QuestionHi, We are new hermie owners. We recently bought my son a hermie in one of those critter keepers for his birthday. After noticing it was staying in its shell and not wanting to come out I did some research and discovered we were not prepared at all for what I thought was going to be a low maintenance pet for a 7 year old! So we are setting things up better. We now have a 60 litre (15 gallon) tank with glass lid, bought 2 more hermies for company, added an inch of gravel up one end under marine salt and fresh water dishes, and play sand in the remainder of the tank sloping up to 3 inch depth, climbing toys and shelters etc. We are waiting on arrival of gauges, but I think the humidity is ok. The tank is a little cool (fluctuates between 22 and 25 degrees) we are waiting on a UTH ordered to keep the temp at 26-27 more consistently.
My questions are:
1)Is everything i have done so far OK? The hermies are now active and eating fresh fruits, grains and meats and one has changed shells.
2)One of the new hermies hung out in the salt water dish as soon as we got him home for a couple of days and has now buried himself for 4 days. I thought he might be molting already. I don't know where he is in the tank to isolate him and I think I need to add deeper sand as I read 3 inches isn't enough. Should I add more sand over the top? I don't want him to suffocate if I do that, but I am worried he might get eaten by the other crabs who have been digging down and then resurfacing at times.
3) When the UTH arrives, what temp should I set it at and how do I stop the crabs burrowing over the top of it and over heating?
Any other suggestions would be great. These are my sons first pets as he is allergic to cats/dogs etc, so I really want to try and get them to live for a while (he is a little ticked that I wont let him play with them yet, as I told him we should let them settle i to their new home).
Thanks very much, Kylie
Answer1)Is everything i have done so far OK? The hermies are now active and eating fresh fruits, grains and meats and one has changed shells.
It sounds like you are off to a great start. I'm glad you have gauges on the way. It can be very hard to judge the humidity without them. Make sure you callibrate the gauges when you get them.
2)One of the new hermies hung out in the salt water dish as soon as we got him home for a couple of days and has now buried himself for 4 days. I thought he might be molting already. I don't know where he is in the tank to isolate him and I think I need to add deeper sand as I read 3 inches isn't enough. Should I add more sand over the top? I don't want him to suffocate if I do that, but I am worried he might get eaten by the other crabs who have been digging down and then resurfacing at times.
That behavior sounds pretty normal. I would not add any sand until he comes up. He should be okay. I have always let my crabs molt in the main tank but that is up to you.
3) When the UTH arrives, what temp should I set it at and how do
UTH's usually don't have the ability to set a temperature, you stick them to the glass and turn them on. Most crabbers stick them to the side of the tank and others on the bottom.
I stop the crabs burrowing over the top of it and over heating?
Depends on where you stick it but if it is on all the time the crabs will avoid parking themselves where it is too warm.
