Safe Food List from EH

[wolfnipplechips]

Yes, if no seasonings. Wild caught preferred.

*jealous* Yum. Halibut.

[GudaHermitCrab]

Yes, if no seasonings. Wild caught preferred.

*jealous* Yum. Halibut.

Haha, thanks We are having some fresh Halibut so I'll sneak some into their food bowl

[caroline_rose]

I was wondering if hermit crabs can eat grasshoppers. I feed them to my turtle and didn't know if I could share them with the crabbies. I know they can eat roley poleys so wasn't sure if there were any other bugs they could have.

[SoulLonely]

grasshoppers are fine

[caroline_rose]

Awesome!

[ceo1282]

I have 2 questions...
1. Regarding wild &/or brown rice, does it need to be cooked first?
2. Does anyone know whether or not hydrangeas (the flowers &/or the stems) are safe for hermies? I have 2 large hydrangeas but I want to be certain before giving them anything not on the safe list!

[SoulLonely]

rice does not have to be cooked, but if you do cook it, treat the water with the conditioner you use for the water pools to make it safe

[CrabbyMom33]

When I cook something that requires water, and want it for both the family and the crabs, I open a new gallon of distilled water and use some of that. Dechlorination products are normally not labeled as safe for humans.

[ceo1282]

Thanks! It never occurred to me that you'd need to use distilled water when cooking anything for the crabs I put a pasta noodle (dry that I broke up into smaller pieces) & a few grains of uncooked brown rice in their food bowls &, much to my surprise, they really liked it...esp the noodle! Tonight I'm trying fresh strawberries w/the tops & mushrooms. I can't wait to see how it goes over w/the hermies! I also got a sweet potato that I plan on trying tomorrow night along w/some halibut & corn on the cob. As for the sweet potato...do I need to cook it first or is raw ok? Assuming you have tried sweet potato w/your hermies, do they seem to prefer it raw or cooked? I could always put some cooked & some raw in together & see what my guys like better.
I noticed that on the safe list was dried cranberries but what about fresh cranberries? Do I need to remove the seeds from them? I noticed several fruits that, while listed as safe, need to have the seeds removed.

[Jackolope]

They can also eat fresh dates, which are delicious

[Jackolope]

Fish they can eat:

Salmon (which is up there)
Shrimp
Crab
Lobster
Tilapia
Flounder
Cod
I have tried them all with success, as long as you can get it fresh. I live near a bunch of fish markets so that helps.

[ceo1282]

My hermies went bonkers over a chunk of uncooked corn on the cob I walked in to take a look & there were 5 of my 7 pp's all sitting around it (one was on top) just chowing down. I was dumbfounded how much of it they ate.

[Jackolope]

they love anything with corn. try cornbread and blue sea salt corn chips. When I gave Big Oliver corn chips for the first time he sat and ate crunching away for, no lie, 9 hours

[ceo1282]

WOW! That's definitely going on the list of things to try. I guess from what you wrote about the types of fish that are ok for them, halibut isn't one of them?! I guess my power going out & everything in my freezer getting ruined was a blessing in disguise! Did you lose power up in NJ? They said on the news that parts of NJ had been affected by the storm as well!

[wolfnipplechips]

They can eat halibut. They can eat pretty much any type of fish as long as it's not poison, full of preservatives, hormones, or seasoned.