They hung around for a day or so and all buried again. I sprayed and sprayed my tank and my humidity was still no good and I used the light as often as I could. I left the crabs alone as I figured they were burying because (1) I readcrabs like to molt after a sub change or (2) they were staying under the sand to keep warm.
Fast forward to the end of Decemberand I had a tank that never had proper heat or humidity despitemy spraying the tank to the point that I had condensation bubbles on the Saran wrap that dripped like crazy. I knew I needed todo something to change this quickly and Googled like crazy. I didn’t find much help on the internet for solving my heat AND humidity problem. Until I came across what I consider to be one of the best hermit crab stores out there: www.hermitcrabpatch.com. I purchased Florida sand and their heat kit and some fooditems. The heat kit solved my problems – almost. I now had two heat lamps that didn’t suck out the humidity they way the previous one did and I now had an acrylic screen cover to hold in the humidity without worrying about Saran wrap.
I was so excited toset up the crabitat with my new stuff. So now it’s early January. I go to clean out the old tank and find two of my crabs dead and one still alive (as some of you may remember from my post onthe Emergencies board back then.) So I put my alive guy into the new sub and down he goes. AND my humidity still stinks!!! My gauge readings were consistent but low.
I waited almost a month and purchased two new crabs: Ginger and Lieutenant Dan.
I then proceeded to purchase a Tropic Aire humidifier and pump. This made zero change in my humidity. My own fault for not realizing itspurpose is to supply fresh clean air to the tank. So now I go to my local reptile shop and purchase a Zoo Med Reptifogger and Lowe’s to buy a timer. I set that up and let it go off for a halfan hour about three to four times a day. I was obsessed so played with that timer constantly to try to find the “right” spot that would give me proper humidity. Oh, and the crabs were gone: dead, buried, molting, I had no idea.
I was worried about my survivor from the beginning because he had been in the same conditions that killed the first two crabs. One day one of the crabs wasout and I thought it was my survivor, until I picked him up andlooked at him. He was missing a portion of his leg and when I placed him in my hand he started crawling backwards. It was Lieutenant Dan in my original crab’s shell! I was sure my survivor had died down there and Lieutenant Dan stole his shell.
Then I noticedpools of water appearing at the top of the sand. The last thing I wanted was to overhumidify AGAIN and the sand was soaked,despite my humidity gauge always telling me it was low. Time tochange the sub once more. Lucky for me I was smart enough to buy 2boxes of the Florida sand.
So as I am changing the soaking wet sand I find my two guys, Ginger and Lieutenant Dan, and put them into my original boardwalk crate for the time it took me to clean. Then as I got to the very last corner of the tank I foundpieces of legs, et cetera. Again, I’m sure this is my dead survivor. To my disbelief when I got to Lieutenant Dan’s old shell (remember, he changed shells), there was a very pink crab hangingalmost completely out of it. Now after all of my research I know not to disturb a molting crab. However instead I absolutely panicked not even realizing he was molting but instead thinking him for half dead. After movinghim from the sub I was cleaning and placing him in a separate spot from the other crabs, I realized what exactly was going on. I placed all the original sand around him that I took from the area he was in. Like a mad woman I quickly cleaned the tank and tried to place him back exactly where he was.
Now back to my original humidity issue that’s been causing all my problems. I went and purchased a ZooMed Hygrotherm (which monitors temp and humidity and turns on apparatuses when the readings get below what they’re set at). It was pricy (about $70) but my last resort. Let me just say I wish I had heard Sacha little louder when she said I should probably ditch the Petgogauge and purchase a better one. Since purchasing that my heat and humidity are FINALLY PERFECT!! And the Petco gauge is still in the tank just because I haven’t taken it out yet and still reading as though the humidity is too low; while my Hygrotherm is set at a beautiful 75%. I now have what looks like a science experiment tank with the TropicAire still running and the Hygrotherm running the Reptifogger and the heat lamps.
Two days ago my molter who I thought I had killed by disturbing during a molt was out eating worm casings andhas been out since. Ginger came out yesterday. As to Lieutenant Dan’s whereabouts I’m unsure but I’msure he’s safe down there in his perfect environment; maybe evenmolting himself a new leg.