HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Is can tuna safe to give hermies? Like the starkist brand? It says in the ingredients it has salt....whats the deal with salt? They cant have iodine right? Why is that? Is the salt amount in the can tuna small enough to feed them some? Thanks!

I generally don't feed my guys tuna because of the salt. The actual salt isn't the problem, it is the iodine and other chemicals that are added to prevent caking. As a general rule, I don't use any sort of table salts for my crabs because those chemicals can be toxic.

I wouldn't use canned tuna but I've seen other crabbers mention that they have. :dunno:

Okay, thanks. Maybe I will just stay away from it. Id rather not take the risk..thanks

I've tried the organic tuna from Trader Joes that doesn't have the extra stuff in it. Sometimes they go for it, others not. I did give them just a bit and froze the rest of it to give them over time.

CrabbyMom33 wrote:I've tried the organic tuna from Trader Joes that doesn't have the extra stuff in it. Sometimes they go for it, others not. I did give them just a bit and froze the rest of it to give them over time.

I've tried canned tuna and salmon from trader joes. They mostly tend to ignore. I've tried the kind in water (no salt) and in vegetable broth (no salt). They love the shrimp from TJ's though.

I just bought a can of tuna with no salt (only water) I found it at Whole Foods. I’m curious what my crabs will think.

@Mama Crabs: cool, let me know how it goes.

There is a Whole Foods up the road from my work, maybe I'll check it out and see what the crabbies do

i have tryed a little tuna but my Hermie's seemed to ignore it. more good than bad now that i know there is iodine in it.

I don't know if they cared for it, it's hard to tell since I put a lot in and their mouths are small.