inexpensive food?

[crabs_lex]

does anyone know where i can get the best deals on food because i don’t have too much money to spend on their food and if i but like 6 small things from an etsy store i’m already paying a fortune
i need a lot of food for them to last a while
(also how often do you guys order food for your little guys)

[doth]

it can definitely be tricky to offer a good variety of foods without spending a ton of money on dozens of different foods! repurposing foods you make for yourself can help with this. one thing I like to do is whenever I'm chopping up fruits/veggies for myself I put the scraps in the freezer for the crabs.

for protein it can be more cost effective to buy a big bag of dried mealworms or crickets compared to pre-made hermit crab blends. and for calcium, you can get a big cuttlebone and that will last awhile. every time I use an egg in baking I give the crabs the shell, that gives them an extra source of calcium that they LOVE!

a big sheet of plain dried seaweed will last awhile too & is pretty affordable at grocery stores.

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[wodesorel]

You can feed them entirely from your own meals! Please don't fall for having to buy them special food. I used to sell in my own store and it always felt so much like a scam, buying in bulk for pennies and then selling for dollars.

If you wanted to get them something special, the pet store has the best bang for your buck on dried seafood and insects. Flukers has a jar of mealworm, cricket and shrimp for around $6. Single ingredient jars run $6 to $10 but will provide enough food for over a year for a few crabs You can order giant jars as well for great prices if you need a ton of it. You will get so much more than what you are paying for online.

Whole fruits can be purchased at the grocery and then cut and frozen for later. I can buy a whole coconut for $2 and get two coconuts and enough coconut to freeze for a year! Or for $2 walmart has a pound of shredded dried organic coconut with the baking supplies. If you prefer freeze dried stuff check out the kids dried fruit, I've found organic mixed pouches for a buck each.

[crabs_lex]

thank you!
sadly i’ve been limited to a budget on my spending when it comes to crabs but in order to spoil them it’s not cheap! lol
and it’s so hard because you want to know if your guys will like the new stuff ur buying but you don’t want to keep buying small amounts and paying so much for shipping
and this whole food things confuses me still and i’m having a hard time figuring out what to buy

and thank you so much for your responses it definitely helps
i’m just so confused and dont know when it comes to all these nutrition groups for the crabs like i feel bad i don’t have the info to give these guys what they need
if anyone can give me a little extra help i would so much appreciate it

[wodesorel]

The big thing is offering at a protein and a fruit on a daily basis, and try not to give them the same thing twice in a row as they are hardwired to seek out different foods. Veggies can be offered occasionally but they don't usually like them. Cellulose (wood, leaves) doesn't go bad and can be kept in the enclosure all the time. Calcium (eggshells, cuttlebone, coral, seashells, mineral blends) also doesn't go bad and can be kept in the enlcosure all the time.

[crabs_lex]

thank you!
are they’re any protein favorites/ what kinds do you give them in your tank because i realized i wasn’t offering any and knew i needed to get them some
also is there a difference between regular fruits and the dehydrated ones when giving them to the crabs?

[CrabbyLover77]

My guys LOVE mealworms. So much so that I offer at least one scoop at every meal. I also use them to mix in my birdseed. So I buy the big 2lb bag for about $15-$18. If you used that just for your crabs, it would probably last forever.

https://smile.amazon.com/Mealworms-Natu ... 860&sr=8-5

My friend gave me this nice sized container of daphnia to share with my fish, but my crabs ended up loving them too. I still have a lot left, even though my fish and crabs both eat it.

https://smile.amazon.com/Hikari-Bio-Pur ... 038&sr=8-4

My guys also love Fluker's freeze dried insects. I think the prices are pretty reasonable, and they last me a while when alternating with other foods.

Grasshoppers
https://smile.amazon.com/Fluker-Labs-SF ... ree&sr=8-4

Shrimp
https://smile.amazon.com/Flukers-Freeze ... ee&sr=8-12

I also get them Fluker's freeze dried crickets for around the same price. But it looks like Amazon doesn't have any listed at a reasonable price at the moment.

I got this 5lb box of greensand for about $20. My crabs love it and I still have a ton left!

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07N2X ... asin_title

Worm castings are great. The bigger the package you buy, the more you will get for your dollar. I bought a 5lb bag for $20.

https://smile.amazon.com/Life-Cycle-Org ... rm&sr=8-13

I got a nice size bag of flaked organic coconut and quinoa at the grocery store, both for under $4.

I found small/medium sized bags of almonds, walnuts, and pecans at Big Lots for about $2.50/bag. I ground them up and mixed them all together. It gave a nice ziplock bag full and the crabs go nuts over it (pun intended haha).

My crabs enjoy Zilla's fruit mix. One bag has lasted me months.
https://smile.amazon.com/Zilla-Reptile- ... 6f53c0fb6d

I give Zoo Med flower topper to my crabs and tortoise, and 1 bag still lasts me weeks.

https://smile.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Tortoi ... 6f53c0fb6d

I bought a medium sized bag of ground flaxseed for about $3 at Aldi.

I also pick maple leaves in my yard, dehydrate them in the oven, and bag them up for the crabs. I have a nice sized bag of crushed eggshells just from saving them up every time I make eggs.

Don't forget to check for sales at pet stores for Pure Bites dog/cat treats. They are 1 ingredient proteins that are freeze dried. I just got 3 bags of them at Pet Supplied Plus for $2.50 each.

I like to buy the little freeze dried fruit packages at the grocery store too. They are usually $1 per bag.

My tortoise is a very picky eater. So I buy fresh greens at the store, and dehydrate them in the oven. Then I sprinkle them on her pellet food. She actually will eat them this way, but not when they're fresh. I give some of those dried greens to the crabs too. You could buy a container of organic spring mix for about $3, dehydrate it in the oven, and have a ton of dried greens for your crabbies. So far I've dehydrated arugula, spring mix, escarole, chicory, mustard greens, romaine lettuce, and watercress.

The difference between dehydrated fruit and fresh fruit is the water content. So either is great for the crabs. My crabs seem to never touch fresh fruit, but they like the freeze dried/dehydrate fruit.

Hope this list helps some. The best tip I can give is to always be on the look out for crab foods wherever you go. Places like Aldi, Big Lots, and discount grocery stores can have some good things to pick from for cheap. Buy in bulk when you can. You'll get a lot that will last you a while, and the price will be cheaper.


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[CrabbyLover77]

PS: For the majority of the foods I listed above, I grind them up in my small food processor that I purchased for about $20. It makes it easier to scoop and serve at mealtimes.

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[crabs_lex]

thank you for all the information!!

[CrabbyLover77]

Yw!

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[Motörcrab]

We buy a lot of things in health food stores or grocery that offer loose or bulk items. We can get 8-10 items for around $10-12 and will last several months. They charge by the ounce so some items may be listed as $3 an ounce. A scoop of calendula petals may only cost you $0.60 and be a months supply or longer!

Be sure to have access to our safe food list to use that as a guide since some items may not be safe.

[crabs_lex]

sounds great! any specific store you’re going to?

[Motörcrab]

We do most of our grocery shopping at Aldi. We buy a good bit of their organic fruits and veggies, fresh and frozen for us and share with the crabs. We dehydrate a lot of our stuff for the crabs too.

We have a local run health food store that has tons of stuff. I'd check locally and call around to see if any places offer bulk purchasing.

[HappyHermit0916]

For me it is the same, I have a budget and I get it.
One thing that helped me was to just look in my pantry for hermit crab safe foods!
Things like rolled oats, rasins, plain pecans, chia seeds, dried shredded coconut and things like that!
I make my own meal mix and that works great for using with fresh food!
Powders like best foot powder and spirulina work great for hermit crabs!

[crabs_lex]

thanks guys!!
if anyone else also have online links to share (thanks a bunch @crabbylover77) i wouldn’t mind if you shared