HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I had a question, kinda gross and disturbing. But, I wanted to know if any of you did this. One of my E's, Shrek, died and when I dug him up, found his shell and a couple pieces of exo. Does anyone rinse off old exo and feed it to the crabs? When I had the thought, I found it weird, but knew it is probably pretty nutritional. Any thoughs?

I suppose technically you could... I wouldn't, I'd feel I was dishonoring the dead crab...

I see no reason why you couldn't, other than the fact that they may decide they really like exo.... And that could become a problem.

Don't you have calcium supplements available?

I'm always a bit worried that it will turn the other crabs into cannibals, so I personally pull it.

I have saved leftover exo from living crabs as emergency rations for when I find a crab that's been dug up or who had a bad molt. Nothing helps a molted crab that is missing an exo to eat like an exo from somewhere else.

I was wondering about encouraging cannibalism, too. maybe I will save it just incase for an emergency. Thanks for your input both of you!

Tamara wrote:I suppose technically you could... I wouldn't, I'd feel I was dishonoring the dead crab...

I see no reason why you couldn't, other than the fact that they may decide they really like exo.... And that could become a problem.

Don't you have calcium supplements available?

I do. I keep cuttlebone, crushed oyster shells, and a few mineral supplements in the tank at all times. Plus I have powdered reptile calcium I sprinkle on their food sometimes. But I just have heard how beneficial exoskeletons are and essential for molting, so I was just wondering.

I don't because if its underground then I'm not sure how long its been there and I would have to rinse it off and it'd probably have dead crab germs (Okay, maybe that part doesn't make sense) but I wouldn't be able to stand through sifting through it and the thought of my other guys munching on it is just...ugh >_<

A lot of times when my larger crabs come up they like to bring there exo with them (UGH its DISGUSTING) and I leave it in the tank for all the crabs to munch on, but if its ever a piece of a crab(with meat and such), I try to remove it.