Substrate dries out

[Netsirk203]

Hello, we've had our 5 hermit crabs for about 3 years now. My husband used to strictly care for them but recently I've taken over. They are currently in a regular aquarium with a glass/plastic lid. The glass lid only partially covered the tank so we added some thick plastic with holes in it to keep humidity and temp up but it still wouldn't hold enough humididity. So the tank is now completely covered and stays around 80 degrees and 80% humidity. I have two questions. 1. I've read that there needs to be some airflow in the tank which doesn't happen when then tank is completely enclosed. Is this true? Why is it needed?. Any suggestions on what I should do? 2. The substrate seems to dry out even when the humidity stays up. The top layer starts drying out (going to try to post a pic so you can see what I mean). I used to spray it a few times a week but now that we have the lid enclosed I think the humidity would get too high if I continuously sprayed. Any thoughts/suggestions in this?

[curlysister]

Crabs will get enough air flow when you open and close the lid to change food and water. Some people do leave a bit of a vent, but many seal it up completely with no problems.

What are you using for substrate (ie - type and ratios)? How deep is it? When you say the 'top layer', how far down is dry?

[musicalhermies]

Do you use a heat lamp? They can dry out the top later of substrate. I’ve found the UTH. attached to the side of the tank (and controlled with them or stats, very important for safety) do better at not drying everything out.


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[HermitofHermitCrabs]

As I have said countless times bubbler pools are the best solution for consistent humidity. I have 2 large pools in my 125 and the humidity is usually between 85-95% constantly.