What is Megalopa's preferred food?

[eldkzmffhs1]

I have many zoeas and some megalophas that have now molted.

I heard Megalopa can't hunt Artemia. I've given Megalopa a few things, including raw meat and crab food, but it won't eat anything.

Most Megalopas are emaciated and dying from not eating anything.

I'm growing megalopas in a small square fish tank with heater and aeration.

Any ideas on what megalopas prefer to eat?

[sundewgirl]

I wonder if crab central station would be able to answer- I've gotten responses messaging them on their Instagram account- I think they posted a feeding video on their YouTube but I looked and couldn't find it right away - I know it mentioned alot of Zoea feeding but I'm not sure if it was for Megalopa too - I hope you were able to find an answer!

[wodesorel]

The biggest problem is that they will hunt each other as meals, so if they are dying without eating and are being kept communal, then something else is wrong.

Brine shrimp will work as food. Some have used flake fish food even. There's a lot of protein filled options that have been used, they don't tend to be super picky but are attracted to movement.

[eldkzmffhs1]

My megalopas are feeding well now. Some seafood and fish feeds in sinking form have been well received.

Perhaps, they needed time to adjust to new food, or moving to a larger tank may have helped.

Can Megalopa hunt brine shrimp? I've already put brine shrimp in, but I haven't seen them hunt.

I first fed the brine shrimp into the tank. I'll see if I get a good response.

thanks for the reply.

[JoeHermits]

I’ve heard that they’ll go after live brine shrimp. Of course, I’ve also heard that they’ll go after each other as well


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[mlakers]

My megalopas are feeding well now. Some seafood and fish feeds in sinking form have been well received.

Perhaps, they needed time to adjust to new food, or moving to a larger tank may have helped.

Can Megalopa hunt brine shrimp? I've already put brine shrimp in, but I haven't seen them hunt.

I first fed the brine shrimp into the tank. I'll see if I get a good response.

thanks for the reply.

My megalopa never seemed to eat the brine shrimp. Once they get claws and become more benthic, they appear to scavenge the bottom, eating more like they do on land. Glad you found the sinking pellets option. After seeing the huge success that Korean breeders had with things like cooked shrimp, sweet potato, cooked carrot, cucumber, etc, I've branched out a lot in what I offer them.

By the way, Hermit House is now an approved non-profit corporation, so please do reach out to me so that we can help support your efforts and help you to become a successful hermit crab breeder. We're new, but growing, and we've helped close to a dozen would-be breeders this year alone. (FYI, our official Mission Statement is "Keep wild hermit crabs wild," so that it encompasses a many-armed approach to achieving that goal: captive breeding, research, education, and conservation. Crab Con is sponsored by Hermit House and proceeds from the conference are returned to the non-profit to help further the mission.)

[eldkzmffhs1]

Thank you very much for everyone's replies.

Megalopa is such a daunting task.

It's been a long time, and I now have only one baby hermit crab. Only one survived.




This baby is now healthy enough to dig!

Rather, in a span of 3 months I got 2 more zoeas.

My rugosus had another egg less than 2 months after she hatched.
I wonder how this is possible.

Anyway, my 2nd attempt failed and now I have my 3rd Zoea. This time, instead of running a separate transition tank, I sent a responsive specimen directly to land wearing a shell. The losses were too great, and the last Megalopa passed away on land.

I'm on my 3rd attempt now.
Today, over 50 new Megalopas were born!

This time, I'm going to set up a transition tank, so that the shell-clad Megalopa will go up on land by itself.

Q: I'm growing megalopas with heaters and aeration running in a decent sized square box with no flooring.When they're shelled, they move to the conversion tank, but the loss in the meantime is too great. Even megalopas with more than 100 can't exceed 2 weeks and are reduced to less than 20.
Do you have any advice for my Megalopa Tank? It is possible to set the flooring, but I am concerned that the small size of the megalopa may not be buried.

[hermitcrablover2]

I don't have any advice about the megalopas unfortunately, but I just wanted to say that lil baby hermie is so CUTE!!! Congrats on the 50 new megalopas!

[GotButterflies]

I'm sorry I'm late to the party, but I have a wonderful list of food that my megas LOVED! It is stored on my phone, and would be easier for me to upload to tapatalk. Being that you have officially raised hermits, are you on the Zulip thread? I can share it on that! You should try to get on the Zulip thread with Mary. That is how all of us breeders and potential breeders are communicating.

[GotButterflies]

Thank you very much for everyone's replies.

Megalopa is such a daunting task.

It's been a long time, and I now have only one baby hermit crab. Only one survived.




This baby is now healthy enough to dig!

Rather, in a span of 3 months I got 2 more zoeas.

My rugosus had another egg less than 2 months after she hatched.
I wonder how this is possible.

Anyway, my 2nd attempt failed and now I have my 3rd Zoea. This time, instead of running a separate transition tank, I sent a responsive specimen directly to land wearing a shell. The losses were too great, and the last Megalopa passed away on land.

I'm on my 3rd attempt now.
Today, over 50 new Megalopas were born!

This time, I'm going to set up a transition tank, so that the shell-clad Megalopa will go up on land by itself.

Q: I'm growing megalopas with heaters and aeration running in a decent sized square box with no flooring.When they're shelled, they move to the conversion tank, but the loss in the meantime is too great. Even megalopas with more than 100 can't exceed 2 weeks and are reduced to less than 20.
Do you have any advice for my Megalopa Tank? It is possible to set the flooring, but I am concerned that the small size of the megalopa may not be buried.

ADORABLE!! CONGRATULATIONS!