Temperature - Keeping Your Hermit Crab Happy!
Land hermit crabs are tropical, cold-blooded crustaceans that depend on their environment for warmth. If the temperature within their encloser is lower than what they need they will often become inactive and hibernate to conserve energy. Temperature fluctuations can cause stress in your land hermit crab, and weaken their condiiton.
The temperature
within your crabarium should be monitored on an ongoing basis.
I suggest you purchase an adhesive temperature strip (see heating
) which should be placed along the bottom of the crabarium,
parallel with the bottom of the tank as it is important to guage
the heat at substrate level.
The
temperature in your hermit crab's cage should be between 70o
F (21oCelsius) ad 80oF (27oC) The ideal temperature to hover
about is 75oF (24oCe). Try not to let your crab's home fall
below 70 degrees for very long or your crab will become inactive
and may perish. If your crab overheats you may see a brown discharge.
This means that your crabitat enviornment needs to be re-assessed
(see below) and email FMR as the discharge is an indicator of
overheating.
If it is winter or below 21 degrees in your home and you do not have an undertank heater or other heat source an alternative action is to take your hermit crabs out of their crabarium for some play time and find a warm spot for your crab's tank to spend time during the day, such as a window sill or a sunny area outside. Remember to bring it in in once it starts to get cold. Return your hermit crabs to their crabarium and the send should be just warm and a lid should be placed to help trap the warmth in.
If the temperature falls below 21 degrees frequently, you may
need to purchase a under-tank heatpad (See heating) but be careful
that you do not overheat your crab. If the temperature rises
above 27 degrees (80oF) add more substrate (sand or gravel,
etc) and experiment until you have the crabarium temperature
falling within the hermie-friendly range of temperatures. A
24 hr timer is also a good investment as it will turn the heater
on and off throughout the day. Keeping it on during the cold
hours and turning it off when you set it to.
