crush extra non-usable shells for calcium?

[fantasybookworm]

Okay, I swear I've seen this answered or asked somewhere, and I can't find it. :roll: I feel like I'm imagining things! But is it okay to crush up extra shells that hermit crabs can't fit in, to use as a calcium source? I don't really want to clutter the tank up with unusable shells by putting them in for the crabbies to nibble on, and I'm just not sure what else to do with them - I don't want to keep most of them & a lot of them are too small to use as food dishes or anything either.

[megmaholm]

I know people have put in shells as decoration before and their crabs nibble on them, so I don't see why not. I was actually thinking about that today since I have so many unwearable/unusable shells.

[StarWarsHermitCrab]

If you can crush the shells into a powder, do it.
Shells are a good source of calcium.

[fantasybookworm]

Awesome, thanks guys! I'm definitely doing this then. I have SO many extras now from buying the bags of decoration shells from craft stores. I have a mortar & pestle, so it should be relatively easy to crush them up. I might start switching out calcium sources each time I change the dry food dish now - I'll have bonemeal powder & crushed shells. And I have crab carapace & mussel shells that I ordered online to leave in the tank as well. They won't lack for choices!

[Asheka]

You can order carapace online?

[fantasybookworm]

Yup! I got it from this store - http://alaskahermit.com/shop/ But unfortunately they don't ship to Canada.