Categorized food list

BHaugh · Post by **BHaugh** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 10:30 pm

On the Hibiscus and Passion flowers.....can I just take them from my plants, wash them and place them in the tank? Can they be whole or should I chop them up? Also, I read somewhere that a cuddle bone (the ones sold for birds) is good for hermits...is this right? I also have ornamental Ginger blooming right now, can the flowers also be put in there?

Geranium · Post by **Geranium** » Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:23 am

From you plants is great as long as you know for sure that they've not been treated with stuff to kill bugs or some fertilizers are problems if I remember correctly.Cuttlebone is excellent as a calcium source. It can be place in the tank broken in chunks or ground up or both. Mine will play with it in chunks but they really eat it when it's ground up and put in the calcium dish.I don't know about ginger flowers, someone else will have to answer that one.Peg

HERMITCRABLEGEND9779 · Post by **HERMITCRABLEGEND9779** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 5:18 am

NO VEGGIES DONT NEED TO BE COOK,BUT JUST RINSED OFF

Christi · Post by **Christi** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:17 am

I've had my bamboo plant for a few years now and it was leaning so I chopped a big piece off and put it in the tank.

Ezekiel M. · Post by **Ezekiel M.** » Fri Mar 01, 2013 5:53 am

Extremely fresh to Hermit Crabs! Could I be helped with a feeding schedule for the whole week please? (I will obviously vary with the treats and such) I just wouldnt want to have any problems with my diets not being varied enough.

Your Avon Rep · Post by **Your Avon Rep** » Sat May 04, 2013 2:34 am

So glad I found this site. What a great list!! New mom of two

Loocy · Post by **Loocy** » Sat May 04, 2013 1:02 pm

I buy small cans of organic/all natural cat food, spread it thin on wax paper and then freeze it and break it up into little pieces that I store in the freezer and feed to the crabs. They love it and I think it has a balanced blend of veggies and proteins that provides a nice balanced diet. I give them lots of other stuff too but that is their staple diet (I vary between flavors to give them variety).They also go completely nuts over shrimp tails. I make shrimp for dinner and save some tails out and they consume a remarkable amount. That is their absolute favorite treat, and of course it is full of chitin.I keep a cuttlebone in the tank which is jammed into one of their climbing structures so they can dig at it. They munch on it frequently.

Loocy · Post by **Loocy** » Sun May 05, 2013 2:31 am

quote:Originally posted by Crabber85:The only peppers we offer are Bell peppers since they tend to be non-spicy compared to other peppers and since hermit crabs are so sensitive to spices in general and don't tolerate heat from said spices very well I would think it would be counterintuitive to give them something that would have even a little heat to it. I've never given my crabs anything spicy so this is purely an academic question -- why do you say that they have sensitive digestive systems? Since they are scavengers in the wild, I'd actually think that it would be quite the opposite -- that they would be quite tolerant of all sorts of foods.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sun May 05, 2013 8:41 am

@Loocy, hermitcrabs in the wild get dead meats such as fish and sea bird from the beach and eat the vegitation in the tree line such as coconut and oranges and from my understanding the spices we typically use are farm grown and don't often occur in the wild or even in the hermitcrabs native regions so they have likely never been exposed to heavy spice flavors or the heat from pepers to actually have a resistance to them.I know from past experience that giving foods that have black pepper on them never recieved attention because the smell was a cue not to eat the food so my hermitcrabs stayed away from it though this was before I knew better.lol

Tongue Flicker · Post by **Tongue Flicker** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 12:55 am

wow this is a nice food guide.. i didn't know hermits can eat this varied of a diet

SstWnh13 · Post by **SstWnh13** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 10:01 am

I wanted to share about my experimants with their food. I bought a mix of dried shrimp & meal worms and pellets. I have been trying different veggies and fruits. I made a mix of ground granola, dried shrimp, dried meal worms, and a little cereal. I give them a little of this every day and add a few whole pieces. Yesterday I fixed up some shaved carrots and fresh dark greens. I put to food dishes one dry the other fresh. This morning almost ALL of the carrots & greens were gone!! I was SO happy!! They ate their dry food too. So today I put it in one dish. I didn't want to ruin the dry food in case they didn't like it. SO Success with the fresh goods!!! I have also ordered a Fruit Salad mix from an online store. I found a ton of supplies and foods on Amazon there is a store page on Amazon called OZBO. They have cheap prices compared to pet stores and other sites. But not much of their stuff allows the Free Super Saver Shipping I found that out. So I had to pay a little more for the items. The shipping was more than the total lol. Anyway just wanted to share my success with my babies and share what I found.

Susie · Post by **Susie** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 5:45 pm

Sea biscuit is another name for a sand dollar. A sea fan is a type of coral that grows to look like a lace hand fan that ladies used to carry.Thought you'd like to know.

Mikau132 · Post by **Mikau132** » Tue May 27, 2014 8:05 am

I have been feeding my hermies an all organic diet, but organic veggies are pretty expensive. Does it have to be organic or just no preservatives?

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Tue May 27, 2014 8:49 am

organic kind of has been over rated in my opinion.I will buy organic peanut butter but that is pretty much it any more.. I boil eggs in regular water and peel them and mash them and they eat them up. unseasoned reg meat I have cooked in the oven with reg water just forget to cook it in their water. I give them the insides of fruits & veggies or peel them and then i rinse them off with their type of water.. It's a hit and miss, i do go for baby foods that is just what is on the front of the jar , no other things I cant pronounce or salt added. I don't know about this organic cat food that was mentioned above, I dont know of anyone that has fed or said they fed their crabs cat food on here before..they do love cuttle bone! mine are chewing it up like there is no tomorrow, they just came up from a molt. one thing to invest in is organic worm poop known as castings, feed it to them. check out the food list on here, I have many things I have fed my crabs from the out side world with no pesticides, danilions, clover, maple leaves, dried out, apples and pears from trees that have not been sprayed..even grass from the yard! just rinse with their water. bark from trees, just check the list and how to handle it so you don't get bugs! so no foods don't all have to be organic, I have had crabs since 2009 and they are fine, just give them a good diet of proteins, veggies, fruits.. I have bought the freeze dried type of foods meant for lizards , types of foods for birds are good to , just have to read whats in it..

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Wed May 28, 2014 6:46 am

There are some foods that are high on the pesticide list when grown which would be better off if bought organic. Such as apples. There are quite a few others too I just don't remember off the top of my head. I think there is a link in the Zoea forum food list showing certain fruits and veggies that are high, moderate, and low when grown with pesticides. That is the main reason to buy organic too keep away from the pesticides so they don't slowly poison your crabs.