HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I finally found a source to buy Bigleaf Maple leaves. My crabs love them because1) They eat them2) They hide under them3) The play with them (They are big and light)And I like them because when the crab sneaks across them, they make a lot of noise so I know they're up to something. BTW I looked them up; There are 12 kinds of maple and only one is toxic, the redleaf.Also you can see where the crab ate them. It's one of the few foods that leaves clear evidence. If your crab happens to be deficient in fiber/cellulose like mine were, they go nuts on these leaves.By the way, the source below sells whole saplings for $12, but I insisted on buying just leaves, because the water in Arizona probably is not as pure as Oregon. AZ is a mining state, and a desert too. Funny thing though, the owner said she would get them from a tree near a river that was growing naturally. That's because the nursery uses fertilizer pellets. I don't know the cost yet. But really this is not easy to find. I had a source in Canada but I lost touch.Acer macrophyllum - Bigleaf Maple‏ http://www.forestfarm.com/product.php?id=132I like this particular type of Maple because I had good results with them. Does anyone else here have a type of leaf they give their crabs? I wonder about the sugar maple leaf and the oak, particularly. Some of those other maple leaves don't look tasty at all to me, but who knows.

I collect huge batches of leaves rinse them off w their water and dry and store in containers for winter feeding. I put whole ones in the caddy, they hide and munch on them for days!

I get all sorts of maple the yellow and colored type the huge big ones and oak leaves to I crush my leaves to to make more room in my container..oh I love the smell of them to!

I put a dried maple leaf in the tank and Azazul has been crunching away on it for several minutes now. She isn't deficient in fiber. Maybe this smells much different than her other sources so she notices it more. I recommend it.

Laurie, my Bigleaf Maple doesn't seem to have much smell. It's very subtle. It could be because its dry. Do you know what other kind you have?