why is it bad to give hermit crabs commercial food

[bo and mo]

why is it bad to give hermit crabs commercial food? my crabs love it!

[Wai]

You broke rule number 8 and 10.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4

Also, the Crab Care section exists for a reason.
http://www.hermitcrabparadise.com/crabc ... tabase.php

We already replied to that question of yours in another thread.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3013&p=26320#p26320

[bo and mo]

what ev.

[emmac350]

Bo and mo, Wai isn't trying to be mean, but he's spent a TON of his time on this site, to make it the best resource he could for finding information, including the search bar. There's a wealth of information on here, but we don't like having to say the same things over and over every time someone asks a question that's been answered before.

As for commercial food, it's bad because it contains preservatives and pesticides that will build up inside your crab's body and kill it. It also doesn't address all the nutritional needs of a crab. There's a lot that a crab needs to stay healthy and be nutritionally satisfied that isn't found in any pellet or flake out there. Besides, would you want to eat the same thing every day? If not, why should your crabs have to eat the same thing every day?

[bo and mo]

ooooooo k

[Wai]

The distribution of hermit crabs and their "supplies" is as messed up as the health care system in the USA. The key reason why we are against all commercial hermit crab food products is the uncertainty of their ingredients. Unlike most other pets, hermit crabs are sold very cheaply and are easy to replace, leaving them prone to abuse, neglect and misunderstanding.

Very little money (if any) is offered to veterinary scientists to study hermit crabs. If pet store workers can get even the very basics of hermit crab care utterly wrong (such as their need for a glass tank and humidity), how much would you expect them to know about their dietary requirements?

Also, due to hermit crabs being inexpensive to adopt, they naturally attract children. Hermit crab sales are thus targeted towards children. Would you expect a little five year old to research online about hermit crab care? How would they know whose advice to trust or not? The only hermit crab care "advice" that most children get before one of their hermit crabs die is from a pet store worker. The death of a hermit crab may propel some children to research online, while others may simply buy a replacement, only to keep them in the same horribly wrong conditions again.

With literally no scientists conducting formal research on hermit crab care and most owners not doing any informal research online, manufacturers of commercial hermit crab food products can get away with anything. Happy Hermits in Australia does not provide ingredient lists for any of their products, while HBH still puts toxins such as ethoxiquin into their Hermit Crab Cookies. Expiry dates of commercial hermit crab food products are rarely given; who knows how long they have been sitting on the shelf for? Even if they do have some nutritional value in them, they will decompose over time and may even form toxic substances.

Most importantly, even if the ingredient list of a product does not state any toxic chemicals that we have identified (such as ethoxiquin), keep in mind that the manufacturers can get away with anything. They are the ones who write the ingredient lists and it is their choice whether or not they want to tell their customers that their product does contain ethoxiquin or other toxic substances.

If a dog dies or falls ill after eating a particular brand of dog food, the owner can sue that company for compensation. If a hermit crab dies or falls ill after eating a particular brand of hermit crab food, is there any chance of the owner receiving compensation from the company, or will they simply be ridiculed by the judge and lawyers at court?

The world of hermit crab care is by no means a happy place like those of dogs and cats. If a dog or cat falls ill, they have vets and medicines to back them up. If a hermit crab falls ill, they are doomed to die unless their owner miraculously finds a cure for them. The amount of abuse that most hermit crabs have to put up with after being snatched from the wild is heartbreaking.

bo and mo, I'm guessing that you were repelled by my words earlier, but we are all trying to help you and your hermit crabs. Please be considerate, because we all have busy lives (no joke). It does not take long to ask a question, but answering a question can take minutes, if not, hours. We don't have time to type out detailed answers several times a week. That is why there is a search function. It saves you time typing out and trying to explain the question, as well as ours, so that we don't have to explain the same things over and over again.

Although I am not studying vetinary science at university, I am learning a lot from my pharmacy course and will utilise my knowledge as much as I can to act as a pseudo vetinary scientist. After all, the world needs a hermit crab scientist, not another pharmacist.