What to feed new crabbies

[amandaredpanda]

I will be getting new hermit crabs soon, and I was wondering since they are fed commercial food in the pet store, should i buy some of this and slowly wean them off of it at home? Im worried that exposure to only new vegetables so suddenly will stress them out even more. Also is there any food that is especially useful for helping them destress? thanks =]

[emmac350]

Crabs need more than just vegetables. The problem with trying to wean crabs off commercial food is that it will help, but it will continue exposure to the harmful chemicals in it. I think if you are worried about them not eating the food you offer, offer dried foods that are available in the fish food section. The safe ones that I've seen are freeze dried baby shrimp, bloodworms, krill, plankton, etc. Just ensure that there are no preservatives in it.

It is important to feed new crabs a complete diet as you can't be sure what they're short on. Some of these things are hard to do on your own; for things like flowers and even cellulose I buy from Hermit_Crab_Addiction_StoreThe food groups you should try to offer something from every day are:

1. Flowers - these contain coloring compounds to help your crabs maintain their nice exo colors as well as being vitamin- and mineral-high; I use these flowers: calendula, blue violet, blue malva, chamomile, hibiscus, rose, chickweed, cornflowers, honeysuckle, jasmine, rose, and sunflowers.

2. Cellulose - keep in mind that when you give them cellulose that they will also supplement their diets with cellulose in their tank - tearing apart cocohuts, cholla logs, etc.; oak/maple leaves, dandelion root/leaves, raspberry plant leaves, mangrove and red root pieces, etc. I know my crabs have been tearing apart my cholla because I took it out to clean the tank and the base of it was surrounding with crab poo! So they do eat that if offered. I also offer them pieces of sterilized sponge occasionally.

3. Fruits - fresh or dried fruit. Try to stick to organic if you can as it's generally better for them (less risk of getting sick from pesticides). If you offer commercial dried fruit you should ensure that there are no preservatives at all as most of these can be harmful to your crabs. These are important for the vitamins and minerals in them as well as the coloring compounds. I offer coconut (dried), pineapple (dried and pieces of fresh made from the outside pieces with flesh on them; a byproduct of cutting a fresh pineapple), apples (dried and fresh), bananas (I have a mushy brown one in the freezer that I cut pieces off as well as a dried one), cranberries (dried), raisins (no preservatives), grapes (fresh), strawberries (fresh and dried), orange (dried), mango (fresh and dried), etc. This is the easiest food group to give them as they are usually readily available in your house.

4. Seaweed/algae - these provide very important vitamins and minerals for your crab. These are part of their natural diet and thus are important to offer. I offer spirulina powder, algae crisps, sea lettuce, and kelp. I know other people offer actual food grade seaweed as well.

5. "Other nutritional stuff" - this is where I put things that provide some of the trace minerals required by our crabs. Worm castings, salt (ensure it's a safe salt for the crabs; I use the ones on the addiction site), etc.

6. Nuts/grains - these contain important oils and nutrients for crabs. I have walnuts, pumpkin seeds, 9 grain cereal, 7 grain oatmeal, soynuts, flaxseed, psyllium seeds.

7. Veggies - peppers, green beans (unseasoned), squashes, tomato, celery leaves, etc. I guess I could combine this group with cellulose, but these do provide some extra vitamins and minerals for your crabs.

8. Chitin/calcium-providing protein - these are freeze-dried shrimp, (dried or dead) bloodworms, (dried or dead) mealworms, (dead) crickets, silkworms, etc. Chitin helps them harden exos properly and prepares them for/helps recover from a molt.

9. Other protein - eggs (hard boiled, powdered), dried silversides, sardines (in spring water), preservative free fish flakes (like bonito or dulse flakes), dried octopus or squid (found at the addiction store).

10. Calcium - eggshells, crushed coral, calcisand, etc.

Treats - bee products, peanut butter (organic/natural), organic noodles, cheese.

For a more extensive listing of crab-safe foods, visit Safe_Food_List and Hermit_Crab_Cuisine.

Other than offering all of those groups, the most important ones to offer are the two protein sources - with and without chitin. Your crabs may very well need to molt soon and protein and chitin are extremely necessary for molting. Chitin helps them create their new exo, and protein helps them grow.

Good luck with your new crabs!

[ladybug15057]

Being you are going to be getting new hermies this should be a must read too so to help the little ones to adjust:

http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modu ... toryid=165

[amandaredpanda]

wow that addiction store has tons of stuff! how long does it typically take them to restock, because I saw some of the mixes I liked werent in stock.

[emmac350]

You can email Vicki (her email is linked on the site) to ask about a certain mix - sometimes she'll work on stocking stuff more quickly if she knows someone wants it.

[Wai]

Vicki's username on this forum is vckums.

Now, excuse my language, but it is a general assumption by more experienced crabbers that all commercial "hermit crab food" products are crap. People making those food products can get away with anything, because hermit crab care is poorly understood by the general public. Most hermit crab owners who don't bother researching online aren't aware of how much they don't know. Cheap and toxic chemicals such as ethoxiquin continue to slip into hermit crab food products, because manufacturers deem hermit crabs as throw-away pets, therefore putting effort into their products is a waste of time and money.

On the other hand, quality is assured in dog and cat food, because a lot of scientific research has been conducted in that area. If you were to go on an online database of scientific reports, you would expect thousands, if not millions, of reports on dog and cat care. However, for hermit crabs, you would expect to find no more than 100, or even less than 40. As for the database I have access to at university, I found no more than 10. Tertiary vet courses here in Australia probably don't even address hermit crab care at all.

If you want to use commercial hermit crab food, only buy from online stores that we recommend to you; the Addiction store is one of them. If you are in the USA, you can buy from those online stores with ease. Otherwise, if you are in Australia like me, you won't be able to, since the quarantine system confiscates anything of use to crabbers.

[vckums]

I just restocked a bunch of stuff this week. What items were you interested in? Sorry Im out of things, but it's just little ol me doing the store. One person can only do so much.