Safe Food List from EH

[Kat]

Great, thanks for the feedback. I'll not offer ground poppy. Better to be safe than sorry. I'm just trying to find ways to entice them to eat. Since it seems they are motivated by scent/smell, like I've read, I'm trying to think of things with stronger smells, to mix in with their foods.

Glad to know about Agave and who'd've thought canola oil was from the cabbage family lol! They have shown absolutely NO interest in honey, each time it was offered, so I was thinking to offer them organic blueberry agave, so see if that draws any interest.

I wouldn't worry too much. They won't starve themselves intentionally, and many people never see the crabs eating. I only catch mine eating when they are pre/post-molt or brand new, since they are starving. If food is disappearing at all, you are fine!

[SachOfSCP]

Remember too that, like a pregnant lady with cravings, they eat only the foods containing the nutrients they need at that particular stage of their molt cycle.

[Cecil716]

Is bitter melon safe? I love to add bitter melon to my stir frys and I was wondering if a little bit of cut up melon would be safe? BTW it is not really a melon, as it is a veggie. Another question, is canned tuna better then fresh for crabs? Apprently for humans canned is better then fresh so is it the same for crabs? Its packed in sunflower/sesame oil.

[fluffy]

Is bitter melon safe? I love to add bitter melon to my stir frys and I was wondering if a little bit of cut up melon would be safe? BTW it is not really a melon, as it is a veggie. Another question, is canned tuna better then fresh for crabs? Apparently for humans canned is better then fresh so is it the same for crabs? Its packed in sunflower/sesame oil.

I searched up bitter melon and it grows in places right where hermit crabs live. I think it's safe to assume that it can be fed with no problems. And if it is not good for them I'm sure they would know to avoid it since they've more than likely ran across it in the wild. I don't know about the tuna though.

[Kat]

I don't feed canned as a rule of thumb - it just seems like the preservatives would be a bad idea.

[SachOfSCP]

I don't feed canned as a rule of thumb - it just seems like the preservatives would be a bad idea.

Maybe it's a brand difference, but I've never known canned tuna to have preservatives aside from the oil. I've given it to all 3 of my species but they never seem very into it. Of course, my PPs aren't very into seafood to begin with, hh.

[joeyboy]

Hey folks imminent owner of some purple pincher hermies...

When it comes to this food list and nuts, say if I had peanuts,do you have to grind these down, chop them up etc? How small to pieces of food need to be?
Then for grains like barley, would you feed pearl barley for instance in its raw form, or cook it?
For freeze fried foods like blood worms, tubifex worms etc, would you put these in their bowl dry, or mix with a few spoons of water to try and mush them up?

Finally I have been told the preservative Sulphur dioxide is a no no, so it rules out some brands of dried fruit, I've got some organic or brands which don't use it though. However anyone know if Potassium Sorbate is okay? It is a preservative however it's toxicity to humans is the same as Sodium Chloride and is found naturally in some fruit (berries) and it's use is generally in the 0.025-0.1% of the product.

[wodesorel]

You can feed any item whole, or you can crush it or grind it. They have those claws for a reason, so how it's prepared is just personal human preference.

Same thing for raw or cooked - they would always encounter food raw in the wild, but they will never turn it down soft and cooked.

I don't recommend rehydrating freeze-dried proteins - they will spoil overnight when wet and will smell like a dead crab by morning. Leave them as-is and the crabs can graze on them for days whenever they feel like it.

Personally, I would recommend staying away from all preservatives. It's really not very hard to find dried fruits and berries in the grocery store these days where absolutely nothing has been added. I can find at least four or five different brands now between a shopping trip to Walmart and Marcs. Check in both the produce area and where they have the kid's fruits cups. Chiquita even came out with their own dried bagged fruits where it's nothing but naked bananas and pineapples! Since more human parents are being vigilant about what their kids are eating, it's easier for us hermit "parents" to benefit from companies jumping on the organic wagon.

[SachOfSCP]

Same thing for raw or cooked - they would always encounter food raw in the wild, but they will never turn it down soft and cooked.

While I agree about them having it raw in the wild, I always say cooked for captive crabs because of the health risk raw meat presents to us, handling things in the tank it may have come in contact with.

Personally, I would recommend staying away from all preservatives. It's really not very hard to find dried fruits and berries in the grocery store these days where absolutely nothing has been added.

I just buy a bag of frozen fruits, freeze them & cut as needed & depending on the size of your colony, a $3 bag of fruit can last all year!

[Cecil716]

Just another question on canned tuna. Its packed in oil and the ingredients say: Tuna, sunflower/sesame oil, salt. If I rinse the tuna really well can I use it? I stuck the partly opened can in the freezer just incase i could still use the rest.

I have one more question, about canned cooked bugs. Are all brands safe? I might try buying a can of those dried meal worms or a can of crickets but do crabs even like these things? I also want to know, what is the best brand of canned bugs for hermit crabs?

[SachOfSCP]

Just another question on canned tuna. Its packed in oil and the ingredients say: Tuna, sunflower/sesame oil, salt. If I rinse the tuna really well can I use it? I stuck the partly opened can in the freezer just incase i could still use the rest.

I have one more question, about canned cooked bugs. Are all brands safe? I might try buying a can of those dried meal worms or a can of crickets but do crabs even like these things? I also want to know, what is the best brand of canned bugs for hermit crabs?

I've been offering canned tuna, right out of the can for over 3 years with no problems.

As to the cooked bugs, I use the all-natural freeze-dried & they LOVE them; especially bloodworms, crickets & grasshoppers. I buy them from reptilesupply.com or hermitcrabpatch.com When I give my PPs crickets or bloodworms; they disappear within a couple hours.

[Cecil716]

Awesome. My friend has hamsters that LOVE dried meal worms so I might mooch some worms off her to try and give it my crabs. If they likey, I will buy some more.

[hermilove]

Anyone know if rhubarb is safe?

[wodesorel]

Stems yes, leaves no.

[hermilove]

Thanks! I can plant some rhubarb in my garden