HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I dont have any cuttlebone, and im worried that my crabbys arent getting enough protein. I have been giving them scrambled eggs once a week, but now what im doing is giving them some one day, putting the rest in the refrigerator, then heating the rest up, and giving it to them another day. Are they getting enough protein though? I also heard that you can give them the shell, how do i prepare that? Like how long and on what temp. should it go in the oven?

Some people bake the shells... I personally do not. I just scramble and egg and serve it in the shell halves.

And is the only source of protein the eggs? I highly recommend variation in proteins. Are you vegetarian? Try picking up some freeze dried kritters and some nuts. I personally don't eat meat very often. I can't remember the last time I bought meat for myself. What I did is picked up a small pack of chicken breast, a steak and some sea food. The seafood all went into the freezer right away. The meat I cut into small cubes and then froze them. Perfect hermie portions.

As for cuttlebone, it costs about a buck or less at pet stores and in the pet aisle of grocery stores. It's super cheap and an excellent source of calcium. Crushed eggshells and crushed oyster shells will also help.

yea the only source of protien is the eggs=[ Do you think they have the cuttlebone in petsmart? And yes again, im a vegetarian, but my parents arent, so i guess i can give them some meat and seafood.

Petsmart will have cuttlebone in the bird section. It's the white oval shaped object that you attach to the bars of a bird cage. Petsmart will also have lots of freeze dried krill, plankton, shrimp etc in the fish section and freeze dried crickets and meal worm in the reptile section. It's a quick source of protein that won't spoil quickly in the tat.

And I highly suggest you ask your parents to cut a little piece of meat off before they put any seasonings on it and feed that to the crabs. They are not mammals who can get by on a vegetarian diet. Even you need supplements, do you not? B12 is an example of a supplement that ALL vegetarians need to take. Crabs cannot go to a dr and get their vitamin and mineral levels checked out for deficiencies, let alone pop a vitamin if they are off. So it's up to us to provide variety and hope they pick and choose what they need at that point in time.

ok=]] ill buy some cuttlebone=]

Petsmart most definitely has cuttlebones In the bird section.

ANother thing you can do, while youre at petsmart, is pick up some of the krill, or brine shrimp...for some extra protein sources.