Crabs not eating calcium

[abesze]

I have a cuttlebone and a sand dollar available at all times to my two pp's, but I haven't seen them really eating any or going near them. The explored the sand dollar a bit when I first put it in, but they have completely ignored the cuttlebone and don't really go near the sand dollar anymore. I'm worried that they're not getting enough calcium. Is there any way I can attract them to the cuttlebone/ sand dollar?

[Hermiesguardian]

They may be taking such timy bites you can't notice it. Is the cuttlebone whole? As long as you provide calcium they'll eat it when needed.

[abesze]

Yeah the cuttlebone is whole, same with the sand dollar. I was hoping that would be the case, that they know when they need it

[CrabbyLover77]

I used to only provide cuttlebone for my crabs. Now I provide a small separate dish of powdered calcium mixed with crushed oyster shells too. My crabs seem to ignore the cuttlebone now but love the powder mix. My crab Beau is always sitting in it. I got the oyster shells from The Hermit Crab Patch and ZooMed Repti Calcium from Amazon.

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[abesze]

That sounds great! I think I'll try that

[abesze]

As for protein, is Laura scudder's plain peanut butter safe for hermit crabs? It says the only ingredient is peanuts, with 1% or less of salt, but it doesn't say what kind of salt. I'm assuming that the 1% is insignificant enough that it wouldn't harm my crabs right?

[CrabbyLover77]

That sounds great! I think I'll try that

Sounds good!

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[CrabbyLover77]

As for protein, is Laura scudder's plain peanut butter safe for hermit crabs? It says the only ingredient is peanuts, with 1% or less of salt, but it doesn't say what kind of salt. I'm assuming that the 1% is insignificant enough that it wouldn't harm my crabs right?

You might want to get a mod or admin opinion on this, but as long as the pb is an occasion treat, I don't think the low salt content would do much harm. However, if you can find something that's all peanuts, it might be better. I just found Crazy Richard's pb at the grocery store, and it's 100% peanuts. I think I paid a little over $3 for it.

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[Nitegoddess]

I have a cuttlebone and use calcium powder but my cuttlebone started turning black so I threw it out. I am not sure if the humidity did that or what could have caused it? Any ideas on preventing this from happening again?

[gunstreet.girl]

I have a cuttlebone and a sand dollar available at all times to my two pp's, but I haven't seen them really eating any or going near them. The explored the sand dollar a bit when I first put it in, but they have completely ignored the cuttlebone and don't really go near the sand dollar anymore. I'm worried that they're not getting enough calcium. Is there any way I can attract them to the cuttlebone/ sand dollar?

My crabs have never been huge cuttlebone fans (unless ground up and included in their food dish/mixed into the foods I make for them). They do, however, seem to be big fans of eggshells, oyster shells, and mussels shells, so I scatter pieces of eggshell and crushed oyster and mussels shells all over the sub.