HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello, I have noticed that alot of people give their crabs fresh food. What are some good beginner foods that I can give them? Beginner as in me, not the crabs. Stuff I can find in a regular grocery. Also, how much food is supposed to be available to them all the time? Right now in their food dish I put about an 1/8 teaspoon of the following: happy hermit staple kibble, honey cuttlebone, worm castings and a sweet treat (goji berry, pumpkin, dehydrated apple and cranberry are all I have now, so I alternate). What of those should I always offer and what should I alternate? Im going to order some flower kibble and protein mix kibble also to alternate with the staple kibble....sorry Im rambling a little....so what easy to find fresh foods can i start with and hows my dish im ccurrently offering? Thanks!

The only noticeable thing i see missing i your diet is animal protein. My average diet is as follows, all of which is available at grocery stores:
Freeze-dried shrimp
Frozen carrots mixed with romaine lettuce, about 5:2 ratio of carrot-lettuce (i call it my color booster)
cuttlebone
and the ever important coconut
My occasional treats:
dandelion stems
walnuts
locust honey
beef
chicken
game meat
-----
My regular daily diet has appeared to give my PP's a deep purple color and my E's and Rugs a silverish gray and sometimes purple, with orange or yellow joints. I have a cobalt colored E that looks amazing!...

Cool, thanks. I'm ordering a protein mix from hermit crab patch. Would that be good for proteins? I will definitely try your diet also, definitely the carrot lettuce color booster and ill get some coconut thanks

Yep, that'll do it!

The protein mix from the Hermit Crab Patch is good. I'd recommend 2 dishes, if you have the space, even 2 small shells. The reason is that the dry food - protein mix, worm castings, cuttlebone, etc. will last several days without being changed. The "fresh" foods tend to mold or start to smell really bad more quickly. I change out the fresh stuff daily, but leave the dry dish for about 4 days.

Easy foods:
- scrambled egg
- egg shell from that scrambled egg - I microwave it a few seconds to cook the raw egg for my own protection to not introduce bacteria into the tank. The crabs don't care if it's cooked or not.
- ground beef - if you are frying up a pound of ground beef pull out a couple tablespoons after frying and before seasoning. I give them a little that night and put the rest in a freezer baggie in the freezer, then break off small pieces for meals.
- veggies the family is eating - pull out a little before seasoning
- fruit you have in the house. If I eat a banana I cut off a piece and put it in the frig in a baggie, then they get some for that night and a night a couple days later. Same for apples, grapes, etc.

Some other good proteins are freeze dried bloodworms and sun dried gammarus shrimp (found in the pet section of walmart). Petsmart (and maybe Petco) carries Flukers Turtle Medley and Reptile Medley (I think?). Both contain crickets and mealworms, the turtle has shrimp and the reptile has grasshoppers. Those are a good source of protein too.

oh and you get freeze dried shrimp at the pet store, not grocery.

also good to have some dried seaweed (from sushi paper or shredded) or spurilina powder (at a pet store).

also good idea to get organic baby food, put in tiny ice cube trays (the kind for water bottles) and freeze for later

Blackorchid- oops , I meant to make note of that, my mistake.

Another thing I forgot I have ( and I don't use that often) is a mixture of wildflowers I found. It contains wild violet, apple blossoms, peach blossoms, maple leaf sprouts, and dandelion petals. These provide excellent color boosts and natural sugars.

Thanks everyone so much! All you input really helped and you guys even answered a couple questions I had without knowing it lol...im going to start keeping a crabbing journal and all these ideas will be jotted down = ) thanks again[/quote]