heater for hermit crabs, lamp or both for right now??

Question

my question is: to get the temp up, should i keep the undertank heater on plus the light on (i got a crabarium with a built in light).for a bit. or keep the lamp on till i feel the sand start to warm up where the heater is place. i have just gotten hermit crabs and settled them in. also got a thermonter for heat and humidity, right now my room is a couple of degrees cooler than the rest of the house, but i want to get the crabarium up to heat, the humidity is up where it's supposed to be. Please help, i am new to the hermit crab world!!

Answer 1

If you keep the room the crabs are in over 70 then you don't need a heater. If you keep it cooler than that, a UTH (under tank heater) is what most people use. Some people claim that hermit crabs have been killed by digging down to the glass over the UTH so you need some kind of barrier to prevent this. Temperatures over 85 will kill hermit crabs so be careful.

Answer 2

I like to use an undertank heater. That way the crabs can move away from the heater if they are warm or closer to it if they are cold. It is also a good idea to have a variety of shells they can change to. The shell thickness can effect their temperature. A thicker shell keeps them warmer. If you notice them hanging out of there shells a lot they may be too warm. The site below is an excellent resource for info about hermit crabs.

Answer 3

Hermit crabs live in the cast off shells of mollusks. Because the shells do not grow with their bodies, spare (larger) shells must be kept in the cage for them to move into as they grow. Crabs grow by molting their outside skin. When this happens they will burrow to protect their new skin while it hardens. They are inactive during this period.

Description: Land Hermit Crabs can be found throught out The Caribbean Area and South America. They have 4 antenni and 10 legs. Two of the legs are claws, The larger claw is used for climbing and defense. The small claw is used for carrying food and water into it's mouth. Four of the legs are walking legs the others are usually hidden within the shell . The two smallest are used to hold onto the shell
How old is the crab and what sex is it?: There is no way to tell the age or sex of a hermit crab.
Housing: Even though they are small creatures they need room to walk around and climb.
We suggest a minimum of a 10 gallon tank. Theyt do not do well in the small plastic containers they are sold in, in the malls. The tank should have 4-6" of sand on the bottom (you can also use small pebbles, chrused coral / clam shells/oyster shells etc. Land crabs love to climb so you can place pieces of drift wood, coral rocks or 'climbing fences' in the tank.
You need a shallow water dish, we recommend placing a natural sponge in the dish so they don't drown, it also keeps the inside of the tank moist. Also a small dish for food (we use small sea shells). We also recommend providing Salt water (which acts like an antibiotic)
Lighting: Hermit crabs are basically night creatures in the wild. They don't usually come out during the day so a normall aquarium light is fine but should be turned off ti simulate night and day.
Temperature: Remeber they are 'Caribbean' creatures so they enjoy a warm environment between 70-90 degrees.
Moisture: They need plenty of water in there tank sokeep their water dish full and the sponge wet.
Food: Crabs are scavengers and will eat just about anything. Commercially prepared foods (including our custom blend), green vegatables, fruits, peanut butter. Remove fresh foods daily so they don't rot.
Handling: Remeber Hermit Crabs are pets not toys. Handle With Care. When playing with them keep your hands flat if they think they are going to fall they will pinch to try and hold on, depending on the size of the crab it can be painful.
Excersize: If you take them out of their tank to play make sure to keep an eye on them, they can get up to a 'trot' and will disappear in the blink of an eye.