HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Well I noticed that the painted shells was bad and it got me to thinking, The coral, coconuts and things that you can buy at the petstore for them are dyed like neon green, red, pink, yellow, some orange. Will that dye hurt them at all? I mean I can't see the people that mainly produce hermit crab merchandise (because I see the same label at every store) I can't see them intentionally hurting the crabs but I was wondering............

Hon, many people that make those things and sell them are only thinking about one thing, and it isn't crabbies.

As Michelle says, the manufacturers often don't think about/realise the adverse effects of the dyes they use. It may be that they've used certain types of dye safely in aquarium ornaments and thus assumed they'll be safe in hermit tanks, or it might be that because something is safe for human consumption they assume that animals will be able to eat it too. This is wrong, but unfortunately not uncommon.

Your safest bet is to avoid buying things that seem artificially coloured and dyed. Bright green coconut for instance Fresh coconut will probably cost you less from a grocers and you can freeze what you don't use. Dyed corals might look attractive in an aquarium, but if you're buying coral for your hermies then its safer to buy coral that is naturally coloured. And if you're buying coral to provide your crabs with calcium, a cuttle bone will work just as well.