Best calcium sand brand + broken small claw

[lopgoat]

One of my hermits has been very lethargic lately, and I think I found out the reason why! The bottom half of his small claw is missing, so I think he hasnt been eating as much as he should.

I was wondering if calcium sand would be easier for him to get that key nutrient and if so, is there any brands out there that anyone recommends?

Also any other foods I should buy for him that are easy for him to pick up? Since im assuming that its quite hard to pick up something large and solid with only one claw!

[JoeHermits]

I don’t have any brand recommendations, but they’re all calcium carbonate so anything without dyes will do (CaCo3 is naturally white).


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[wodesorel]

They are able to eat without any claws, so missing part of one shouldn't affect his diet any. Natural sources of calcium would probably be better for him than sand, as no company has released how or what exactly it is made from. Eggshells, insect skins, shrimp and crab exo, etc are all easily digestible for hermits.

[HermitofHermitCrabs]

In my opinion calcium sand is a waste of time and money. There’s naturally occurring nutrients in regular play sand and then I feed mine crushed oyster shells for calcium.

[wodesorel]

In my opinion calcium sand is a waste of time and money. There’s naturally occurring nutrients in regular play sand and then I feed mine crushed oyster shells for calcium.

Pure playsand should be near 100% silica, so there are no nutrients in it. It's inert.

[HermitofHermitCrabs]

Then they eat it because they feel like it then. Crushed oyster shells seem to be the way to go then. I sprinkle it on top of their food so they get it inevitably.

[aussieJJDude]

Another type of calcium sand is aragonite. This is the type of sand I use for my substrate (its probably a 5:1 ratio of aragonite to silica )

Aragonite is calcium carbonate, and you can get some pretty fine grain sizes which appear similar to calcisand. If you're heck bend on getting powered calcium (carbonate), I'd suggest getting some aragonite or getting a cuttlefish bone and grinding it up with a mortar and pestle.