Hermit Crab Tanks Need Humidity at Certain Levels. But, Why?

Hermit Crab Tanks Need Humidity at Certain Levels. But, Why?

A fact many people don't know is that hermit crabs actually have gills. They even have water stored in their shell that they sit in to keep their gills moist. If their gills dry up, they can't breathe so they suffocate and die. If a tank isn't properly humid, their shell water dries up, and then their gills dry up. That is why humidity is sooo important.

You should always have a humidity (and temp) gauge in your tank, and check it at least every day. Your humidity level should be constant with no fluctuations of levels for long periods of time. Many experienced crabbers say 75% is a good humidity level to keep your tank at.

But, how do we keep the humidity up? Here are a few ways to solve the humidity problem:

- Having a glass lid on a tank holds in moisture that you do have. But if you only have a screen lid and can't get a glass one, there is a way to make the screen more humidity-proof.  Take some plastic wrap and put it on the screen. This will make it act like glass in that no moisture can get through it and out of the tank.

- Make sure to have two water bowls. You should already have two water bowls, freshwater, and saltwater, in your tank already (it is one of the most important things to put in there). These bowls add a bit more humidity to your tank, not to mention keep your crabs hydrated and provide a place to refill their shell water.

- Misting is an emergency way to get the humidity up. The humidity it provides doesn't last very long, so it makes it quite annoying sometimes to rely on it alone to enhance humidity. So misting provides instant, but not long, humidity relief if you are having dryness trouble.

- Moss is a more long term humidity stabilizer. Many crabbers use it in "humidity huts" while others put it all around the tank. A "humidity hut" is usually a hidout/hut with moist moss in it. These "humidity huts" act as refuge for crabs that are dry and need a moist place to be in. Crabbers also put moss all around the tank to and not just in a hut. Usually there are clumps of moss that are on old food dishes or water bowls. If you are interested in using moss in your crabitat, research the moss and make sure that kind is safe for them.

I hope those ideas give you a head start to keeping your humidity up! If you come up with another way to solve humidity, put it in the comments below. 😀