Should I mist my hermit crab?

Most care sheets given by pet stores, crab carts and FMR encourage hermit crab owners to mist their crab daily. This is another debate topic among crabbers. Misting is supposed to benefit the crab by moistening its gills. If the relative humidity in your tank is at the ideal level, 70-80%, then your crabs gills should be sufficiently moist. Crabs do not have ‘misters’ in the wild. Yes they are rained on in the wild, but at that point it is up to the crab if it wants to come out and enjoy the rain or withdraw into its shell. Misting a crab is believed by some to cause stress because it is not something they are accustomed to. My suggestion is that if your humidity is low and you need to mist the tank, then do it. Mist the air right at the top of the tank and allow the mist to fall gently into the tank. This will simulate a soft rain and should be less stressful to the crabs than a direct, in the face misting. Bear in mind that raising your humidity too high by soaking the walls of your tank can encourage mold to grow and spread. Mold is deadly to hermit crabs.

Misting the crabitat

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