The $10 Hermit Crab Tank Humifier

Hermit crabs, super fun, easy pet right? Well, if your like me, you spoil everything you ever deem your pet. In which case, I couldn't keep my hermie tank's humidity above 50%. I guess keeping my room a constant 75 tends to dry out the air. So I went to the pet shop to see if they had a humidifier for the tank, and they had nice expensive humidifiers that seemed to puff out mist instead of just keeping the humidity up. So brainstorming in the pet store (and a bit more at home) I came up with this.

Step 1: Things you will need

You can get EVERYTHING and I mean everything at wal-mart.

1. Aquarium Pump - I got mine for $15 but I paid extra for quiet since it's located in my bedroom. You can get an aquarium pump for $7
2. Aquarium Hose - $1
3. Air Stone - $.50
4. Jar with plastic top $1

Items in your home you will need (or you will have to pick them up)

Hot glue gun
glue sticks
drill or something to poke pencil sized holes in your lid

Comments

[mgerges1999]

I have created this, except without the air pump. It is helping, but it goes up and down...not steady at night...

[TN777]

I made this last year for my 3 crabs: Speedy, Hermie and Daredevil. Daredevil is a girl(?) and the other two are male. This is the instructable that inspired me to join. Thank you for publishing this. My hermit crabs thank you too, their crabitat is much better now!

[ftiger]

Do you need an airstone?

[halo99]

I would just want to say that you got the prices WRONG! yur instructables is perfect but the air stone is $1.50 the jar is $1.85 and the hoze is $1.50 the pump is the only one with the correct price...I put the humidifier together and my hermit crab is very happy and is walking around more! than you very much! p.s. i named my crab joe because i got him from joes crab shack! lol

[HermitGuy101]

joes crab shack? i didn't know they sold hermies there! You shuld get your little guy a partner though.

[ftiger]

Hey! I subscribed to your Youtube channel. How do you disinfect rocks from outside?

[zackatron]

do you need all the extra air hose like in the picture

[halo99]

what do you mean by 'partner'?

[HermitGuy101]

A "Buddy." basically another hermit crab.

[mr.krabbs]

I need help pls :(

I found a hermit crab thrown out from the third floor of a house which was owned by a child.
The hermit crab's shell was torn in two. leavin the middle part (his head part) exposed and his claw got stuck in his shell opening and the other end on the other part of the shell.

I took him home since i couldnt bear to see this guy so helpless.
I need help from you ppl so i can take care of it.

I soaked him into a tap water with salt, but then i read that its bad cuz of the chlorine. so i soaked him into a distilled water. now i took him out and placed him into a bucket. I dunno what to do.. pls help me. :(

I just want him to survive the night until i get back from school tomorrow noon. then i would buy a crabitat for him. but as of now, i dun know if he can survive the night. i live at the tropics btw.

[poopcrab1234]

get a 10galloon tank get 6 inches of sand get food salt water and regular nmo chrolirne and get him stuff to play with is a list of things u need for habitat and a heat mat and get as many shells as u can so just in case if he or she hates all of em will at least pick one and then for the shell how adn use tape in fix other parts of shell reverse side of tape not sticky and lay out so tape not stick to table and patch them together and tape on crab shell and that should make so his empty shell area should be covered

[knexfreak32]

cool built one for my snails. good ible too.

[cday6]

your humidity was low because of the habitat you have them in. i have 6 hermits in a 20 gallon, and have little problem with humidity

[SIRJAMES09]

that's cool!! you did good Ma'am. :) TY for sharing.

[nibbler125]

I use a glass tank and as long as i keep the substraight moist it wont drop below 70%

[zackatron]

you should get a sealed aquarium or rap that cage in suran rap to lock in humidity

[thats mr sonic to you]

that would make it way way way to humid and the hermit crap would not be aple l to breath which would make it die

[lizard5431]

Why the heck is there a sign that says "I love you Jen" below the desk/stannd for the cage.

[Hazzard2theworld911]

'Cause he loves jen, stupid! ;) Alot of people put "semi-subliminal" love messages in their 'ibles. i'm sure you have without realizing it...

[shawntherobot]

my first hermit crab i had ws missing hs claws i dindt notice till i got but after two weeks it died( it didnt eat anything)

[Silver Buttons]

I couldn't get this to work! No moisture seems to be going through the tube into the tank. So, I stuck the bubble stone into their water dish, instead. Now they have a salt water jacuzzi! ^_

[HermitNewbie]

does this completely solve the humidity problem? and does it matter where the end of the hose goes into the aquarium? I just got my first hermit crab a few days ago, and I'm reading everywhere online how I'm suffocating my crab because the humidity isn't high enough!! D:

[Silver Buttons]

I have four hermies, and the humidity in their tank is usually at 70-72%. They seem to be doing fine, but I do think they would be more active if it were higher, say at 75-80%. Do you have a moss pit in the tank? To make one, you can buy a plastic shower caddy and fill it with moss. The caddy is like a clear plastic bin that holds shampoo, etc. and it has big suction cups attached--it's about $6 at Wal-Mart, look in the bathroom section. Buy some floral moss at Wal-Mart also (craft and flower section), soak it in sea-salt water, rinsing out some of the dirt, and place it in the caddy. Stick the caddy onto the side or corner of the tank. This will add humidity to the tank, add a second level, and also give the hermies something to burrow into. Also, if you have only one crab, get a second one. They live in huge colonies in the wild and prefer to have company. :o)

[slimlady52]

you can't keep humitiy in your pen because its a pen you need a closed in container like an aquirum to hold the moister in. look up hermitcrab association web site.you'll see!!!!!!! hope this helps

[taylrock]

what about BEACH crabs???

also I found these Instructables that help with other good wildlife stuff:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Care_for_a_Fiddler_Crab_mini_crabs/
http://www.instructables.com/id/how-to-make-an-aquarium-for-free/

[traventm]

WOW! Thanks for this! It works great. My hermies were definitely NOT happy guys. I keep them in my computer room (the fans keep it high enough temp for them) but in the process the air dries out. Not wanting to put a full size humidifier in (computers and humidity don't mix) I made one of these following your instructions and now it's a balmy 80% humidity in their aquarium case. Now they're all over the place, zooming around, and just seeming much more active. Thanks!

[Chris0000]

Just a little side note! I don't think he's keeping the hermit crab in a wire cage! No hermit carb is going to be running on a wodent wheel. It is possible for people to have other pets, come on now....

[Daethian]

Unless you live in a place that hermit crabs live natively, they should not be kept in a wire cage. It is impossible to maintain a constant, level humidity with a wire cage. A glass tank and solid lid is your first step in maintaining your humidity. Great idea for creating a humidifier though!!

[chuckr44]

I agree. You have made an excellent low-cost humidifier. The problem here is your wire cage, letting all the humidity out.

[Tarantulady]

Who lives in the cage in the background? :)

[godfreyandthandi]

me abd bilo, anyone whos seen borat will know what im talking about.

[Squirrelfriend]

Great Idea! A commercial version costs around 40-50 dollars. I made one for about $5 works great. My two buddies Captn and Hank are a lot more active now that I can maintain a good humidity level. Thanks again.

[LadyMadonna]

THANK YOU so much for this! Here's mine:

[NT86]

pretty cool

[dgrif]

Thanks for this! built one over the weekend and set it up today.. now my hermies are at a constant 72% humidity in their 10gal tank :) Gave em a spritz of water for an immediate humidity boost, and with the humidifier running it stays around 72-75% good work :)

[HamatoKameko]

I'll be damned, that's clever. I've been considering getting a hermit or two, so I'll definitely be keeping this in mind!

[a7xforlife]

Just wondering, I already have a humidifier in my room, will that work well? Or do I have to get a seperate one just for the crabs?

[chuckr44]

If you got a 10g glass tank with a solid top, you would have no problem keeping humidity up. That's what I did. But good idea too. I have that blue air pump also.

[GorillazMiko]

Awesome!
Hahahaha, "Can you guess what time of year it was when I made this bad boy?"

Classic. :P

Ooh, and what's this?!

I love you jon? Jon? It that what it says?
:-O

[sunitgir]

It's Jen, My niece was playing with my label maker, I kept that one and the one that says "Samiee <33's you" that is on my computer terminal.