HCA: Hermit Crab Association

What is the consensus about feeding only dried commercial food? I get the impression that most people on this board disdain it, but my crabs like it..

AND...

When I did feed fresh carrots and leafy greens, they didn't seem interested and I got fruit flies in my crabitat, which was a real pain to clean.

SO...

Is there any real harm to only feeding them dried food?

The reason most people on the board don't use it is because it has harmful preservatives in it.

You shouldn't have gotten fruit flies in the habitat if you replaced the food after a day--hmm.

Try another pass at the fruit and veggies, and maybe some meat or eggs. It might take them a little while longer to adjust to it, but I'm sure eventually they'll like it.

Just remeber that not all food given to crabs have to be fresh.

www.thehappyhermitcrab.com

www.hermitcrabaddictionstore.com


These sites both have dried foods you can give to your hermit crabs without all the bad preservatives.

I don't think it would be terrible to only give them dried kibbles, but I would try and give them some fresh foods at least two or three times a week.

For instance, land hermits probably get some of their water from what they eat, and dried food cannot provide that. Offering a fresh protein source and fruit source would be beneficial for the crabs.

hey look I'm all for feeding all kinds of good stuff to our babies but sometimes it seems a little rude to put down people who do offer some of the commercial foods i mean some of you guys have dogs right and do you feed your dogs freshly killed chicken cow and pig and make it a huge plate of corn and green beans and all that other good stuff for dogs or do you buy it outta a can or a bag isn't it kind of the same thing but like i said I'm all for the fresh veggies and all natural foods so don't take it the wrong way

crabbytilly wrote:do you feed your dogs freshly killed chicken cow and pig and make it a huge plate of corn and green beans and all that other good stuff for dogs or do you buy it outta a can or a bag isn't it kind of the same thing

Some people really do. My cat totally adores the occasional green bean or three and turns himself inside out trying to get a hold of sweet corn. Absolutely goes nuts for it.
It's sort of comparing apples to oranges really though. Most commercial crab foods are pretty much the equivalent of feeding your dogs & cats Alpo or Friskies. Will they eat it? Sure. Do lots of people feed it to them with no big problem? Sure. Is it necessarily the best thing? Not so much.

Dog & cat foods are also a bit more strictly monitored & have to meet certain standards while crab food doesn't. In order to provide more complete nutrition, it has to be at least supplemented with a variety of fresh foods.

All commercial food isn't as evil as some people would like to make it out to be. Try to stick to types with a minimum number of preservatives and dubious ingredients though. Variety is also important. The links Kevin posted sell some good stuff, as does Crabbage Patch (or whatever it is they go by these days.)
Personally, I make my own dry staple foods, that way I know what my crabs are getting and I can adjust them to suit their needs & tastes. I'm not ashamed to admit that I don't always have time for much more than that. I go to school full time plus have two jobs and occasionally try to cram in a social life. I grow a few things in containers on my patio, but bulk food sections in grocery stores like Whole Foods are great. You can buy like a dozen different bags of tiny amounts of stuff for maybe a couple bucks total and it lasts a long, long time. I also give them various freeze-dried things like shrimp, squid, blood worms, beef, fish, etc.

About the dog food thing...You've obviously never met a RAW/BARF feeder huh? LOL! I should take pictures of my freezerS. (With an s. ) It's stocked full of meats for the DOGS. And mines no where NEAR what some people I know have. I know people with over 300 pounds of raw dog food in the freezers who have problems finding room for THEIR food.

Needless to say, there isn't anything wrong with feeding commerical foods if it's HEALTHY. Chemical preservatives like BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin aren't healthy. There are Hermit people who offer dry kibbles for Hermit Crabs that ARE healthy and preservative free. Those are fine. But when you bring the ones with chemicals in them into your crabs diet, you can risk health problems and even death. (Someone on here had a crab that was fed with ethoxyquin preserved foods and after it molted it came up deformed)

And since someone decided to bring dog food into it, dog and cat food is the SAME way. There are ingredients that shouldn't be in their food which is why, same as Hermit Crab food, you should go for something naturally preserved.

So my point being, find a Hermie kibble that's healthy and naturally preserved and I see NOTHING wrong with it. The only reason people have a problem with MOST on the market is because it's not good for your crabs and they only want whats best for these awesome little creatures.

Also one more thing to point out, are you SURE they aren't eating the fresh stuff? Hermit Crabs eat VERY little food and sometimes it can be hard to see that anything has gone missing unless you have a tat that has like 30+ crabs in it. And I'm not sure how you got fruit flies if you're replacing it often enough (Each day) unless they were already in your house?