HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello, my hermit crabs both recently came up from molting about 4 weeks ago and they have been very active, eating, changing shells, and drinking water just fine, but recently they haven’t been eating like they used to. They have been eating fresh fruit and veg ever since I got them as well as different nuts, seeds, oats, shrimp and krill, I know how small they nibble, but they’re food, including they’re favorites, hadn’t been nibbled at all. I don’t offer them the hermit crab food mixes fellow hermit owners make because I don’t have any, so I don’t know if they would prefer that. A little bit after I noticed this, one of my crabs stopped appearing all together. I would stay up to all hours, but he never came out, which was strange since he’d just had his first successful molt with me. He couldn’t be molting again right? While he’s gone, my other crabbie is not eating any of the fresh food I give him at all, and before this neither was the first mentioned crab. What’s wrong? They were doing soo good for a while. I think they might be hating the fresh food all of a sudden. All help is appreciated, thank you in advance!

Also, I’ve tried giving them honey, natural peanut butter, and egg with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil, they don’t like ANY of that either!

Hermies love a variety, even though it can take them many times of offering the same thing before they’ll try it. You’ll add something and they don’t touch it then add it awhile later and they eat it like they’ve never eaten before! Silly guys! Maybe try some bloodworms and some of the mixes from of the Etsy shops sell. Do you have any leaf litter for them? Leaf litter, dried flowers, moss, and other foraging items. Try sprouting some seeds for them. I’m trying to think of some things my guys always eat and go crazy for. Bloodworms is one, especially this one kind I got off eBay, the shop said they are fresh and they must be bc they eat a TON of them. I will leave a link to a few different things my guys absolutely love. Worm castings they love, green sand, do you have any calcium mixes for them? I’ll try to separate by shop...

These are from Earth, Water, Fire Studio (Mary Akers.
This calcium mix they are always eating and it’s good to have a calcium mix at all times, I keep a separate bowl of this mixed with greensand and extra crab exo in the same dish in their tank at all times. There are other shops that sell calcium mixes as well, these are just some my my crabs favorites. I’ve bought these mixes since I’ve had my crabs and always have them on hand.
https://etsy.me/2VbCwf5

Cabana banaba,
https://etsy.me/2KaakDa

Color mix, another good fruit mix that also helps color boosting your crabs beautiful colors
https://etsy.me/2PaZPzE
There is a fish mix and a game and grains mix I got from crab con that they really like, crabby granola they love, oh and seaweed salad, I leave out at all times too. It’s so hard to list just a few things, now that I’m trying to actually do that! Lol

Hobo Hermie is another favorite of ours my guys love the macaroon cranberry, coconut shrimp, she has so many good loot bags with a lot of good stuff in them, it’s really hard to narrow any down.
https://etsy.me/2OIHqg5

Just2OldCrabs has a lot of good stuff, oh I see there’s nothing listed in her shop now, I think she will be restocking soon.
https://etsy.me/2SlX81o

BioactiveFX1 has so many good things
https://etsy.me/3bIDOTX

Canadian Chubby Crab- she is a Canadian store but the exchange rates aren’t bad at all, I’ve ordered several times and have never had any problems. I think her food shop is on Facebook

Coenobita Curiosities - i think they have both Etsy and Facebook stores. Our very own @Motorcrab and @Xenocrab could steer you in the right direction, that is their shop.
https://etsy.me/3fVyoXQ


Hermit Grub
https://etsy.me/2TMht0v

City Crab Cafe
https://etsy.me/38f4kTz

This is the latest sprout mix I got for them, off of eBay. I put some eco earth in a small terra cotta saucer and then add some seeds on top, water them daily(or a few times a day depending on what they neee) and let them sprout and add them when they get a good start and growing good, I add them to the tank and water them once a day. It took my guys a few times before they tried them but they love them now.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/202932640361

Here is the brand of bloodworms I got but I couldn’t find them in ebay, these are on amazon. Another good brand is SanFransisco Bay brand bloodworms, you can probably search amazon or eBay and find better deal. I get bigger bags bc I have a lot of crabs to feed
Freeze Dried Bloodworms, Clean Fresh 10 ... 1BGE73GM/


I know there’s so many great shops that I left out and definitely didn’t mean to. Check out a few of the shops and pick a few things and try them out. I tend to go a little overboard but I have a lot of crabs and different species to try and keep happy and they like different things. If you need any help picking some stuff out let us know, we would love to help. I hope this wasn’t too much or too overwhelming. I try not to pick favorites when it comes to the food shops but a couple are friends and close friends of mine so it’s kinda hard. Get a few things from each food groups and offer them a few different things each week. You’ll see them eating and making a mess in no time.


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Thank you! I’ll check these out, so would you say they’re tired of the fresh variety that I give them and they might like some dry mixes instead? I do have a moss pit in there and I provide egg shells for calcium as well, so I think I’ll try going a different path. Definitely looking forward to seeing their messy eating!

gflor119 wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 13, 2020 7:17 pm

Thank you! I’ll check these out, so would you say they’re tired of the fresh variety that I give them and they might like some dry mixes instead? I do have a moss pit in there and I provide egg shells for calcium as well, so I think I’ll try going a different path. Definitely looking forward to seeing their messy eating!

mine gobble up popcorn and riced cauliflower - its almost all I can get them to eat. when I give it to them they don't leave any behind!

I know my guys tend to prefer the mixes from the Etsy shops. It’s kinda weird, I’ve done so many different fruits and veggies and the only ones they go for like crazy are sweet potato, strawberries, apple, and sometimes banana. I don’t really like to leave it in the tank more than 24 hours but sometimes they seem to like them when they’re a little more yucky, kinda rotted so sometimes I will leave them an extra day, it depends if they seem like they’re eating them a lot or not. We always have strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and sometimes watermelon on hand for the kids and sometimes it’s like the crabs just don’t want them. All crabs are different and I find it shocking that my guys would rather have the made mixes. I’ve been trying to play around with making my own stuff with things I’ve bought from other shops too. I made a forage mix that has like 5 different types of leaves (catappa leaves, oak leaves, maple leaves, sea grape leaves, burning bush leaves, dried flowers, jasmine flowers, hibiscus, rose petals, rose hips, seed mixes like millet, chia, and others, I have soo many different things in there and that’s been a big favorite. I also add worm castings, chicken poo, bee pollen, id have to find the list of everything I have in it bc I got a big bowl and just started adding all kinds of dried plant type stuff, red clover, dandelion leaf, moss, lichen. They really love their foraging dish and when I fill that those nights they barely touch their other stuff. I also have a calcium dish I use, I put a calcium mix, green sand, crab exo, azomite, oyster shell powder, and big pieces of cuddle bone in. So they have 4 dishes I have for each tank, their main food dish, calcium dish, forage dish, and their sprout dish. You probably don’t have to go that overboard, offering a few things from the food pyramid, like meat proteins(I like to do a water meat protein like red shrimp, giant krill, plankton and then a land meat like chicken or beef (chicken or beef liver or lung) some dog treats that are one single ingredient are perfect for those and you get a decent amount that will last you awhile, fruit, land and water plants(seaweed mixes and leaf litter), and a calcium dish and they’ll do very well. Anyone else that wants to add anything I missed or went overboard on too.


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