Hammock Update!!!

[POPPIT]

So I bought this off ebay and have just added sphagnum moss to it...They haven't climbed up it yet but hopefully tonight they would have adjusted to this new thing in their tank(i put it in there yesterday 5pm) and get curious enough to check it out

[emmac350]

Your tank is looking pretty good, Poppit! I like the hammock.

[POPPIT]

Thanks Emma...It gives it a jungle style look...I have noticed a smell kind of like hemp clothing i smelt once...Its like a pretty strong grassy smell with a hint of kerosene..package said 100% natural and safe for reptiles etc..Is this what jute smells like..it feels natural...One of my crabs had a good climb on it last night for the first time.

[emmac350]

Did you do anything to the hammock before putting it in the tank? Giving it a boil in salt water or fresh might help get rid of the smell.

[POPPIT]

No i didn't...Its woven together and partly held together with small ropes but it could fall apart if i soak it...

[emmac350]

If it's strong enough to hold your crabs' weight it won't fall apart when it's soaked. Soaking will swell the fibers and make it hold itself together more tightly.

[POPPIT]

Hmmm...ok...if the smell doesn't go (i might leave the gap in the glass lid uncovered to air it out)i might soak it....the weather is pretty miserable atm so need to wait for a bit of sun to dry it...its not all that flexible so hopefully soaking it wont make it stiffer

[appps]

I wonder if the seller imported it and being a natural fibre they treated it with something to kill bugs in quarentine.

Once had a woven basket that sat under a casserole dish that smelled so strongly it used to make me wheeze. I aired it for months but the smell never went. I threw it in the end it was so strong.

[POPPIT]

Besides Chakotay climbing it once and sitting at bottom of it once on a different night...they have been very inactive compared to the days/nights before the hammock went in i am worried the smell it affecting them...either that or its a scary big thing staring at them lol...but even Chakotay has been less active and he has already climbed it....im going to take it out tonight and soak it in salt water to see if the smell will go

[appps]

Try to give the tank a little more ventilation as well to get rid of any residual smell.