HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Yes, if no seasonings. Wild caught preferred.

*jealous* Yum. Halibut.

wolfnipplechips wrote:Yes, if no seasonings. Wild caught preferred.

*jealous* Yum. Halibut.

Haha, thanks We are having some fresh Halibut so I'll sneak some into their food bowl

I was wondering if hermit crabs can eat grasshoppers. I feed them to my turtle and didn't know if I could share them with the crabbies. I know they can eat roley poleys so wasn't sure if there were any other bugs they could have.

grasshoppers are fine

Awesome!

I have 2 questions...
1. Regarding wild &/or brown rice, does it need to be cooked first?
2. Does anyone know whether or not hydrangeas (the flowers &/or the stems) are safe for hermies? I have 2 large hydrangeas but I want to be certain before giving them anything not on the safe list!

rice does not have to be cooked, but if you do cook it, treat the water with the conditioner you use for the water pools to make it safe

When I cook something that requires water, and want it for both the family and the crabs, I open a new gallon of distilled water and use some of that. Dechlorination products are normally not labeled as safe for humans.

Thanks! It never occurred to me that you'd need to use distilled water when cooking anything for the crabs I put a pasta noodle (dry that I broke up into smaller pieces) & a few grains of uncooked brown rice in their food bowls &, much to my surprise, they really liked it...esp the noodle! Tonight I'm trying fresh strawberries w/the tops & mushrooms. I can't wait to see how it goes over w/the hermies! I also got a sweet potato that I plan on trying tomorrow night along w/some halibut & corn on the cob. As for the sweet potato...do I need to cook it first or is raw ok? Assuming you have tried sweet potato w/your hermies, do they seem to prefer it raw or cooked? I could always put some cooked & some raw in together & see what my guys like better.
I noticed that on the safe list was dried cranberries but what about fresh cranberries? Do I need to remove the seeds from them? I noticed several fruits that, while listed as safe, need to have the seeds removed.

They can also eat fresh dates, which are delicious

Fish they can eat:

Salmon (which is up there)
Shrimp
Crab
Lobster
Tilapia
Flounder
Cod
I have tried them all with success, as long as you can get it fresh. I live near a bunch of fish markets so that helps.

My hermies went bonkers over a chunk of uncooked corn on the cob I walked in to take a look & there were 5 of my 7 pp's all sitting around it (one was on top) just chowing down. I was dumbfounded how much of it they ate.

they love anything with corn. try cornbread and blue sea salt corn chips. When I gave Big Oliver corn chips for the first time he sat and ate crunching away for, no lie, 9 hours

WOW! That's definitely going on the list of things to try. I guess from what you wrote about the types of fish that are ok for them, halibut isn't one of them?! I guess my power going out & everything in my freezer getting ruined was a blessing in disguise! Did you lose power up in NJ? They said on the news that parts of NJ had been affected by the storm as well!

They can eat halibut. They can eat pretty much any type of fish as long as it's not poison, full of preservatives, hormones, or seasoned.