Hermit crabs and my crazy family.

[Ashling]

Does anyone here have hermit crabs?
What can they eat, besides commercial pellets? What's best to give them lot of?

I TOLD mum NOT to go out and get a hermit crab. She said ok. The next day what do I wake up to? A ((tiny)) tank with TWO hermit crabs. No salt bath. No hermit pellets. Nothing to climb on. One hermit has a crack in its shell! I cleaned out a bigger tank and was scrubbing it down when mum got home. Boy did I go off at her, telling her everything she's done wrong and that I TOLD her not to get them and that you have to RESEARCH before you get a new pet. She didn't even know what they eat! "I know, I know, I'm sorry. Can you help me?" She kept asking. So I cleaned, dried and warmed up some pebbles, made a salt bath, gave the crabs some cockatiel pellets (better than anything for now, plus fresh veggies and a mealworm) and found a piece of bark for them to climb on. They're looking great now, and seem to like their new home.

My sister (8) nailpolished a load of shells and put them in the tank, but I told her off because the whole tank smelt like poison, and I made her take them out.
I asked her, "You'd never give nail polish to birds would you? What happens when you do that?"
"They die."
"What about hermit crabs?"
"... I don't know...oh, they die." lol

I'll wait till they're at least aired out before considering putting a few back in. I think I'll take her out searching for more natural tank decorations! She even painted one of the hermit's shells (is this ok?!)
Guess who had to feed them this morning?
I need to keep my girls in line haha. I love my mum's spontaneity, but honestly!

[Ashling]

Here are the little cuties:

The little shy one:

Painted one with cracked shell:

[greencinacheeks]

Aww they are so cute! ah, now i want to get hermit crabs again!

actually hermit crabs eat a huge variety, a good diet, consisted of everything we eat actually. Excluding, of course, highly; sugary, salty, and processed foods. to be honest, it is 'similar' to that of a parrot. haha

for an everyday food i did this...with variations of course.

2 large cuttlebones
1 cup dried rice (any non-instant type)
1 cup unflavored oatmeal
1 tsp. salt, uniodized*
1/4 cup dried plankton, krill or any other very stinky dried sealife
2 tablespoons spirulina powder (you can buy this at almost any health food store)

that was kind of an everyday food for them. With a varied diet, the comercial pellets are not even needed really, however i always put them in everynow and then.

Hermit crabs love to eat new things, they can actually be partial to junk food. haha
for 'treats' i would use some of these;

the guidlines for food for hermits is, again, 'similar' to that of pellets. no pits, seeds, avacados, chocolat etc. etc. etc.

# Fruit, especially tropical fruits such as the crabs would find in their native habitat: mangoes, coconuts and papayas. Just be careful they don't get ahold of any fruit "pits."

# Vegetables of all kinds

# Meat. Make sure it is well-cooked and that there is no sauce or butter on the meat that could cause them problems. In particular, hermit crabs like to pick meat off of bones. They also enjoy steamed shrimp tails and any sort of dead crustacean. Yes, they are cannibals, it is a studied and proven fact. It is recommended that meat be put into the crabitat at night and removed in the morning to discourage flies and other, unwanted scavengers from visiting the crabitat.

# Nuts, applesauce, raisins, trail mix, peanut butter, honey, cooked egg, cereal, crackers, washed grass, and popcorn are some of the miscellaneous favorites people have reported their crabs enjoying.

# Dairy foods may be given to the crabs in small amounts and not too often.

and other things you can feed them are;

# Frozen fruit and plant-based iguana food
# Escargot (especially good dusted w/spirulina)
# Freeze-dried and sun-dried shrimp and plankton
# Seaweed (normally sold to make sushi or in health-food stores)
# Brine shrimp (drained first of salt water)
# Fish food flakes
# Fish vegetable flakes with no "bad" preservatives added



the keep googling it, there is tons of info out there on them!! a varied diet is important. hope this helps mel!!! :)

[Ashling]

Wow! That more more than helpful. I've been giving them veggies, and I knew they liked coconut. I didn't know not to give them seed though. I guess I'll feed them what I give the parrots! ;) I mean... my sister will feed them.

Oh oh... is axolotl pellets good for them? I'm thinking yes because they stink of fish and have alot of nutrients... couldn't hurt? We have looots left over.

Thanks Nate!

[greencinacheeks]

yep they should be fine. :)