HCA: Hermit Crab Association

What foods do your crabs devour as soon as you put them in the tank? And which foods do you always end up having to take out uneaten the next day?

Mine absolutely love grapes, freeze dried shrimp, celery, raw meats and fish, romaine lettuce, freeze dried bloodworms, raspberry leaves and many many other things too! The list could go forever.

Fortunately for me mine are not picky eaters. However they don't care much for freeze dried brine shrimp, but they usually eat almost everything I give.

Recently a teeny at school ate 6 mealworms at school in one night, so that's a hit too! Haven't tried my worms with my crabs yet though. I'm waiting for my work colony to get started fist.


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Mine devour pretty much any mix from The Hermit Crab Patch. They also love raw salmon, honey, peanut butter, daphnia, mealworms..they're really not too picky; I've never put something in that hasn't at least been picked at. They don't seem to especially like cooked ground beef but eat it raw; same with chicken and pork.

I've found my crabs love mealworms and crickets they'll be gone within a few hours if I give them to my crabs. On the other hand, my crabs won't touch collard greens or romaine lettuce.

I cant get mine to touch leafy greens at all . Egg shells seem, the be pretty popular. i have never caught them eating it, but every morning its moved about and has noticeable nibble marks. I just got a cuttlebone so Im hoping they enjoy that.

One thing mine love is the bones from canned salmon. Every time I make salmon patties I give them a few pieces. It's like a crab attack.


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That's funny, because mine absoultely LOVES any leafy green, I swear it is the only thing I can count on him to eat. That, and Hermit Crab Patch worm castings.

I can always count on mine to eat freeze dried shrimp, live mealworms, dried leaves, dried greens, dried flowers, corn, eggs (shell too), HCP Mineral Blend, spirulina, cuttlebone, cilantro, watercress, walnuts, popcorn, coconut, berries, pretty much any dried fruit.

They rarely touch fresh banana, brussel sprouts, asparagus, pineapple.

I'll add more as I remember. Most things aren't so cut and dry. They'll tear it up one time and hardly touch it the next.

Raw egg white -- just leave a bit of the albumin in half an eggshell and serve as is so they can nibble the shell for calcium, too. Freeze-dried shrimp and crickets, strawberries, cantaloupe, grapes, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, raw ground turkey, hard-boiled egg yolk are some of their faves.

I have pps and they love coconut, honey(obviously), fresh fruits and vegies, and if its possible; my crabs always eat all of this, unseasoned meat

hope this helps:)

Thanks a lot, guys. I have two land crabs, not hermies, and they're very picky eaters so I was trying to see what you guys' hermit crabs prefer.
I guess in a tank with a bunch of crabs, what one doesn't eat the others most likely will. I've only got two, so it's taking me a while to figure out the "sweet spot" when it comes to food.
Also, for those of you who feed honey, how do you do it? Do you spread it over other foods, or do you just put a blob of it separately?

Thanks again for all the info.

purpletiger wrote:Also, for those of you who feed honey, how do you do it? Do you spread it over other foods, or do you just put a blob of it separately?

Thanks again for all the info.

They usually get a blob of honey alongside a dab of peanut butter, served on a little flat shell.

Sometimes I'll drizzle honey over other food. Other times I give them a small chunk of honeycomb. They do love it but I don't offer it very often. More as a treat.

CallaLily wrote:Sometimes I'll drizzle honey over other food. Other times I give them a small chunk of honeycomb. They do love it but I don't offer it very often. More as a treat.

Where do you get your honeycomb?


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