HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I've seen several people feeding freeze dried/steamed shrimp. Is there a reason they can't be raw? We get shrimp for fishing/eating all the time and since the hermies would east them uncooked in the wild I've considered giving it toi my guys. We change out their food nightly or every other night depending on what they're eating.

It wouldnt hurt the crabs but its not good to bring raw meat of any kind into your tank, warm, dark, moist conditions and just a bit of left over juice or meat can bread bacteria that is not good for you. Hermit crabs are one of the only pets that do not Carrie any kind of disease at all so you do not want to bring one in to your tank that could hurt you. Salmonella is one of the thing that you could end up with by missing just the littlest bit of juice from the raw meat.

I've been feeding my crabs various raw (as well as cooked) meats and seafood for years. I've never gotten sick from it and I've never had a bacteria problem in my tank. Just take normal precautions and you'll be fine.

Here is some support for not feeding raw food: stating info on pets

http://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2008/0 ... -your-pet/
this is from the web site:
In a recent post, I discussed a study about the health effects of feeding raw meat diets to pets. Because of the significantly higher rates of shedding of certain potentially harmful bacteria by dogs that are fed raw meat, I think raw meat diets are a bad choice - especially in households with young children, elderly individuals or people with compromised immune systems.

Its all a personal choice, we have many children that are members here and i hope our posters remember that while posting. I also want to add that Raw Egg would also fall into this same category of unsafe for humans.

I fed my crabs some raw salmon a few times and saw no ill effects on my part. Like Sugar said, just take the necessary precautions and you should be fine.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation out there regarding the feeding of raw food diets.

Personally, I know many people who feed their dogs and cats raw food diets. One of my friends has even built a very lucrative business around supplying other pet owners with a raw diet for their pets. Another of my friends runs a rescue here in town and she and many of her foster homes feed raw. They don't have any issues with getting food poisoning.

Cats are designed by nature to eat raw meat. Even our little house cat friends. Its actually unnatural to feed them the preprocessed packaged cat food. My mother used to feed our old house cat, Muffy, raw chunks of chicken ( mostly chicken fat ) that she trimmed off while preparing the meat. It was given to her all the time. Muffy lived to a ripe old age of 17 and never had a problem.

Dogs are a little different. They need some plant matter in their diet. However, they can and will readily eat raw meat with no ill effects. In actuallity, giving them a raw egg every now and again does make their coats shiner.

As for people eating raw meats, I love to eat raw meat myself, mostly in my sushi, and I am as healthy as a horse.

I use to give my crabs raw shrimp occasionally without any problems. They absolutely loved it!

in a tank that is warm dark and humid.. Lets also please remember the age of hermit crab owners. I for one do not think its a good idea for them to be feeding raw meats or eggs in a tank.. I also do not feed raw meats or eggs in my tanks. You cant see salmonella. maybe some of you have done it before with out a problem.. Im thankful for no problems for all of you. I stated my opinion of a general rule. Lets not make this a argument.. Its just my opinion.. I stated why. I know im not the only Mom out there that shares this opinion.

I can understand the risk to the owners when it comes to feeding hermit crabs raw meat. I think it's very much a personal choice whether or not to take the risk of E. Coli or other bacterial infections.

However, there is no doubt that the crabs can handle raw with no problems. Look at what they eat in nature! All scavengers can handle really nasty things that would kill a human. (Look at turkey vultures - they can digest anthrax!) Crabs fall into that wonderful scavenger category. There is also no doubt that raw is probably better for them in some ways as cooking will destroy the proteins and nutrients that would be found their naturally raw diet.

Personally, I risk it and feed everything to my crabs raw - from chicken liver to shrimp. Haven't been sick yet, but I am careful when I'm handing the food and the crabs and anything in the tank.

And as for raw diets on cats and dogs - it's definitely better, but it's also a severe risk. I had three friends that fed their cats approved BARF diets - and all three had at least one cat die from salmonella poisoning. (And immediately went back to dry food.) There is always that risk with any food - even the dry - and it's back to being a personal choice of what you're personally willing to risk.

As I said in my very first sentence It wont hurt the crabs at all but...
Crabs are scavengers..What the eat in the wild is way worse then anything they get as pets.. trash, dead birds, dead rodents, dead anything. Raw is not going to hurt them at all.. I just worry about our young crabbers and the tanks being a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Just trying to protect and state what i think is best. Its all your decision I think the safe rout is best at all times for us and for our crabs.
Blessings, Suebee

It's perfectly natural for them to eat raw meat. They don't have the luxury of a chef on the beaches where they live to cook their meat up for them.

Cooking actually changes the nutritional properties of food and rarely in a good way. It makes certain nutrients less digestible and destroys others.

As for fears about bacteria etc, I doubt the crabs are risk - it's more us at risk than them. I daresay they'd come across things far more putrid on a beach than they will in a properly cared for tank.

Good hygiene practices, such as always washing your hands after changing their food or doing maintenance in the tank and not leaving food in there long enough to go completely rotten will be enough to keep you and your crabs safe.

My job exposes me to raw, rotten meat and seafood on an almost daily basis, so for me personally, I'm not worried about any risks my tank poses to me.

I feed raw shrimp and on occasion raw frozen crabs (sp. Varuna yui) as well.

On a side note, given the choice between a freshly killed cricket and a defrosted shrimp piece, they would go for the cricket; raw clam on the half-shell seems to be not too much of a hit with my pair though. Picky eaters...

so steamed shrimps is safe for crabs. isn't it?

MudCrabDude wrote: raw clam on the half-shell seems to be not too much of a hit with my pair though. Picky eaters...

Have you tried oysters? My crabs go nuts for them and I sometimes feed them raw.