HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Apple tree branches it's not on either food list. Wonder if they are safe and tasty for hermit crabs.

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I've given them before and the crabs loved them!

Just make sure you know where the branches came from and if they have been treated, especially since apples are a food crop and pesticides usually have to be used.

Yay!! Thanks!

If they can eat the fruit they can eat the branch. That at least is true for herbivores. Only thing i caution is citrus but most of those animals dont do well with high levels of it. You can even buy small animal apple sticks. My five have tried them and most like them.

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Aren't Prunus species of wood recommend against?

(Plums, cherries, almond, and I think black currant maybe (?) )

I'ma go check the safe list...

Edit: ... yup, Prunus species wood is considered a no-go due to the cyanide-like compound contained in the wood (not just straight-up cyanide, y'all).

Upon the chemical bonds of this compound being broken by water, cyanide-hydrogen is created. Amygdalin is another term you may encounter.

Also, add apricot wood to the above list.

Basically, if you have a fruit wood you want to try, wikipedia or otherwise look up the Genus the plant belongs to.... in scientific terms, the genus is the first of two words that make up the scientific name, and will be capitalized.
Eg. - Coenobita clypeatus = Coenobita is the genus, clypeatus is the species. (Just a quick lesson for anyone not in the know... don't be intimidated by sciencey schtuff... it isn't as esoteric as it looks.

They used to be, but I can verify that apple and cherry are safe for hermits, mine have been living with their branches for years. I think it was another addition of a plant that is dangerous to other creatures without verifying that it did the same to crabs.

wodesorel wrote:They used to be, but I can verify that apple and cherry are safe for hermits, mine have been living with their branches for years. I think it was another addition of a plant that is dangerous to other creatures without verifying that it did the same to crabs.

Eeeeenteresting.

I suppose I should look into the effects of cyanide hydrogen on inverts, or the molecular mechanism of the process of hydrolization that converts amygdalin to cyanide hydrogen.

Sigh. I really wish I hadn't skipped chemistry in high school... I seem to need it a lot these days.

(Stay in school, kids.)

On the upside, crabs love raspberry canes. So that's an easy one.

Also: apple not a prunus species. Though cherry is.

All I know is we had an ant farm in elementary school and the instructions said to give them leaves and any branches attached to the leaves in the prunus genus. If insects can eat it I figured crabs could as well, I never even bothered to check the list first.

I would assume if they can eat the fruit then the plant. Same would be said of commonly found plants in the same region/climate as the crabs live per your specific species of crab it would be safe as well. Again just a rule of thumb i use with plants in my tank.

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wodesorel wrote:All I know is we had an ant farm in elementary school and the instructions said to give them leaves and any branches attached to the leaves in the prunus genus. If insects can eat it I figured crabs could as well, I never even bothered to check the list first.

Whelp, I now have a burning need to know more about this, so I'm adding it the the vast laundry list of chem/bio stuff I have to look into. Y'know, after I've firmed up my understanding of beginners acid/base buffering & valance flakyness.

But I will return to this thread with further input. Eventually.

Just Jay - not always. Look at some of the things we can and cannot eat. Rubarb, stems fine but leaves will make a person ill. Tomatoes, fruit fine but the plant will poison you. Sometimes plants will only put energy into saving themselves and not their seeds or leaves.

I generally go by if it is a native plant, they will know if it is safe or not and chuck it in. If it is non-native, do many kinds of native arthropods eat the stuff? If so it's fair game to try, if not I pass on it. Like quince, probably not harmful, but the crabs had no interest so I was never sure if it was something they shouldn't eat or just didn't like. Daffodils are a strong no as nothing eats those!