Not Eating?

[KIMMY514]

I have had my hermits for a week now. I have been doing my research and stoped feeding them the comercial food. (i don't think they ate any of it anyway). I have been offering them everthing I have been reading about. Peanut butter, cucumbers, orange peals, falx seed, honey, shrimp, potatos. I even got them some dried flowers (Hibiscus, Red clover, Daylillies, calendulam Elder flowers, Roses. The problem is I can not tell if they are eating at all. The smaller one (Zoe) does not seem to be eathing or drinking. The lager one (Elmo) seems to do nothing but drink. He is drinking both the fresh and salt water. I can I tell if they are eating or not?

I am trying really hard to make them happy and healthy. Zoe does nothing but sit still all day long. Once in a while I have to pick her up just to make sure she is ok. Elmo is all over his new home checking out every corner. Today is was out of his shell completly just sitting on top of it. He is back in his shell now but for the first time went into hidding in there little home. He was out of his shell again for a little bit but then went back in.

Is this all normal behavior? I really hope so. My daughter and I are enjoying them alot and would like them to live a long time.

[ladybug15057]

Orange peels should only be offered after they have aged/wrinkled.
Sounds like your hermies are experiencing PPS:

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

Smooth out the sand and watch for hermie tracks in the morning. Hermies eat so very little it is hard to tell if they are eating or not.

[CrabbyJo]

It's also important to NOT handle them at all during the next few weeks. New hermies need time to destress.
Make sure your tank conditions are within healthy ranges (temp between 73F-81F and humidity between 70-80%) and that you are offering both dechlorinated fresh and ocean salt waters.

As Marie said, they could be suffering from Post Purchase Stress, so best thing to do is just make sure tank conditions are good and they aren't being handled.

Do read the Care Sheets to make sure everything is set up within safe ranges (including substrate and substrate temperatures)

[crabcrazygal]

a way of telling wether your crabs have eaten or not is to flatten out the sand, around the food bowl.
of course his wil only work if your substrate is sand