General food info

[TunaCreb]

I’m planning on getting hermit it crabs, now that I’ve mostly dealt with any tank problems or questions I’ve had in curious on what a good daily balanced diet would be for the crabs? I have done much research on what foods they can and can’t eat but I want to make sure I’m 100% ready for when I get them. If you guys can make a list on what you normally feed your hermit crabs throughout the week and or a list of foods that should be in their everyday daily diet I’d really appreciate it! I wanna be prepared, I’m only 17 and I need to know if I should go out and buy my own specific hermit crab items instead of using the available food we have around my house. Thanks!


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[Wlfwo]

They need protein, veggie, fruit and calcium. Now, I do use egg shell, but not just egg shell, mine have cuttle bone and about 3 others I rotate. I offer a dry protein, was a mix for turtles I got from petco, since my crabs are picky heathens I had to grind it in my spice grinder, but that doesn't mean yours wouldn't be happy with just the dried parts. I do a wet protein, when I fix dinner I slice off a 1/4" by about an inch. Then cut that into tiny pieces and triple bag it and keep it in the freezer. Get a piece out when I need to and then cut it even smaller. Most fresh veggies will work, check the list. Same with fruits. Seeds, nuts, etc. Must be raw, I believe. Or at least no salt or other additives. I live in a rural area and we don't spray, so I can gather out of the yard and dry it in the oven or dehydrator. Mine also enjoy the occasional raisen or piece of popcorn, no salt or butter. Hope that helps.

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[Motörcrab]

There are a ton of food options for your hermit crabs. There are a lot of safe foods around the house for you and other pets you may have! The biggest things is knowing what NOT to offer them. We collected an insane amount of foods for our crabs. We change up their foods every feeding. The links below should really help you out.

Our safe food is a safe bet for a beginner. There are a lot of things listed there to get you started. This is by no means a full list!
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92557

Our Nutrition guide is also a good read to get a detailed description on why you need to offer a wide variety. The only real difference most of us do now is offer from each food group daily rather than so many days per week.
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92554

Some store bought foods are safe, but a majority of them aren't due to preservatives. You really need to read labels to determine.
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92555

We actually dehydrate a lot of foods for our crabs. It takes some work but is much cheaper than purchasing hermit crab foods. With haven a few crabs it isn't bad buying a few packs of food every month or so. Having around 40 they go through a small bag quickly! We also buy a lot of dog and cat treats too! We purchase the freeze dried single ingredient type, cod skins, livers, hearts, lung, we recently found kangaroo to try! There are also a ton of food vendors on ETSY and other places too. Some of my favorites include BioactiveFX1, MT Pet Emporium, and Earth Water Fire Studios! We have a resource section with a lot of store links here.
viewtopic.php?f=122&t=119315

[Pumpkincrab]

I feed my crabs mostly foods from Etsy. I have mixes from HermitGrub, TinyTownCrabs and my own shop CloverScrubsShop. I put fresh foods out every night or so depending on how much they eat. I have 6 crabs, but 3 are currently down right now. Meaning 3 crabs are eating the foods I put out.
Like Motorcrab said I try to change the food up every day. Meaning today I might feed mealworms for my protein, tomorrow I'll feed krill.
I also try to buy new foods every month but that's not necessary lol. I just like having new options!

[curlysister]

Crabs can eat many of the same foods as we do. If you don't want to buy any foods from sellers that is totally okay.
As stated, they need protein and calcium daily. Because I'm a vegetarian, I felt that a variety of protein isn't something that I could accomplish from my own diet. So I bought some dried protein mixes because of that. I also live where nothing grows for half the year so dry some stuff during the summer, to feed in the winter. I also got a couple of 'all in' dried mixes for when I go away on vacation.
I am not fancy when it comes to food. I change it out maybe twice a week, or when I notice it's moldy and fuzzy LOL. Meats, fruits, veggies, nuts can be fresh or cooked or dried or frozen. They can be seasoned with foods that are crab safe, but watch out for sauces and things like that. Avoid preservatives if possible. Some people avoid salt all together, but some crabbers will give food that has a bit of it - I mean, in the wild, crabs eat a lot of 'salted' foods, given that they live next to the ocean LOL.

[mool]

Here is a simple food chart that I like. I don't know where it came from so I can't credit the original user:

Hermit Crab Food Groups

Animal Protein (7 days/week)
Foods of the animal protein group include: crab, egg whites, freeze-dried bloodworm, freeze-dried plankton, earthworm, freeze-dried shrimp, cricket, mealworm, game meat, lean beef, lean chicken, lean turkey, salmon, shrimp, tuna

Plant Protein (5 days/week)
Food of the plant protein group include: alfalfa hay, broccoli, corn, flax seed, kale, lentil, millet, rice, snap peas, soy beans, spinach, wheat germ

Sea Vegetables (6 days/week)
Foods of the sea vegetables group include: algae, kelp, nori, spirulina, wakame, various other algae, and seaweeds

Fruits and Vegetables (6 days/week)
Foods of the fruits and vegetables group include: apple, avocado, banana, blackberry, blueberry, carrot, celery, cherry, coconut, fig, grape, guava, kiwi, lettuce (dark varieties), mango, orange, peach, pear, pineapple, plum, pomegranate, potato, pumpkin, raspberry, squash, tomato, various other fruits, and vegetables. Also included are flower petals: lavender, calendula, rose, hibiscus, jasmine, and various other edible flowers.

Calcium (4 days/week)
Foods of the calcium group include: amaranth, beans, blackstrap molasses, broccoli, cuttlebone, dark greens (cooked), eggshell, exoskeleton, figs, microalgaes, nuts, okra, orange, oyster shell, quinoa, reptile calcium supplement, seaweeds, seeds, insects

Fats (Lipids) (3 days/week)
Foods of the fats group include: almonds, canola oil, coconut, coconut oil, egg yolks, meat fat, olive oil, palm oil, pumpkin seed oil, pumpkin seeds, salmon, sunflower seed oil, sunflower seeds, walnuts

Cellulose (1-2 days/week)
Popcorn, dried maple, grape, and oak leaves and bark, leaves and bark from other safe trees. Sea sponges.

Chitin (1-2 days/week)
Insect exoskeletons (meals worms, crickets, etc.). Exoskeletons of other crabs, shrimp and crustaceans.

Hermit Crab Superfoods (1-2 days/week, or when stressed or molting)
Honey, peanut butter, bananas, blackstrap molasses, apple cider vinegar, eggs and shells.

[keeliaa]

some things that crabbers reccomend to have everyday are worm castings and green sand. to be honest i’m not sure of the nutritional needs of either. but i have seen it so many times “keep these in at all times” i just trust it, and do.


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[aussieJJDude]

Here is a simple food chart that I like. I don't know where it came from so I can't credit the original user:

Hermit Crab Food Groups

Animal Protein (7 days/week)
Foods of the animal protein group include: crab, egg whites, freeze-dried bloodworm, freeze-dried plankton, earthworm, freeze-dried shrimp, cricket, mealworm, game meat, lean beef, lean chicken, lean turkey, salmon, shrimp, tuna

Plant Protein (5 days/week)
Food of the plant protein group include: alfalfa hay, broccoli, corn, flax seed, kale, lentil, millet, rice, snap peas, soy beans, spinach, wheat germ

Sea Vegetables (6 days/week)
Foods of the sea vegetables group include: algae, kelp, nori, spirulina, wakame, various other algae, and seaweeds

Fruits and Vegetables (6 days/week)
Foods of the fruits and vegetables group include: apple, avocado, banana, blackberry, blueberry, carrot, celery, cherry, coconut, fig, grape, guava, kiwi, lettuce (dark varieties), mango, orange, peach, pear, pineapple, plum, pomegranate, potato, pumpkin, raspberry, squash, tomato, various other fruits, and vegetables. Also included are flower petals: lavender, calendula, rose, hibiscus, jasmine, and various other edible flowers.

Calcium (4 days/week)
Foods of the calcium group include: amaranth, beans, blackstrap molasses, broccoli, cuttlebone, dark greens (cooked), eggshell, exoskeleton, figs, microalgaes, nuts, okra, orange, oyster shell, quinoa, reptile calcium supplement, seaweeds, seeds, insects

Fats (Lipids) (3 days/week)
Foods of the fats group include: almonds, canola oil, coconut, coconut oil, egg yolks, meat fat, olive oil, palm oil, pumpkin seed oil, pumpkin seeds, salmon, sunflower seed oil, sunflower seeds, walnuts

Cellulose (1-2 days/week)
Popcorn, dried maple, grape, and oak leaves and bark, leaves and bark from other safe trees. Sea sponges.

Chitin (1-2 days/week)
Insect exoskeletons (meals worms, crickets, etc.). Exoskeletons of other crabs, shrimp and crustaceans.

Hermit Crab Superfoods (1-2 days/week, or when stressed or molting)
Honey, peanut butter, bananas, blackstrap molasses, apple cider vinegar, eggs and shells.

This looks pretty much like Kilimanjaro's food sheet, I wouldn't be surprised if it came from them.