HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Love the shell shop nanasue!

Great tat! Very tempting shell shop
Is the red capped jar a DIY humidifier?


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Looks great! However, I will point out that a lot of those shells are not ones crabs can use.

yes the red capped jar is a diy humidifier. we just added a second hose so it is going in both ends of the tat. we also upgraded our hygrometer/thermometer to a Fluker's digital combo. we tested it for accuracy before adding. the shells are mostly murrexes and turbos. a bunch we don't know but they still have round openings.

we are still having some trouble with humidity being low. this morning the humidity was 71% and temp was 77. we don't seem to be able to get it above 78% humidity and temp caps at 81. we also added another heater to the back of the tat. we now have heat on 2 sides. and 3 sides are wrapped with emergency heat blanket.

What kind of lid do you have? Are you sure your gauges are accurate?

Have you checked out the prefered shell guide? I know it's a huge help to me. I'm always envious of people who seem to easily pick up on shell types.

http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 24&t=92552

Towards the bottom it lists shells that the crabs just aren't interested in. I find it to be true. Of course it doesn't hurt to offer. Just make sure you also have a good selection of the more preferred shells. I like to toss a few oddball shells in myself. You never know.

Ok, well, we have calibrated the meter, it's only 1% high on the hygrometer side. At about 8pm last night the humidity plummeted from about 81% down to the low 70s... and today, the humidity hasn't been above 65%. My son checked and found that our two hoses are being pinched by the lid. Has anyone else had this problem and found a solution that doesn't include cutting into the mesh of the lid?

We did look at the preferred shell guide again, and have removed 6 shells that our crabbies are unlikely to wear. Oddly, I noticed that the magpie is in both the preferred and non-preferred shells list... is that cuz some species don't like it as much? My Magie loves her Magpie, and has switched back to it twice in the first two days since she came home with us.

My son and I appreciate all of the help we are getting from everyone here. Ty.

I think it's because magpies are native to PPs natural habitat. Many purchased in natural shells are wearing them. But, once given the option of turbos, they rarely look back.

My extra large won't give up the shell she came in. She will change into a beautiful shell that appears to fit properly and go back into her other shell. They are hideous shells.

Love the shell shop, so cute! I have two crabs that came home in magpies. Both switched to turbos the night they came home and no crab has picked them up since. I'm interested to see if my two tiny babies eventually pick them up (since they're the only ones who can probably use them at this point) or if they'll go straight for the turbos too.


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nanasue wrote:My son checked and found that our two hoses are being pinched by the lid. Has anyone else had this problem and found a solution that doesn't include cutting into the mesh of the lid?

Yep, I had that problem. What I did was loosely ziptie the hose to the top of the screen lid, and lay a piece of foil over it so it directs the mist into the tank. Obviously don't seal the foil over the tip of the hoses.

we have tried the foil fix for our humidity problem. will be watching it closely and hoping it is fixed. we really want our crabs to be happy and healthy.

Ok, we are seeing a difference in the humidity (it's capping at 77% now). It still drops down to low 70s overnight, and does not go above 80 unless we spritz the tat. It is holding the humidity a longer time now when we do spritz. What bothers us is that we still have to have the humidifier going all the time to maintain 77%...

Where are your guages located? The best reading is taken from the area your crabs frequent the most.
How do you seal your mesh lid? I had most success with stability covering 80% of the back in plastic wrap and leaving 20% ventilation in the front.


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OK, we'll probably try that this weekend.... Uh, how do we make plastic wrap stay put? My experience with it is that it only sticks to itself, generally speaking.