HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I see powdered peanut butter (i.e. PB2 and similar brands) mentioned on here quite frequently. When it first came out in retail stores was about the time I started keeping crabs--2008-ish. Most brands were just dehydrated peanut butter. Some has additives such as salt.

I asked on here if it was safe to use and I got the familiar, "Only if you want to kill your crabs" response that was popular back then with the staunchly unforgiving set of members who knew it all and ran the boards.

So is it now considered safe? and is it healthy?

Same question with shed snake skin. I was told to never ever feed shed snake skins to hermit crabs because it was instantly deadly. So what's the story now?

When people posted such impassioned responses, back then I tended to believe them. Some of their ideas I took to heart. My crabs haven't ever had powdered peanut butter or snake skin. On other things, I tended to ignore them (corner guards and false bottoms being "mandatory", plastic and metal of any kind being deadly, etc.) and I hoped for the best. I turned out to be a pretty good crab-keeper. I'm relaxed about it, but nearly everyday I come across something that was a "cardinal rule" back then being entirely dismissed and/or completely forgotten. It's good to review and maintain an open mind.

I would say that if the powdered peanut butter is just peanuts and maybe a bit of salt, it should be safe. Some people will probably say it should be organic. I would avoid any that had any artificial sweeteners or preservatives.

I have given mine PB2 occasionally, not as a staple, but as a ~something different~

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I give mine snake skin shed and they love it! Never had any issues...


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It's funny how much things have changed since I started keeping crabs. This is a good thing! One reason I dusted off this ol' account and became active again was to learn new stuff. Mostly what I've learned is that many long held "facts" and "musts" have changed.

The next time my snake sheds, I'm going to offer the crabbies some of it!