Cheating a little bit

[Zanthalia]

Heyla, all! So I'm trying really hard to give the hermies a nice balanced diet, but I'm going to be honest and say that a "balanced diet" and eating organic has never been something I'm any good at. I've read the food list a billion times and I'm doing my best but I'm not sure I'm getting it done.

I know that store-bought foods aren't ideal, but really the 'grab and go' concept is pretty ideal for my lifestyle. So I decided to make food. I used my food processor and made up a mix of:

Reptile Munchies dried mealworms
Green lentils
Quick oats
Golden quinoa flour
Dry roasted almonds
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
White quinoa
Red lentils
Reptile munchies vegetable mix 2tbsp (sun dried bok choy, sun dried carrots, dehydrated zucchini, dehydrated green beans, dehydrated peas)

I also purchased dried coconuts and the peanut butter that is literally only peanuts for occasional treats and nutritional yeast because I read on another web site that's good for them. I can't find it on our food list here, though so I didn't add it in.

Assuming that it's easy enough to throw in eggs / hamburger / chicken / pork chops / tuna / whatever protein we're eating and one or two fresh fruits or veggies from dinner, and I have dried bloodworms that I feed to the betta, is this a decent staple diet for them?

They also have a cuttlebone that they're obsessed with and I plan to get some greensand for them within the next week. Oh, and a chia garden because it amuses myself and my daughter to give them a garden by their little house.

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[CrabbyLover77]

Wow, it sounds like you're doing way better than I am with your foods! As long as your protein for dinner isn't seasoned/buttered when you give it to them, I'd say you're good to go. I'm much lazier than you, so I cheated and ordered food from The Hermit Crab Patch lol. I supplement that with fresh foods every night or two. Last night they had scrambled eggs. I have bloodworms for my fish too, and occasionally put a little pile of them in for the crabbies. They seem to like it. I also give them freeze dried crickets and grasshoppers I got from Amazon.
Where did you get your peanut butter that doesn't have any extra oils and what not in it? I'd like to get some for my crabs but haven't found any in the grocery store. Maybe a whole foods store? Thanks!

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[Zanthalia]

Wow, it sounds like you're doing way better than I am with your foods! As long as your protein for dinner isn't seasoned/buttered when you give it to them, I'd say you're good to go. I'm much lazier than you, so I cheated and ordered food from The Hermit Crab Patch lol. I supplement that with fresh foods every night or two. Last night they had scrambled eggs. I have bloodworms for my fish too, and occasionally put a little pile of them in for the crabbies. They seem to like it. I also give them freeze dried crickets and grasshoppers I got from Amazon.
Where did you get your peanut butter that doesn't have any extra oils and what not in it? I'd like to get some for my crabs but haven't found any in the grocery store. Maybe a whole foods store? Thanks!

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I went to Fresh Thyme and hit up their bulk section. For the price, I couldn't pass it up. That's where I got all the other stuff, too. The cashier was very polite about a dozen bags with less than a quarter cup in each. Five minutes with the food processor, it really wasn't that much work.

My husband laughs at me, but for the protein I either steal a piece out of the pan when it's cooking before we season it, or I cut out of the very middle and get everything off that looks like "flavour". They don't seem to care for anything but baked chicken and scrambled eggs, but whatever. At least the option is there.

I'm not sure I can do the crickets / grasshoppers. They still have faces when you feed them and I'm a sissy.

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[CrabbyLover77]

Your husband shouldn't laugh, I do the same thing! Only the best for our crabbies! The scrambled eggs I made last night were for me and I like cheese on them. But before I put my cheese on there I gathered up some plain for the crabs. I cook them in a small crock in the microwave. Another testament to my laziness lol.
Thanks for telling me where you got your PB. I have a couple of different whole foods stores near me and also an Amish farmers market. I'll have to try those places to see what I can find.

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[CrabbyLover77]

PS- I don't blame you about the crickets and grasshoppers. I try not to look directly at them when I'm crushing them up for the crabs.

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[Zanthalia]

I have a friend who won't use a microwave for the belief that it puts radiation out, and it just baffles me how she doesn't starve to death. We use ours way more than the stove, so trust me I get it. I do scrambled eggs in a non-stick pan because I find it easier to clean up, but my "scrambled eggs" are basically eggs and a touch of milk that I mix up and pour in a pan with a lid and then don't touch again until they're cooked through. I dump it out onto a plate, slice it like a pie, and you can either eat it or not. Maybe it's closer to an omelet? lol

The kiddo won't eat cheese, either. Cheese is on the "safe list." When we had taco night ours got meat (before seasoning), spinach, and a couple pieces of cheese that they seemed to like. The ungrateful creatures won't touch fresh spinach, though.

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[Zanthalia]

PS- I don't blame you about the crickets and grasshoppers. I try not to look directly at them when I'm crushing them up for the crabs.

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Yeah... No. LOL We have tons of crickets that have infested our garage and I've thought about it. Alas, you are stronger than I. We encourage beneficial insects and birds to control the "bad bugs" instead of poisons and it doesn't *quite* do it. We love all the snakes and mantises, but we still have tons of crickets. I can't wait to find their next fresh shed snake skin in the garden and throw that in the tank!

I can't quite handle the thought of the isopods in the tank either, even though we have a more than thriving population of rolly-polly bugs that I have to throw out of the house on a regular basis.

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[CrabbyLover77]

My neighbor doesn't have a microwave either! I would definitely starve. My kitchen is so small it's actually a pain to cook or bake anything with the stove/oven. Your eggs sound good to me, I'd eat them haha! My microwave eggs come out looking like a big fluffy circle and I cut them in slices. I throw a slab of my vegetarian microwaved cooked sausage on the side, and ta-dah!!! Breakfast Lol.
I keep forgetting cheese is ok for the crabs. It's always been in my head they can't have dairy. Maybe I'll give them a tiny piece and see what happens.
Aw how neat the crabs got their own tacos! My biggest crab Beau loves fresh spinach and arugula.

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[CrabbyLover77]

Yeah... No. LOL We have tons of crickets that have infested our garage and I've thought about it. Alas, you are stronger than I. We encourage beneficial insects and birds to control the "bad bugs" instead of poisons and it doesn't *quite* do it. We love all the snakes and mantises, but we still have tons of crickets. I can't wait to find their next fresh shed snake skin in the garden and throw that in the tank!

I can't quite handle the thought of the isopods in the tank either, even though we have a more than thriving population of rolly-polly bugs that I have to throw out of the house on a regular basis.

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I'm the same, no poisons around the house. I just feed the birds and they do most of the work for me. My dog was sniffing a big praying mantis the other other night on our walk. I guess the mantis had enough of being sniffed and flew up and bopped my dog on the head. It scared the heck out of him lol.

I volunteer with a wild bird rescue, and unfortunately, I have to cut up a lot of different animals to feed them (mice, quail, rats, fish, hamsters, etc). I definitely don't enjoy it, but I know the birds have to eat if we want to release them back in the wild. I love all animals, so I try not to think about what I'm doing when I'm making their meals.

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[Zanthalia]

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I'm the same, no poisons around the house. I just feed the birds and they do most of the work for me. My dog was sniffing a big praying mantis the other other night on our walk. I guess the mantis had enough of being sniffed and flew up and bopped my dog on the head. It scared the heck out of him lol.

I volunteer with a wild bird rescue, and unfortunately, I have to cut up a lot of different animals to feed them (mice, quail, rats, fish, hamsters, etc). I definitely don't enjoy it, but I know the birds have to eat if we want to release them back in the wild. I love all animals, so I try not to think about what I'm doing when I'm making their meals.

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We do what we've got to do. I think that's amazing that you work for a wild bird rescue! For a vegetarian to cut up food for the animals like that, it says a lot about the kind of person you are. <3



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[CrabbyLover77]

Aw thanks.

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[GotButterflies]

I just wanted to say your list looks great except you really need some fruit and leaf litter Also, nobody cooks for them in the wild, so try some raw stuff too!

GB: Make sure you cover all aspects of food pyramid Foods should be organic when possible. Hermit crabs are sensitive to pesticides and fertilizers.
Safe food list: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92557
Unsafe food list: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92556
Food pyramid: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92554