how often you rotate in food?

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ciaraalston
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Re: how often you rotate in food?

Post by ciaraalston » Sat Sep 01, 2018 12:23 am

Here's what I came up with...
For new folks, you don't have to order these exact items. These are just some mixes from Hermit Crab Patch and TheHealthyHermit. I personally would rather just order mixes and organic items from people that I know are 100% true than try to find items locally that might/might not be truly organic.
I was able to make a 23 day rotation if I keep each meal in the tank for 2 days. My crabs usually don't eat much the first day so that gives them time to get a good serving of whatever they want.
If you need to know what's in each mix, I think I posted it in the beginning of this thread but if not just let me know I'll send it! I was able to add missing proteins from the mixes with single items. So each meal *should* hit all food groups every night.
Here's my food menu for my 4 purple pinchers and 2 ecuadorians.

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4 purple pinchers & 2 ecuadorians living a life of luxury in south west Louisiana.
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soilentgringa
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Re: how often you rotate in food?

Post by soilentgringa » Sat Sep 01, 2018 2:01 am

I have had E's, PP's and Straws for a while now and I've fed them pretty much the same foods for 4 years.

Boiled eggs/eggshells, cuttlebone, dried insects, dried river shrimp, bloodworms, bee pollen, worm castings, dried veg and flowers from Hermit Crab Garden, random dried veg and fruit samples from Hermie's Kitchen, leaf litter, bits of fruit and veg scraps from our meals, raw shrimp from the fish counter at Sprouts (not for a long time).

I'm transitioning to a vegan diet and while I won't be eating eggs any more my son will, so we'll still have eggs.

My crabs have never showed any signs of cannibalism or aggression aside from minor shell squabbles and one time when one crab may have had another run across it while molting and had a chunk taken out of it's BP. (Not 100% confirmed to be a molting attack)

I give them raw honey once in a while but mostly stick with dehydrated and dried mixes. I leave food in till it gets gross. They're scavengers and their bodies were designed to digest decaying matter.

I personally feel that changing their food out daily is a waste of food. If you're already feeding a variety of foods, even if you feed it two days in a row or more the crab will be able to pick out what it wants or needs from the assortment it's being fed.

I don't know where the whole "feed E's two different proteins a day" came from; it's been suggested often that they require more protein but there's no empirical evidence to support that. They could have attacked other crabs over lack of shells or space.



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ciaraalston
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Re: how often you rotate in food?

Post by ciaraalston » Sat Sep 01, 2018 2:07 am

The 2 proteins a day was just a personal suggestion from GB. Not a rule. She just was giving me advice on how she personally feeds her Es.

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piratetoothgir
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Re: how often you rotate in food?

Post by piratetoothgir » Sat Sep 01, 2018 12:14 pm

I don't change food daily either, there's still so much that they can eat, and they normally will go back for more.
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GotButterflies
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Re: how often you rotate in food?

Post by GotButterflies » Sat Sep 01, 2018 3:22 pm

Each protein is counted as one There are animal proteins and plant proteins.

I personally feed mine at least two proteins a day. That is what works for me!


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