HCA: Hermit Crab Association

My Nikki is chowing down on this odd shell I found and a price of driftwood.... Is it nutritional? Is something missing from his diet? Thanks

IMO it's completely fine! Wood is fibrous and the shell provides calcium, and crabs are willing to taste anything, so I'd reckon it's all okay.

OK thanks he's been eating it for about a month. Got really big. Thank you

Anytime!

Wood contains tannins, which is an important part of their diet. So a kinda, if you don't feed them leaves and sticks - like small twiggy branches - then they will supplement it.

Thank you.. Nikki just started this a few weeks ago. Does not really eat the leaves and sticks... Cool though glad I have it... Thank you

aussieJJDude wrote:Wood contains tannins, which is an important part of their diet. So a kinda, if you don't feed them leaves and sticks - like small twiggy branches - then they will supplement it.

For leaves and sticks, would you just grab some leaves and twigs from outside and drop them in the tank?

I am always wary of outside leaves, esp if you live in the city, like I do because of pesticides. But yes. I pluck leaves from my buildings private garden and dry them in the window aftet a quick rinse in MSW. Check SAFE FOODS list (pine/cedar are dangerous if memory serves) but most leaf fodder and sticks will be a good addition to their diet. I noticed my guys eating morponi wood and my 1/2 log. So i started bringing home leaves and boy howdy that was a hit! The drier the better
A week or two in the window sill did the trick. Now that its winter im storing them in a ziplock w silica packets.
Sticks i stay away from because 9 out of 10 times there's bugs under the bark.

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Some people bake the leaves, sticks. I'm fortunate enough to have a lot of oak trees in my backyard. I personally do not bake mine. I don't even rinse them. However, we planted these trees when we moved in 19 years ago, so I know what has been given to them. I guess you can say I risk it in a way, but I do check the oak leaves carefully before I pick them. No issues...knock on wood. That's what the hermits would encounter in the wild, and I try to make their crabitat as natural as possible.


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So helpful I do live in city... I did come across apple sticks. The guys liked them in the water... Well thanks for all the great advice.

I just get sticks and grasses that are for herbivores and other small animals like birds. Not sure how the plants in my area are treated and i know the city sometimes sprays for mosquitoes so better safe than sorry.

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Dragonfreak wrote:So helpful I do live in city... I did come across apple sticks. The guys liked them in the water... Well thanks for all the great advice.

What are apple sticks?


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GotButterflies wrote:What are apple sticks?

I assume either:
- crab apple stick
-sticks from the apple tree...
Either way, they fine.

On drying out leaves - I use a method with my oven. You can rinse them and dry them off with a paper towl first if you'd like. You put the oven to 170 or 175 degrees F, and lay out the leaves individually on the tray. Put them in for 30 minutes, and if you need to go longer then check every 15 minutes. When done the leaves should be crunchy like Autumn leaves. Hope this gave a few ideas.

If you look in the small animal hamsters, genni pigs...They are in that area