HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Wondering where everyone gets their worm castings? My guys love it and I saw/read on another group that you can even add it to your substrate as you mix it but I can't seem to find any locally. I received a small bag with a bulk order from eBay and I ordered super worm castings from a shop on Etsy but its small as well. I know someone on here had mentioned Wal-Mart carrying some but my local store doesn't carry it and the shipping for some of them was ridiculous!

You can always make your own. Check out organic gardening resources - a lot of them use earth worms to help with composting and in gardening. Lots of info out there on how to keep and grow earthworms - you can grow/keep them in a tote in your apartment and feed them organic table scraps/leaf mold/etc. Just make sure everything you feed them or put them into is organic/no pesticides/no fertilizers/no herbicides, and the crabs can eat the castings.

Sorry, I don't know where to get worm castings online.

Hermias_mom wrote:You can always make your own. Check out organic gardening resources - a lot of them use earth worms to help with composting and in gardening. Lots of info out there on how to keep and grow earthworms - you can grow/keep them in a tote in your apartment and feed them organic table scraps/leaf mold/etc. Just make sure everything you feed them or put them into is organic/no pesticides/no fertilizers/no herbicides, and the crabs can eat the castings.

Sorry, I don't know where to get worm castings online.

I might have to - although I'm about at my "ickiness" limit - finally started an isopod colony. We had a lot of rain come through earlier this week and I used the potato trick and hunted a bit - found around 30/40. I have them in my original 10g crab tank.

NCgirl19 wrote: I might have to - although I'm about at my "ickiness" limit - finally started an isopod colony. We had a lot of rain come through earlier this week and I used the potato trick and hunted a bit - found around 30/40. I have them in my original 10g crab tank.

LOL, I totally get it. Worms really are simple though - they live in a bucket of dirt. It doesn't usually smell bad, and you only see them when you go looking for them pretty much. When I dealt with worms in my garden, they would show up on their own to eat my compost heap, and they did a good job. However, there's a lot of things you can feed your crabs instead of earthworm castings, if the ick factor has been exceeded. Canned mealworms are the worst for me so far. From now on, I'm only feeding those dried.

Good for you, finding so many isopods! That's not easy! Sounds pretty fun!

You can buy them from the Hermit Crab Patch website cheap!

I got mine from my local gardening shop


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What are you feeding your isopods?


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Check with your local food bank.
The one here in Tucson, Arizona has a garden center and you can purchase some worm castings.

annedow9 wrote:What are you feeding your isopods?


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Carrots and leftover food from the crabs.

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GotButterflies wrote:I got mine from my local gardening shop


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I had to go by a relatives house last night for them to cut down the a pvc pipe for me (attempting a false bottom on the new set up) and they recommended a local nursery. Called just now and they have some - it's from a supplier but I'll be able to have it today to mix into the sub rather than waiting.

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I don't mix mine into the substrate- but I do drop it on top of it for them to munch on. Mixing it in could cause a bacteria bloom. It's really like good soil. Not a good substrate imo. Glad you found some!


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I get my worm castings from The Hermit Crab Patch. My crabbies love it!


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nancat wrote:I get my worm castings from The Hermit Crab Patch. My crabbies love it!


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You should be able to find them in bulk at gardening centers too. They're much more cost effective, I think. Crabs sure do like to eat poop.

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