HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi everyone,
I'm still relatively new to hermit crabs and recently read something about using saltwater for misting the tank to help prevent molding? I have had an issue with Eco-Earth molding in the past and was wondering if this was true, or even okay to do?

Looking forward to hearing peoples input
Thanks,

Hi! Welcome!
It isn't recommended to mist with salt water. This is because when the water evaporates, the salt stays.
What you can do is moisten the substrate using saltwater initially, then mist with fresh dechlorinated as needed. Too much salt can burn both you and the crabs! Ever eat salty chips or tacos and get that burn on your mouth? No? Probably just me then But in all seriousness, too much salt in the sub = no bueno for the crabs or your hands.

Thanks for the input.
We never moistened the eco-earth before putting it in. Could this have been the problem? and do you have any tips on doing it in the future?

You can mix your substrate with salt water, if you haven't already done that.

Jakoba wrote:Thanks for the input.
We never moistened the eco-earth before putting it in. Could this have been the problem? and do you have any tips on doing it in the future?

You'll want to have moist EE. Are you mixing with playsand? Regardless of if you're using it by itself or with sand, it needs to be moistened to a good tunneling consistency so your crabs can molt safely. If you don't have any crabs down at the moment, you can go ahead and moisten it.

I'm using straight EE. How much water do I mix with the EE? What consistency am I looking for?

Not sure. I mostly have sand, so I mix it with water until its sand castle consistency.

I don't use straight EE so I'm not sure how much it'll take. You want it to be sandcastle consistency - basically, it needs to hold its shape so when they tunnel and make caves, the substrate won't collapse on them. Just add a little water at a time and keep checking it.

In addition to the great advice given above, check out this article on substrate from the HCA's Caresheet section. Crabitat: Substrate & Moss


The Caresheet section can be found here. There's loads of information there on crabby care.

Cocofiber is an odd beast, and it's easy to make it too wet. What I do when mixing up new stuff is use hot water (away from my pets), and then seal the container for an hour or two so the water gets absorbed evenly. It takes a long time for the fibers to hydrate!

Okay, I've mixed the Eco Earth with some water, and left it for a few hours. It never seems to quite reach sandcastle consistency. I couldn't get it to hold it's shape so I tried adding more water but think I may have gone too far, it just sort of separates from the Eco Earth, and the Eco Earth stays crumbly without holding it's shape. I am going to leave it overnight and see if maybe it absorbs some of the water. I also wanted to mention because I don't think have yet and it might be of importance, I am using the loose Eco Earth, not the compressed.

Well, the compressed EE is usually left for a few hours to overnight to absorb moisture then it becomes moist loose EE, haha. I would just say to give it a few hours then check again. Sugarselections and a couple of other people only use straight EE with no issues. I don't remember if mine was ever moldable because we mixed the play sand in right away!

If you pick up a handful and squeeze it, does it hold shape? You don't want it dripping or soggy. I imagine, after soaking for a bit, if you wring it out some before putting it in the tank, it should be good. As long as it's not puddling or a sloshy mess.

The bagged stuff normally comes at the right level of moisture, but if the bag got torn or it sat for a while it may have dried out. Completely dried cocofiber can take a long time to fully hydrate. What I do for the bricks is actually stick them in an old cocofiber bag, stick it under the bathtub faucet for about 20 seconds with hot water, roll the top tight and leave it sit overnight out of the way. The next morning it ends up being perfect.

Thanks for the input everyone, I think I got it to the right moisture level now and have put it in their crabitat.

wodesorel - Thanks for the heads up. I'll leave the next stuff alone. After reading megamaholm's post I assumed that even the loose stuff would have to be moistened, a misunderstanding on my part.

I also wanted to apologize for my blatant ignorance when it comes to hermit crab care, normally I take the time to do research and join forums prior to taking on new animals but I got these guys on a bit of a whim when my younger cousin bought them and never took them home, not that I'm complaining, I've always been interested in hermit crabs and wondered what it would be like to own them

Thanks again everyone!