Interesting food hermies go CHIRP for!!

[Hannah]

OOH, I have some mullberry trees in my backyard, do you think those would be safe for the hermies? We don't use pesticides.

[Carrie]

Mulberries... hmmmm... I might have to call the FMR people and ask them (along w/ some other good questions I've got lately)... I don't want to say yes outright b/c I really have no idea. I make sure the oak leaves aren't sprayed w/ pesticides every time I get them (this time I have a big bag of them b/c we had the 17-year cicadas this year, all over the trees).
I've given mine strawberries before and a lot of other fruits.

Berries are funny b/c some of them are poisonous to different animals or birds. Even plant leaves are like that. We had a berry bush when I was a kid--bright orange berries, poisonous to us but not to birds, who loved them.

One of the crabs held onto a piece of pierogi noodle for about 24 hours and got really panicked that I was taking it away when I checked to see if the crab was still alive... In the same spot for 24 hours is not a usual thing.

Kali Sharai

[Hermiegirl15]

I give my crabs alot of froot loops and other cereals like that and they seem to love them, but I'am thinking about giving them some rice or broccoli is this okay? (and for the rice my Mom just got some plain white rice from a chinese restuarant is that okay to give to them?)





~Hermiegirl15

[Julia_Crab]

Hi, everyone!

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade here, but I do have a few words of advice about hermit crab diet, if anyone is interested. I am not saying you should listen to me, but I hope you think about what I have to say.

I only feed my hermits organic foods and commercial animal foods without preservatives. That means, no foods cooked with human salt (artificial iodine), no transfat/hydrogenated oils, no added sugars, no preservatives.

There are some very sound reasons for this. Crabs in general are arthropods, related very closely to insects. Anything that has pesticide residue on it will adversely affect your crabs in the long run, perhaps even kill them in the end. In feeding any commercially prepared food -- such as Cheerios, Capn' Crunch, breads, crackers, etc. etc. -- you run the risk of exposing your crabs to pesticides. All of these are also prepared with human salt which contains toxic artificial iodine.

The metals and things that we seem to be willing to allow companies to force upon us in our foodstuffs will hurt your crabs long before they hurt you. Think about how high the rates of cancers, learning disabilities, autism, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other terrible illness and disabilities have become. Do you think it is a coincidence that our health is becoming more and more fragile? Or that it is a coincidence that the rates of all types of illnesses having to do with environmental poisoning and toxic chemicals are burgeoning at an ever-increasing rate?

All around the world, amphibians and crustaceans like our hermit friends, are becoming extinct or suffering from terrible diseases that never bothered their communities before. There is a disease of hermit crabs that is caused by buildup of metal molecules in their bodies, which causes terminal lesions in the end. The metal molecules break down the usual structures of the crabs' exoskeletons and allow certain fungal infections in to kill your pets.

I'm sorry to be such a downer, but I am very strict with what my crabs are fed. These little guys can live up to 70 years depending on the species in the wild. I feel that a very large part of the reason they die so soon in captivity is that they are fed things they really shouldn't be eating.

Just some friendly food for thought.

Kerie

[Julia_Crab]

Oh! I forgot to mention:

No citrus (orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit or tomato)
No dairy of any kind -- watch your commercial treats for dairy!

And if you feed commercial crab foods or fish foods, avoid any that contain ethoxyquin (EQ). For some ridiculous reason, manufacturers of crab food include EQ as a preservative, and it is a pesticide! Pesticide + crab = dead crab.

Kerie

[Hannah]

Citrus- Tomato, orange, grapefruit, starfruit, pineapple, lemon, lime, tangerine. Tomatoes, oranges, tangerines, and pineapples are okay because they are less acidic. The others are not because they are too acidic, so only certain citruses are okay to feed your crabs.
Hermiegurl15- yes, rice and broccoli is okay as long as the rice is cooked and the rice and broccoli don't have ANY suce of any kind on them.
Kali_Shairai- I am not talking about the berries, mine don't grow berries. I am talking about feeding them the leaves.

[hyper.mum]

Hi,
I personally agree with organic as a better and safer approach to feeding your hermies, takes the hassel out of discovering if they have had pesticides and chemicals used on them
As for feeding froot loops these cereals contain high levels of sugar and I have learnt that you should avoid feeding these kinds of foods to hermies.
With the acidic foods I did a search on google and found that oranges, lemons, tomatoes etc. come under the category of high acidic foods, I also know this from personal experience from when I was younger I had to consume high acidic foods to help with an irregular kidney function (too much detail too explain) so for me personally my hermies wont be fed these types of foods, I say its better to be safe than sorry.
Just my input on this subject.
Kellie

[Julia_Crab]

Hi again,

In regards to hermiegirl15's question about rice and broccoli. Many human foods such as these are fine for hermits, but only when cooked and washed in dechlorinated water. Steam, boil, wash, etc. any foods intended for your crabs in dechlorinated or spring water only.

Also, crabs can eat uncooked grains. Eccies in particular are considered agricultural pests of rice in Central America. If offering uncooked grains to your hermie, I suggest crushing them up with a mortar and pestle, a food processor, in a bag with a rolling pin or hammer or some other method. Crabs can eat coral and sea shells. Uncooked rice is not a problem for them, and has more nutrients than the cooked version.

Brown rice is better than white.

Grains that hermits can eat are:

brown rice, wheat or 7-grain cereal (organic only)
brown rice
amaranth (an ancient grain resembling millet)
quinoa (a New World grain resembling amaranth, but smaller)
wheat
barley
cornmeal -- i.e. grits or polenta (also try giving corn on the cob)

Everything but the cornmeal are excellent sources of alternative calcium and b-complex vitamins as well as trace minerals. As far as amaranth and quinoa goes, I usually mix them in with an egg to scramble, and cook it with the egg. They really enjoy it!

Good luck with the hermie diet!

Kerie

[Panther_Shadow83]

I give my hermies these organic blue corn chips from Aldi. They are crushed and mixed in with the normal diet. They do have salt on them, but they use organic sea salt, not the iodinized stuff for humans.

Those chips taste good...

[krazykrablady]

whoa! I almost had a heart attack reading all that! when it said no oranges, I started to freak cause that's something I give my crabs as a special treat! I can tell they like it, cause as soon as they smell it they come running! glad to see it was later posted as safe for them!