HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So I haven't posted in quite a while and decided to come say hello. But when I did I noticed Colorado Critter Company is closing. I use a lot of fresh food, but that dried stuff saves me when I am in a rush.

I was curious as to what everyone will be switching to?

I am also curious as to how to make my own dried food for the crabs. I tried to find a good post about it but came up empty. I rather find it here at HCA, I trust the people and their opinions here better than pulling up some youtube video watching them chop up unsafe foods.

If anyone could point me in the right direction, it would be most appreciated.

I dehydrate and freeze a lot and offer fresh foods. It's been a while since I've purchased any kibbles. I do buy freeze dried bugs and shrimp from the fish and reptile section. Also I like to keep THCP mineral blend on hand. Bee pollen too and calcium powders/sources. I collect safe leaves, flowers, and bark.

Check out the Shopping Resources page for a list of stores. There are a few that sell crab safe kibbles. It's my understanding that THCP stocked up on Colorado Critter foods, so you could stock up on some while you can too.

I have cookie sheets and a cooling rack that fits nicely into the cookie sheet. Any fruits or veggies that I have that don't get eaten quickly get cleaned and cut up and put on the cooling rack with the cookie sheet underneath. I set the oven to 150-225 degrees (lower for things like kale and spinach) (higher for things like broccoli and apples). I leave them in from after dinner until the morning. I turn the oven off before leaving for the day. When I come home, they are usually dried. If not, I repeat overnight again. I then powder them thru a hand strainer or break them up. I bag them in small freezer bags (freezer bags are thicker plastic with better zippers). You can mix or keep in pure one item bags. you can also us clean glass jars (ball jars) or tupperware for storage

I also take wet foods like berries, apples, bananas, etc and put in the food processor. I coarse chop them and then freeze. When needed I can take out a spoonful and leave out for about 10 minutes to let it warm up and place in the tank. Kinda like a crabby smoothy but are room temp because the crabby's are temp sensitive.

Thinking about asking for a real dehydrator for Christmas.

Thanks Callalily and Singlemomwithcrab.

I have looked at the Shopping Resource Callalily and wasn't to thrilled with what I found there. I think I may just stick with the fresh stuff from now on.

But if I can do what Singlemomwithcrab does, that would be awesome. I am going to try some of your crab smoothie tonight. I may attempt to dry some more when i get a real Dehydrator. I tried in the oven once and it did not turn out.

Yeah, that's what I do. I have a dehydrator but it's not the greatest. One day I'll get a nicer one but it gets the job done for now. I don't grind or puree everything. When freezing, I use ice cube trays for smaller servings - moving to freezer bags once set. I don't make a lot of mixes. I tend to stick with individual items when freezing or dehydrating but of course toss a variety in the dish when feeding.

My basic dry mix is Fluker's Aquatic Turtle Blend (mealworms, crickets, shrimp), Wardley's Dried Shrimp, 6-grain cereal and cuttlebone. I just crunch it all down with a small mortar and pestle until it's just above the powder stage (still a bit "chunky") and store it in a jar. When serving it, I add some eggshell, broken into small bits, and a little dusting of dried coconut. Of course, I'm only feeding 2 PPs right now as the other three have been below ground for a few weeks so just a bit of the mix goes a very long way.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0027JCRVW/ref ... ied+shrimp

This has fed 4 PPs for about a month and I've barely made a dent in it. There is a LOT of it.

Only downside is the smell. It smells bad when putting it in the food dish, but won't stink up the tank unless you don't switch it out after a day.

My crabs love the Hermit Crab Addictions mixes. There is such a variety and everything is very reasonably priced.