SpongeBob went down for a molt sometime in early June and he never came back up. After over a month I got worried but followed the adage "don't dig unless you smell something." In the meantime the other 2 grew and the crabitat was starting to get crowded. Also, the substrate was beginning to look a little shallow for their new sizes.
So, I bought some new shells in July and figured, once they change shells again, I'll expand their crabitat and probably find what happened to SpongeBob. Well, sometime last week both crabs jumped into new shells, and then over the weekend SpongeBob re-appeared from almost a 3 month molt!
Time to build!
So I kept our current 29gal aquarium and bought a Zilla Front-Opening Terrarium to use as a topper. This way I can fill the original aquarium with more substrate for their bigger sizes, but still give the Hermies room to roam.
The top of the Terrarium has 3 sections that have removable screens for feeding lizards and whatnot. Once upside down, these would become the 2nd level floor.
I removed the screen lids and cut a piece of plexiglass to make a base that covers 1/3 of the screen openings. I covered it with a stick-on cork matting for a softer surface. If/when I have more time, I'll figure out how to make a little Lip in order to put some substrate down. Right now, though, any sand or dirt will most likely get thrown off the ledge.
I left the other side open so I can have access to the lower substrate and 2 x 1/2gal water pools.
I used some of the old decor in the upper tank to house the Shell Shelf, coconut huts, iguana net and hamster wheel.
I wrapped roping around a screen door crossmember to create a bridge that I attached all of the ladders and netting to.
To secure the topper I used window foam tape that I notched out to run pool bubbler tubing and thermometer wiring. Then I used black Gorilla Tape to seal and secure the topper to the base.
I ran the fogger tube to the Terrarium Vent strip and cut out a few of the vent grates to stuff the tube thru then Gorilla Tapped the rest of the vent so the humidity would stay in.
So far the little guys have been making their way all around the tank. Hopefully they'll be a bit more active now that they have more room.
In the future I plan to add decorative wall backings with chola wood and such so they have a more natural environment and things to crawl on.
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