Fussy new crabber

[CrabbyJo]

Sounds great! I am thinking of possibly getting a waterfall myself.
Anyone know how often those should be cleaned?

Ayume, you can get clear packaging tape (the kind you use to close up boxes for mailing) and lay it over the cords. It's safe, and the hermies cannot climb the cord if it's taped against the glass.

I did have one just yesterday manage to climb up to my lid, because the little bugger worked some of the tape just loose enough (it's been in there quite a few months) to use the wrinkles and such to climb.

[Ayume]

I didn't see this post till this morning, just on time.
Call it mothers instinct if you like, but when I couldn't find Ocarina today I knew she hadn't just buried down out of sight. I knew she had escaped!! Of course, everyone thought I was nuts.
That new cord actually did lead to her escape some time in the last eleven hours.
I found her ( absently looking for a perhaps missing crab, perhaps not) one shelf down. She climbed up the cord, along the lip of the tank, out where the cords go, down the cords, off a book and was adventuring among my jewlery and craft supplies. SNEAKY MONGREL!!
So I taped up the cord, as you've advised. I'll keep an eye on her this time. So glad I found her.

[CrabbyJo]

lol so glad I could help! Glad you found her, too!

That reminds me of when I had moved all my crabs into my 29 gallon to deep clean the 55. There were no cords reaching out, but there was a hinged mesh lid, and I had forgotten completely to weigh it down. One of my little E's, the tricky little bugger, climbed the glue in the corner (yes, they can, with those sharp little leg tips!) and made it out! I would never have known until I went to move them because I give them way too much to hide in - except I heard some odd noises BELOW the tank that to me sounded like a hermit crab lol. Lo and behold, thank goodness he was on the floor still nearby.
So yeah, they are escape artists! I put weights on each end when there is a hinged lid now.

[emmac350]

I had one of my Es climb out of the tank on the silicone in the corners and I found him the next morning as he tried to hide in the black purse I had on the floor.

[Ayume]

That's pretty cute!! I found Ocarina because I thought I heard her scuttling around. Good thing I'm paranoid about keeping them safe.

[ladybug15057]

Screen lids come in super handy under the plexiglas lids when it comes to keeping hermies in the tank. (and some pests out of the tank) When using the packaging tape if there is the slightest wrinkle in it they can climb it, or even begin to pick at it to tear it. (something these hermies taught me years ago when we first began using it) But it is slippy and if flat super hard if not impossible for them to climb. But like Emma said too, the silicone in the inside corners is also a good escape route for them. To see my Jumbo's even wiggle the ends of their legs in it and able to climb it is amazing to see.

[Ayume]

So i'm trying to increase the temperature on one side of my tank... I've got a day light and a night light but the temperature on the warm side is only about 75. Is there any way I can do this without buying a new light? They're just so expensive....

[CrabbyJo]

Ayume,
what kind of cover do you have on your tank?

While I wait for your answer, I'll let you know what I did to bump the heat up without changing my light.
I just got some cardboard, wrapped it in plastic wrap (taped it on) and covered the tank with that. I used two pieces so I could move one aside a bit for airflow if needed to help moderate the humidity in the tank.
you might also consider wrapping a bit of cardboard around the tank itself, against the glass, to help hold in ambient heat. If you have some poster foam board, that stuff works great. It is kind of pricey though, costing about $4 a sheet.
(A lot of crabbers also use the foam board to make "crab-gloos" for when the power goes out, to help hold the heat in the tank).

Joanna

[Ayume]

I only have the silly aquarium lid on it, and the humidity is fine because i live in a rather moist area and it's spring. The heat though, very hard to keep up and worse now because the tank is larger. I'll try to get some cardboard and 'crabgloo' my tank in the back, there is already a background on it so the card wont be visible.

[Ayume]

So I purchased a jumbo two days ago. The first night I let him roam with all the crabs (who had been sleeping in the green hut. He climbed in there, and I went to bed. In the morning I would set up his side of the tank as an ISO, and I wasn't going to do it that night because it would be too loud and my sister was asleep.
My crabs, ever since I put Coconut fiber in the tank, have not buried in the sand. AT ALL. So when I lifted up the green hut (on the sand side) and no one was in there, I looked on the fiber side of the tank, and 2 out of three crabs were buried there, I could see the tips of their shells. The last one, Kyuubi, was no where to be seen.
My new guy has a moult sac and is displaying all the signs of premoult, more than my little guys ever did. I knew that getting him into ISO was very important, and my extra 10gal is being used by my brother (who's lizards had two eggs the same day)
So I sifted through the sand looking for Kyuubi, who still has those post moult spines from last time and buries rarely. I as though, he was not on that side at all.
Was it safe to assume he was on the fiber side?
Also why did my crabs hide in the fiber the night that I brought in the new guy? Last time they unburied themselves and inspected the new guy first, then carried on to normal things. Maybe because he's a jumbo?
The new guy doesn't move much. I'm pretty sure he is going to do a surface moult. My first, and it will be pretty scary. Not sure what to do with that kind of moult, as there is little information on our site about it. Should I continue to spray him or cover him with my hand before misting? Do the day/night cycle remain the same? and he in in a corner of the aquarium closest to me, not the wall, so should I put up a paper barier on the outside of the glass to make him feel more safe?