HCA: Hermit Crab Association

My husband and I are vegan. All our crabs have a never ending supply of fruits, veggies and other plants. We give them Freeze dried crickets, shrimps and worms. They get cuttlebone and exo-mixes for calcium. My question is, do they need other animal based foods? I've seen there are various crab foods made and sold by crab owners like chicken, cows, lambs, etc. Do they really need that stuff? We stick with organic foods as much as possible. I need to know exactly what our crabs are eating. I want them to have a healthy, balanced diet and do not want to leave out any vital dietary needs they may have.

I personally believe that it is, and wouldn’t stop offering it, but you could offer other protein, like fish, nuts, and eggs. I suppose that a crab could do without animal meat if offered other types of food. You aren’t eating it, so you really don’t have to worry about that.

Well, you are giving crickets, shrimp and worms, so you really are giving meat. I really don't know enough to say that is enough. In addition to those things, I also give my crabs freeze dried, single ingredient cat treats. They come in various fish flavors as well as chicken, chicken liver, beef, duck, lamb, etc.

I rarely give mine fresh meat and they are doing fine.


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Animal meat provides lipids and a complete range of amino acids, and is the most efficient way of providing the latter.

Invertebrates such as insects and crustaceans make good sources of proteins, and also provide many minerals that hermit crabs need for their exoskeletons.

I know that some may disagree, but I don’t really think having a wide variety of protein sources is an absolute must. Meat is meat, and many nutrients found in animals are also found in plants (note that some nutrients may be more plentiful in certain animals than in plants, and vice versa. It’s up to you to decide how to best provide said nutrients).


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Brian_T wrote:Well, you are giving crickets, shrimp and worms, so you really are giving meat. I really don't know enough to say that is enough. In addition to those things, I also give my crabs freeze dried, single ingredient cat treats. They come in various fish flavors as well as chicken, chicken liver, beef, duck, lamb, etc.

I rarely give mine fresh meat and they are doing fine.


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Where do you find these cat treats? What's the brand?

In the wild they are getting a diverse selection of insects, small sea dwelling crustaceans, fish and maybe the occasional bird or reptile/amphibian. You can certainly cover most of that with freeze-dried and frozen options from the pet store!

If you wanted to mix it up a little then fish would be great, lots of good oils and other nutritional bonuses in that, and those are available as fish/turtle treats or as cat treats. Wild caught fish cannot be certified as organic, so don't worry too much about labeling.

Poultry would be the only other thing that might be a good idea, and again can be found organic as dog/cat treats.

ciaraalston wrote:

Brian_T wrote:Well, you are giving crickets, shrimp and worms, so you really are giving meat. I really don't know enough to say that is enough. In addition to those things, I also give my crabs freeze dried, single ingredient cat treats. They come in various fish flavors as well as chicken, chicken liver, beef, duck, lamb, etc.

I rarely give mine fresh meat and they are doing fine.


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Where do you find these cat treats? What's the brand?

Popping in to say I've fed my crabs PureBites beef jerky in the past - you can get it at Petco in the dog section, and it's just beef. No preservatives or chemicals or anything funky. My dogs have fallen in love with the salmon PureBites, which are made for cats, but since it's just salmon, I figure it's fine for them. Going to offer some to the crabs too. The cat ones are fairly cheap, I think I paid about $6 for the bag. It isn't a huge bag, but not teeny either.

ciaraalston wrote:

Brian_T wrote:Well, you are giving crickets, shrimp and worms, so you really are giving meat. I really don't know enough to say that is enough. In addition to those things, I also give my crabs freeze dried, single ingredient cat treats. They come in various fish flavors as well as chicken, chicken liver, beef, duck, lamb, etc.

I rarely give mine fresh meat and they are doing fine.


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Where do you find these cat treats? What's the brand?

You usually have to go to a small independent pet store. Some of the brands I use are Purebites and orijen. Amazon had alot too. Some are sold as dog treat too, but the bags are huge for hermit crabs.

Just make sure the ingredients are all meat products. About the only additive that's OK is mixed tocopherals (vitamin e).

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Just want to say that i added baked chicken to the tat and my purple pinchers didnt touch it. i read on the care sheets that purple pinchers eat more vegetarian than most...

Brian_T wrote:Well, you are giving crickets, shrimp and worms, so you really are giving meat. I really don't know enough to say that is enough. In addition to those things, I also give my crabs freeze dried, single ingredient cat treats. They come in various fish flavors as well as chicken, chicken liver, beef, duck, lamb, etc.

I rarely give mine fresh meat and they are doing fine.


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That is what I was thinking, it is fine

I just gave my hermit crab 1 cricket and its a safe food and yes only a but of meat i think