Aussie winter dormancy/hibernation

Questions about unexpected problems.
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ladybug15057
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Re: Aussie winter dormancy/hibernation

Post by ladybug15057 »

Inside the tank would be most energy efficient, but you will have to make sure your hermit crabs can't reach it,
I am not that familiar with the ceramic heaters, I have never used one. I do have a question about placing it in the tank. I can see where more heat would be within the tank this way, but do they also cause humidity to fall like lights do?
Second question, if the 'covering' is glass, is there a chance that if one used waterfalls, misters, etc to boost humidity could the glass shatter if water hit it?
Reason I ask is a member on another site did put a light within her tank away from where the hermies could reach it. But it did dry some of the humidity and while attempting to boost the humidity hit the bulb and it shattered within the tank?
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Wai
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Re: Aussie winter dormancy/hibernation

Post by Wai »

You need to let the excess heat escape, which is why I have an air gap directly above the CHE so that it doesn't overheat. I have sprayed cold water on the underside of the glass lids near the CHE, but they didn't shatter.

CHEs do indeed drop the humidity, which is why I positioned a moss pit directly under it. If the CHE isn't on during warm days, the humidity near it can be from 70-75%, while if the CHE is on, then the humidity near it only drops to about 65%. The humidity in the cool end is of course higher and stays at >70%. The fresh water pond is near the moss pit, so just in case the hermit crabs feel dehydrated, they can go for a soak, although they all seem quite comfortable basking under the CHE for hours and snuggling into the warm moist moss.

CHE
CHE and the moss pit
Wai
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ladybug15057
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Re: Aussie winter dormancy/hibernation

Post by ladybug15057 »

Not sure why, but both links are timing out when I click onto them?
But if you would accidentally mist the emitter itself, (underside) is there a chance it would it shatter?
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Re: Aussie winter dormancy/hibernation

Post by Jennie »

The ceramic heat emitters do sound pretty interesting, I love reading about different set-ups but for now I think I will stick to the UTH. Mostly because my crabs end up everywhere in the tank. I have flyscreen covers under my glass ones and they often go for a upside down walk across the roof. I love it and wouldn't want to stop them!

I am having no luck with your links either :(
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ladybug15057
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Re: Aussie winter dormancy/hibernation

Post by ladybug15057 »

Wai I looked through the edit feature to see your embedded links. Appears there were extra brackets at the beginning and ends so I removed them to see if they would work... and it didn't :(
I took the links (without the embedding codes) and put them right into my browser. They still will not load?
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Wai
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Re: Aussie winter dormancy/hibernation

Post by Wai »

I've noticed lately that the gallery alone is very sluggish, yet every other part of the site loads quickly. I've never really liked the gallery software, so I might spend the holidays installing new and better software. The pics did load here for me, but they took a while to do so. Marie, the extra brackets were just for decoration - I always make sure that there are no BBCode typos in my posts.
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ladybug15057
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Re: Aussie winter dormancy/hibernation

Post by ladybug15057 »

Until you can install other software, (too many times when first installed they have bugs themselves) do you have a free photobucket photo album?
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appps
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Re: Aussie winter dormancy/hibernation

Post by appps »

Mine did the same, all went under during winter and actually did the same when I let the temp get a couple degrees higher than normal as well this summer (all 4 went under and came up again within a few days of me dropping temp couple of degrees again)

My guess is that they cope with extremes in temp by burrowing under.
Annette
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aussieJJDude
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Re: Aussie winter dormancy/hibernation

Post by aussieJJDude »

I never had mine doing this... Strange!
But mine are my room (which is on a second floor plus get loads of sunlight). I found most of my crabs more active during winter...
246L/65G - 'Tidal Jungle' (Crabs) | 246L/65g - 'Backwater Pool' (Fish/Snails) | 96L/25G - ''Twisted Minds" (Fish/Snails/Shrimp) | 300L/90G Fancy Pond (Goldfish)

I've never had any problems with 'Impulse Buying'. They're just animals that I forgot I had planned to get.
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appps
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Re: Aussie winter dormancy/hibernation

Post by appps »

Know this is an older thread but wanted to comment on the burying to get to heat mat. I don't have a heat mat, I have overhead heating but mine still do the same.

Personally I believe this is a natural part of their cycle as they also become scarce in winter in the wild. I actually lower my tank temps over winter to encourage them to do the same as in nature. Who knows this rest may be needed to to help them prepare for spring molts or something so if they do it in nature I figure it can't hurt to let them do it in captivity as well.
Annette
Carer of 5 Australian Land Hermit Crabs
Fili & Voldemort since 12/07/2011
Turbo since 29/09/2011
Frederickson & Kai 12/02/2012
and our new addition Stripey Ninja 25/10/2014

Our Crab tank setup & Journal -http://crabbycreatures.wordpress.com
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