use heat emitter through glass on top of tank?

[photokc]

1]What is the volume of your main tank?
20 gallon

2]How many hermit crabs do you currently have? How big are they?
1 small purple pincer and 1 medium ecuadorian


3]How long have you had the hermit crab(s) that you are concerned about?
purple pincer for 1 1/2 years ecuadorian 6 months

4]What substrate or combination of substrates are you using? How deep is it?
sand/coconut fiber

5]What do you feed your hermit crabs?
mostly commercial food with some fresh. After reading over the crab care I will up the fresh food.

6]Do you use distilled, bottled, tap or other types of water?
some spring water, well water

7]What brand of sea salt are you using to supply your hermit crabs with salt water?
ocean water

8]What heat source are you using and where is it positioned?
Heat emitter on top of lid (just moved it to side this morning) Also a heat pad on side of tank

9]Have you calibrated your thermometer(s) and hygrometer so that you can interpret accurate readings?
no

10]What is the air temperature range and humidity inside the tank?
with heat emitter on top it has been 85 F but humidity goes from 0-30

11]What is the highest temperature that the substrate near the heat source reaches?[/b]
not sure

12]Do you have any photos of your tank or hermit crab(s) of concern? If yes, please attach them to your post.

I am using a heat emitter that sits on top of a mesh lid but my humidity is very low because it is too vented. I was wondering if I am able to put glass on top of the mesh lid and then put the emitter on top of the glass. This way I can possibly control both heat and humidity.

[emmac350]

It's not an elegant solution, but putting glass on the mesh lid around the heater should help your humidity. Another thing that will help quite a bit is to simply put STUFF in the tank. To keep my humidity up in the winter, I changed out a palm wood piece for cholla (absorbs water better) and add water all the time. I put water on the wood items in the tank (as they dry, your humidity is boosted), in the empty shells (again, it will evaporate from them), and on the substrate directly in front of the heat pad on the back of my tank. If need be, put a vertical piece of wood (I have a cholla log that sits on its end, extending over halfway up the side of my tank) in and wet the whole thing down. That way it's releasing humidity the whole height of the tank.

[photokc]

I haven't been on in awhile thanks for the advise. What I had done for the winter was tape parchment paper on the side with no heater and then the side with the heater I put a pyrex dish on top of the mesh and put the heater directly on the pyrex dish. It is still not the humidity that is desired and definitely not elegant but it was a start. I will try out some of your suggestions thank you.