HCA: Hermit Crab Association

This should apply to all animals.


NEW ( 8-1-07):
Added recommended food + vegetarian information.

Also, keep checking for updates.


Sodium Chloride
Sodium Chloride is just table salt. Table salt often contains anti-caking agents, which are preservatives. Also, table salt contains a lot of iodine, and too much iodine in a hermit crab's diet can be poisonous


menadione

fungicide: a yellow crystalline solid used as a fungicide and as a vitamin K supplement in medicines and animal feedstuffs.
Formula: C11H8O2


copper sulfate

n
poisonous blue chemical: a poisonous blue compound containing copper and sulfur that is used in dyeing and as a fungicide.
Formula: CuSO4

"Very Highly Toxic" to some species of hermit crab ( not land). Probably toxic to land hermit crabs. (Link where someone found this here.)

ALSO toxic to fiddler crabs and other species of crustacean.

The toxicity they provide is only an average, meaning it could be worse.

Also, there are many other crustaceans that toxicity is rated as "Highly Toxic" or "Very High Toxic." There are different types of copper sulfate, and you do not know which one is used in your hermit crabs' food.
http://www.pesticideinfo.org/List_Aquir ... rustaceans


ferrous sulfate :

pale green salt of iron: a white or pale green salt containing iron, oxygen, and sulfur. It occurs naturally as the mineral copperas, and is used in inks, tanning, and in the treatment of iron-deficient anemia.

Listed as "moderatetly toxic" for a species of shrimp on
http://www.pesticideinfo.org/List_Aquir ... Id=PC35094

Also "slightly toxic" for some brine shrimp.

propylene glycol (found in those vanilla cookies!)

thick colorless liquid antifreeze: a colorless thick sweet-tasting liquid derived from propylene and used as an antifreeze in brake fluid, and as a solvent and lubricant.

And isn't high fructose corn syrup sugar?

zeolite:
silicate minerals that may also contain sodium, calcium, barium, and potassium, occurring in cavities in weathered igneous rocks and hydrothermal veins.
The ion exchange properties of zeolites have application in water purification.



Ethoxyquin

I read on-line that it is used as a rubber stabilizer, and used to be used as a pesticide. I also read that it can cause cancer. A theory is that it causes bad molts.

Other names:

00269 (CA DPR Chem Code) , 055501 (US EPA PC Code) , 1,2-Dihydro-6-ethoxy-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline , 269 (CA DPR Chem Code) , 6-Ethoxy-1,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethyl quinoline , 91-53-2 (CAS Number) , 91532 , 91532 (CAS Number) , Ethoxyquin , ethoxyquine , Etoxiquin , Stop-Scald

http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Che ... Id=PC35089

magnesium oxide
Can cause pain, coughing, diarrhea, and more to humans.
http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Che ... Id=PC32920

zinc oxide
Toxic to humans.
http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Che ... Id=PC35158

artificial color
Additive. May effect molting. You do not know what exactly is in that artificial color, do you?



Some products these are found in:

JurassiDiet Hermit Crab Food
Tetra Terrafauna Hermit Crab Cakes
Tetra Terrafauna Hermit Crab Meal
T-Rex Crab Island Fruit and Flower Crab Food
Ectotherm The Original Hermit Crab Yummies
HBH Hermit Crab Variety Bites
zoomeds hermit crab food
FMR Land Hermit Crab Treat
Crab Island Hermit Crab Food
FMR Land Hermit Crab Treat
HBH Hermit Crab Cookies


There are a lot more because there are a lot more hermit crab foods out there that I didnt look up. This is why i think everyone should switch to feeding hermit crabs fresh foods.




Some commercial foods have chlorine in them. Chlorine stresses out hermit crabs and kills them.


BY- PRODUCTS:

By-products can contain dead carcasses of animals with euthanasia fluids, animals wearing flea collars, diseased livestock, livestock poisoned to death with insecticides, rotting "supermarket rejects " including plastic or styrofoam packaging.

Source: http://www.vegepet.com/


Quotes from this topic:

ZanZan wrote:I highly wouldn't recommend feeding commercials foods, They got preservative and they had something that MAKE hermit crabs wants to eat more.

Thats why home make food is more healthier than take outs. They do need a chemical that makes us think it's yummier than usual to make us want more.

I wouldn't feed even a little to them...

layne_d wrote:EQ is a preservative, and from what I read, it has chemical build similar to pesticides --- however, I don't belive everything I read! being invertibrates, hermies and insects have similar anatomy, so pesticides are bad for them. so assuming what I read is true, EQ is somewhat like a pesticide.

I've never under stood WHY anyone would want to feed their crabs preseratives?

Ryanstein wrote:I have had several crab deaths, and I firmly believe that it is from the bad chemicals in the crab food. I had HBH Hermit Crab Variety Bites, but I have stopped using it, since it has almost all of the bad preservatives in it.

Hermit_of_Hermit_Crabs wrote:Those commercials foods that are listed do contain a lot of good ingredients, such as calcium, protein, etc. I usually feed the commercials foods to my crabs about once every couple weeks and then the rest of the time they get fruits, nuts, and veggies.

supercrab wrote:I would stay away from anything that does not exist in nature. If it is coloured by chemicals I would not use it. The crabs will eat it and get sick.

Laura_B wrote:That's why many of us feed organic fresh foods, to minimize exposure to chemicals.

Our observations of crab health with a fresh food diet is that color, energy and growth rate increase with fresh foods. We also notice fewer molting deaths and deformities. All observations point us in the direction that commercial crab foods are not the best nutritional options, or even an equally good option to fresh foods.

Other sites:
http://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php ... ngredients


Food I highly recommend:
http://www.hermitcrabaddictionstore.com ... t/pd439942
It is Epicurean Hermit. I couldn't find it on their site.

Recipes:
http://www.epicureanhermit.com/index.ph ... e&Itemid=1

Hermit crabs unfortunately cannot go vegetarian due to essential amino acids they need in their diets. Their meat should also be organic, though, because it can be contaminated with pesticides, hormones, etc.


YOU ARE FREE TO USE THIS AS LONG AS YOU GIVE ME CREDIT.

Mention what dictionary you got them in and that should be alright for a start.

Alright.
This is a copyright thing:

Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Should I edit the post above because of that? Or is it alright on a forum?

Truthfully if we all only knew half of what the minerals and "other" things wee that doctors the federal government put into our bodies we would be terrified. But generally speaking, if the mineral come into contact with any igneous rock- volcanic- it is probably not safe for the hermies to eat or come into contact with because of all the poisonous gases that are typically involved in the formation of those rocks. If you have any questions about the chemical compound of any specific item I can probably find it for you. I've been studying vocanology and geology for about twelve years. I love dealing rocks and minerals.

I'm not saying all of those things are good for crabs, but just because chemicals are used in scary-sounding ways it doesn't make them toxic. Copper sulfate is used in large doses for all sorts of bad stuff, but in small amounts it's naturally occuring. Virtually all creatures on earth consume it in small amounts as a source of copper, which is an important the diet. More research is needed.

I agree with that. In fact volcanic soil is the most fertile growing soil in the world- which is often why there are large numbers of deaths when a volcano erupts in a third world or developing country. We just need to be very careful because quite often the trace amounts of elements and minerals that are in processed foods for pets are not nearly as "pure" as they would be if the crabs were eating the food right off of the soil itself.

I'm very interested in finding out the effects of ethoxyquin on hermit crabs.
Anyone out there know about it?

Also,has anyone had crabs that have been affected by this chemical?

I went to the pet store today,picked up a sun glo bulb and the shop assistant after hearing my story about Omega being pale blue/grey recommended a commercial food meant for enchancing colour.
I bought it as i couldn't remember which chemicals in commercial foods are bad(it had eq in ingredients list),but am not going to feed it to my crabbies now after reading here about eq being no good. Just don't want to take the risk.

What I could find about Ethoxyquin is that it is a carcinagenic food preservative. It is frequently used in Pet food of all varieties. Now I'm not saying that I heavily researched it, but simple yahoo & google searches brought up the same results. Hope that helps a bit.

EQ is a preservative, and from what I read, it has chemical build similar to pesticides --- however, I don't belive everything I read! being invertibrates, hermies and insects have similar anatomy, so pesticides are bad for them. so assuming what I read is true, EQ is somewhat like a pesticide.

I've never under stood WHY anyone would want to feed their crabs preseratives?

I think that pesticides are made to kill arthropods.

I killed my hermit crab by letting it my a cat with a flea collar on! O_O

Ethoxyquin is used as both a preservative and (in considerably larger amounts) a pesticide. Some evidence leads us to believe it may be harmful to crabs. In recent years, many pet owners have become concerned about it’s use. However, the FDA has researched Ethoxyquin and has found it to be safe for animals and humans in small doses.
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/ANS00119.html

Of course, the FDA didn’t research the impact it could have on arthropods and it’s use as a pesticide raises some concerns in that area. At a minimum, it serves no beneficial role in crab diet and preservatives in general don’t point to particularly good crab food. So I avoid it.

More info on ethoxyquin used as a pesticide: http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsh ... 03fact.pdf

I read somewhere that it was a rubber stabilizer.

Hi
I noticed that FMR treat is on your list but I have it and the contents read:
papaya, coconut, pineapple, sea salt, banana chips, apples, mangoes, rolled oats and wheat germ. I see none of the stuff mentioned above on the bottle. Could you please tell me where you found the info that showed that these bad ingredients are included. I have been feeding my crabs this because I have not read anything bad in it so I need to clarify if it is good or bad.
thanks.

all those ingrediants are on the safe food list, supercrab

the origin of the fruits is what would concern me the most... i'm guessing that they were raised with pesticides or fertilziers. you can safe and buy certified organic foods at a super market and have no guess work at all. or you coudl contact FMR to ask how their fruits are grown, but I find that fresh organic food is better for crabs, if not even more appealing.

Well I tend to give fresh food and the FMR treat with plankton and krill. I know they like the latter better because that is what they eat most of. Anyway I am in the process of buying a ton of food from NarNar so they will have more variety coming up. Thanks for the info.