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[bigbooknut]

Hello everyone :::waves:::
My grandson, who we're raising, got a hermit crab from his other grandma about 6 months ago. She got it at a flea market on a trip to Florida. He came in a little plastic container with a plastic mesh lid. The man told her hermit crabs like to be alone and only needed about 2 inches of coconut fiber for the bottom, a coconut hut, containers for food, fresh water, special salt water which came in a bottle and pellet food. He said to feed him some each night. He said when he got a bit bigger she'd need to get him a larger tank and if it got cold he might need a heater that would stick to one side. Well, she thought his plastic container already looked small, so she went and bought him a 5 gallon tank and a small heat pad that she attached to one side and put him in it with the coconut fiber and dishes. And that's what he had when she gave it to my grandson.
Fast forward to a week ago when I was on Amazon looking for salt water as the supply she'd given him had run out. While reading reviews, I saw someone who posted about how most crab owners were probably killing their crabs. From reading his post and then doing research after, we were horrified to realize that we were one of my those he was talking about. Knowing what I know now, I haven't any idea how our poor hermit crab (we named him Herman, for those of you old enough to get the reference LOL) stayed alive all this time. (I think him being in my grandson's room, which is the warmest room in the house because of his computer, helped.) Thank goodness he's hung in there! And now we want to give him a MUCH better life. We intend to get another one, but first we're trying to upgrade his living conditions. We've bought a 20 gallon long tank with a metal mesh lid that I've covered with Saran wrap. Because of the tank size, and the fact that the tank size may need to grow in future, we've put tank in the living room, but it is not as warm as his bedroom. We bought a digital thermometer/hygrometer. The substrate is now a mix of coconut fiber with play sand. It's about 3 inches at the very front of the tank on the left side where the saltwater dish, about 4 inches at the middle front where the food dish is, and about 5 inches at the right front where the fresh water dish is, then the substrate immediately goes up as you go up all across the middle of the tank and is 7 inches at the back. We've added greenery, several challah logs and, at the moment, 3 shells he can change into. We've added LED lighting for day and night and since we know we are going to be adding a companion, we got larger dishes for food and water. (Speaking of food, we learned they like variety, so now I've been giving him sliced up fruits and veggies, and some spinach or kale, along with his pellet food each night. We also bought a calcium supplement.) I've boiled everything and baked the wood to make sure it's dry. Everything is clean and in the tank now except for Herman because the tank's temperature is staying at 72 degrees at night and 74-75 during the day. The humidity has been a fairly steady 86-88%. We tried attaching the little heater we already had to the side of the tank, but it just isn't helping at all. I'm thinking we should buy an UTH, but there's where we're stuck. From what I've been reading, the heater should cover the outside back of the tank from the substrate line to the top. Is that correct? I've seen some say that a 20 gallon tank should use an 11 x 17. But if I do that, won't it go several inches below the substrate since the back is about 7 inches of deep? I don't want to dry that out. What do you recommend?
If this is the wrong place for this question, please accept my apologies and let me know so that I can move it to the appropriate location in the forum.

Thanks!
BBN

[curlysister]

Welcome to crabbing! Sounds like you are off to a great start!
It is totally okay for the UTH mounted on the back or side to go below the substrate line. The sub may dry out a bit more there, but you can always add a little water as it does.

[HermitCrabCHICA]

Welcome to the HCA! I think the HCA is the best Hermit crab website ever! Feel free to ask any questions you have we will be happy to answer them!

[bigbooknut]

Welcome to crabbing! Sounds like you are off to a great start!
It is totally okay for the UTH mounted on the back or side to go below the substrate line. The sub may dry out a bit more there, but you can always add a little water as it does.

That's good to know. I have this fear that after we move him he'll have the environment he needs and will begin the molting process and the substrate will get too dry down below while he's buried. After he's lived in spite of his less than ideal beginning, I want to be sure we do all we can to make him a happy hermie.

Thanks!

[bigbooknut]

Welcome to the HCA! I think the HCA is the best Hermit crab website ever! Feel free to ask any questions you have we will be happy to answer them!

Thanks for the welcome, HermitCrabCHICA!

[curlysister]

That's good to know. I have this fear that after we move him he'll have the environment he needs and will begin the molting process and the substrate will get too dry down below while he's buried. After he's lived in spite of his less than ideal beginning, I want to be sure we do all we can to make him a happy hermie.

Thanks!

One way to check the substrate is to take something like a chopstick, and push it down into the substrate right along the glass at the front. That way, you can be sure you aren't disturbing a molting crab. You will see if the poked hole holds it's shape (good), if it collapses immediately (too dry), or if water pools in the bottom (too wet).

[bigbooknut]

One way to check the substrate is to take something like a chopstick, and push it down into the substrate right along the glass at the front. That way, you can be sure you aren't disturbing a molting crab. You will see if the poked hole holds it's shape (good), if it collapses immediately (too dry), or if water pools in the bottom (too wet).

Oh, that's an excellent idea! Following up, if I may, if the substrate turns out to be too dry when you poke the hole, do you need to take the crabs out temporarily, move the stuff inside and mix water into the substrate, then put everything back in? Or is there a way to do it without all that? And if your crab is molting, especially if you don't know where he is, how do you resolve the issue?

Thank you for taking the time to educate me a bit on this.

[curlysister]

You can either mist some water over the surface, or you can pour a bit along the edges (I know some people will put more than this, but I'm cautious and use maybe 1/4 cup at a time, divided and poured in a few different areas along the sides/ edges - it will then leach through the rest of the substrate.
If something goes really wrong and the entire sub is dry from top to bottom, any crabs underground could be at risk of having their tunnel collapse. So they might have to be dug up - but this would be a really extreme situation, which shouldn't happen if you have appropriate sub and humidity in the tank.