Oak leaves

[erikleeson]

its fall again, and There are oak leaves EVERYWHERE! I know they love to eat these, so If I look around, can I feed them one? Do I look for crunchy ones or chewy ones? and where is a place that is least likely to have pesticides?

[Mr.Crab]

I wouldnt... There would be germs and whatever growing all over them. It could also carry lots of other bacteria that could be harmful. But, Baking them might be an exception.

[vckums]

Oak and maple leaves are fine. Wash them in some dechlorinated water and can place in fresh or let dry for a few days and add them to the tank.

[Chermo]

I picked off a leave from my maple tree and put it in the tank after washing it in dec. salt water they loved it very much just as it was. I may try dried leaves later on as I will pick off more leaves and store them for winter so they have the leaves in the winter time too. Besides Maple and Oak are there any other leaves they can eat that anyone knows off the top of their head?

[erikleeson]

I'm not sure, I read that they can eat pine needles but of course not its a pine tree lol.
I was told hermies like crunchy leaves so they can pick them apart so maybe if you dip in salt water and microwave for 3 seconds?

[Chermo]

My 3 crabs ate them like they were going out of style, they loved them right off the tree and washed in the salt water. I would not worry about drying them out. I even took a stick off that tree and baked it for 30 minutes and dipped it in salt water, well sprayed it with salt water after it baked. The have not climbed it yet but I did just rearrange the tank so maybe they have not found it yet.

[Wai]

Hermit crabs in the wild don't have their leaves baked and treated with salt water. Dumping leaves in saline water will dehydrate the leaves to a small extent (also known as osmosis) while baking them will destroy most proteins stored in the leaves that may be beneficial to hermit crabs.

A bit of bacteria shouldn't do much harm. I would also like to clarify the concept of bacteria with everyone. Not all bacteria are harmful and those found in the wild aren't necessarily bad. If a hermit crab's immune system was so vulnerable, they would be extinct by now.

Rather, exposing them to tiny amounts of bacteria or germs may keep their immune system active and keep them healthy. If you baby a hermit crab over long periods of time, their immune system may become inert and once they are hit with even the mildest of germs, they'll seriously struggle to pull through. I am concerned that due to owners shielding their hermit crabs from everything contributes to the inability of hermit crabs to recover from an illness. How many hermit crabs do you know that have been unwell and then recover from it? That's why hygiene freaks tend to be more sensitive to diseases and take longer to recover than most other people.

You know, the focus of this forum is not just to repeat what we know to everyone else. We should be coming up with crab-friendly investigations to expand our knowledge. One thing in particular is longetivity; why hermit crabs in captivity tend not to live past five years. There must be something missing in their captive environment. I suspect that it is mainly their diet. They could be missing out on some important vitamins and minerals because we keep fiddling with their food; cooking it, washing it with saline water etc., or we aren't proving them with the essentials frequently enough. Hermit crabs seem to know what is deficient in their diet and they will turn to food to replenish those. I'm guessing that my hermit crabs suffered from malnutrition because I wasn't able to provide them with everything they needed at the time. Bear in mind that hermit crabs are scavengers; there would be more germs in eating the raw flesh of dead fish and sea birds than anything else.

Hermit crabs who are fed nothing by pellets from pet stores will not last long. Also, who knows whether there's anything of value in the pellets? The lack of land hermit crab knowledge in the offline world really concerns me.

[erikleeson]

Agreed. If hermits eat dead birds on occasion, how is one little leave supposed to hurt them? However thats also like saying next time I find some roadkill I'll feed it to the crabs for variety

[Chermo]

Yes I washed it in salt water but mostly because I wanted to make it more appealing to them. I know if you put salt water in their empty shells it makes it more appealing to them to maybe change shells or even check them out. I don't care so much as to germs per say but I did it so they would smell it and eat it. They loved it. I am going to pull more leaves off my tree and do the same thing and put them in baggies so when fall comes they have more leaves. I won't ever bake the leaves as they will probably burn or start a fire in my oven. I baked the stick so I knew I was not bringing bugs into the crabitat. I didn't do it for the germ factor. I am cautious not to get bugs, not to keep out bacteria or as some say germs. When you dip something in salt water or boil it or even bake it it means you are killing any bugs that may be in/on it not removing bacteria. I know that bacteria is good in some cases even in humans. I get annoyed with those germ a phobics in public places and stuff and the ones that keep their kids away from other sick kids. That is what helps your immune system so you don't get sick as often or you can fight the illness faster.

[erikleeson]

Thanks, Chermo! I pulled a maple leaf as they are quite common here in Canada, and I have yet to see the results. Some leafs are bright red do you think it is high in carotene?