Safe Food List

Acorns (crush and soak overnight in salt water then drain before serving)
Alfalfa
Almonds, crushed
Amaranth (Ancient grain)
Anchovy oil
Apple and natural, unsweetened apple sauce
Apricot
Arame
Artichokes
Asparagus
Avocado
Bamboo (live plants make wonderful tank toys and grazing)
Banana
Barley
Beans, yellow wax
Bee pollen
Bee propolis
Bell peppers (red, yellow, orange, green or purple)
Bilberries/Huckleberries
Blackberry leaves
Blackberry
Blackstrap molasses (unsulfured) - amazingly high in nutrients such as calcium and potassium; 1-2 times monthly
Bladderwrack
Bloodworms (alive or dead)
Blueberries
Borage blossoms (Borago officinalis)
Broccoli and leaves
Brown rice
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage (all varieties)
Calcium carbonate powder, plain
Calendula flowers (Calendula officinalis)-Also known as "pot marigolds"
Camellia (Camellia japonica)
Canteloupe
Carnation flowers (Dianthus caryophyllus)
Carrots
Carrot tops
Cauliflower and leaves
Celery leaves
Cereal; Brown rice, soy, wheat or 7 grain, muesli
Chamomile flowers
Chard
Cheese (be sure to get all natural varieties, serve as occasional treat)
Cherimoya
Cherry
Chestnuts
Chicken bones
Chicken, cooked and unseasoned (smash the bone for marrow access)
Chickweed
Cholla wood
Cilantro
Citrus (all fruits)
Clams
Clover blossoms and leaves
Coconut and coconut oil
Cod liver oil
Collards
Cork bark
Corn (on the cob, too)
Cornmeal
Cranberries (dehydrated)
Crickets
Crustaceans (any and all crustacea including crayfish, lobster, shrimp and other crabs)
Cucumber
Currants
Cuttlefish bone, powdered
Dairy products (milk, cheese, live-culture yogurt) **
Daisies (Bellis perennis)
Dandelion flowers, leaves and roots (Taraxacum officinale)
Day lilies (Hemerocallis)
Egg, scrambled or soft boiled
Eggshells
Elderberry flowers (Sambucus canadensis)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Fig (ripe fruit only)
Fish flakes w/out chemical preservatives
Fish Oil
Flax seeds/Linseeds (crushed)
Flax seed oil (small amounts infrequently)
Frozen fish food (esp. algae, krill and brine shrimp)
Garbanzos
Gladiolus (Gladiolus spp.)
Gooseberry (ripe or overripe)
Grape Leaf
Grapes
Grape seed
Grapevine (vines and root)
Green and red leaf lettuce (not iceburg; dark green)
Green Beans
Hazel leaves
Hempseed Meal
Hibiscus flowers (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)
Hikari products: brine shrimp, krill, crab cuisine, sea plankton (no preservatives)
Hollyhock flowers
Honey (organic, or at least locally produced, for anti-microbials)
Honeybush
Honeydew Melon
Honeysuckle flowers (Japanese Lonicera japonica)
Impatiens (Impatiens wallerana)
Irish Moss
Japanese red maple leaves, dried (Acer palmatum)
Jasmine flowers (Jasmine officinale)
Johnny-Jump-Up flowers--(Viola tricolor)
Kamut
Kelp
Kiwi
Lentils
Lettuce(dark green varieties)
Lilac (Syringa vulgaris)
Lima Beans
Lobster with crushed exoskeleton
Locusts (dead)
Lychee fruit (fresh; no kernel)
Macadamia nuts
Madrona wood
Mango
Mangrove (small live trees can be obtained on eBay, use in water basin)
Maple leaves
Maple syrup
Marion Berries
Milk thistle flowers (Silybum marianum)
Mint (but not peppermint!)
Most organic baby foods
Muscadine (grapes)
Mushrooms
Mussels
Nasturtium flowers (Tropaeolum majus)
Nettle (wilted)
Nettle, stinging (pour boiling water over leaves first)
Oak Leaves and bark
Octopus
Okra
Olive and olive oil (extra virgin)
Oranges
Oysters
Pansy flowers and leaves (Viola X Wittrockiana)
Papaya
Parsley
Parsnip
Passionflowers (Passifloraceae - passion flower family)
Passionfruit
Peaches
Peanut butter (avoid sugar, corn syrup and hydrogenated oils)
Peanuts
Pears
Peas
Pecans
Pecan bark
Persimmon
Petunia blossoms
Pineapple (including leaves)
Pistachio nuts
Plum
Pomegranate
Popcorn (unseasoned, unflavored, unbuttered)
Potato (no green parts, including eyes)
Psyllium & husks
Pumpkin
Purslane (Portulaca oleracea)
Quinoa (New World grain)
Raisins (no sulphur dioxide)
Raspberry
Red raspberry leaves (highest bioavailable calcium source + vit. C and trace minerals)
Red root (Ceanothus Americanus, otherwise known as red root; high in tannin)
Rolled Oats
Rooibus (or rooibos)
Roquette (Eruca vesicaria)
Rose petals (Rosa spp)
Rose hips
Royal Jelly
Russian Olive leaves (Elaeagnus angustifolia)
Sage blossoms (Salvia officinalis)
Salmon
Sand dollars
Sardines
Scallops
Sea biscuits
Sea fan (red or black)
Sea grasses
Sea salt
Sea Sponges
Semolina
Sesame seeds (crushed)
Sesame oil (in tiny amounts as appetite stimulant)
Shrimp and exoskeletons
Snails (use human food grade only; not wild snails)
Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)
Soy and soy products (human grade; miso, tofu, etc.)
Spelt
Spinach
Spirulina (complete protein and chlorophyll source; highest in beta carotene)
Sprouts (flax, wheat, bean, alfalfa, etc.)
Squid
Squash (and squash blossom)
Star fruit (carambola)
Strawberry and tops
Sugar cane
Sunflower Seeds (crushed), flowers and leaves (Helianthus)
Swamp cypress wood (false cypress, taxodium sp.)
Sweet potato
Sycamore leaf
Tahini (no garlic variety)
Tamarillo
Tamarind
Tangerine
Timothy hay
Tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa) (ripe fruit only; avoid feeding foliage and unripe fruit)
Tomato
Triticale
Tulip flowers (Tulipa spp.)
Tuna
Turnip greens
Viola flowers
Violet flowers (Viola odorata)
Walnuts
Wasa All-Natural Crispbread (Oat flavor)
Watercress
Watermelon
Wheat grass
Wheat
Wheat germ
Whitefish
Whole Wheat Couscous
Wild rice
Zucchini (and zucchini flowers)*


*This food list is mainly adapted from Summer Michealson and Stacey Arenella's book,
The All-Natural Hermit Crab Sourcebook, and expanded on by Julia Crab and others

** After extensive tests in several EH member tanks, it has been discovered that dairy items are not lethal to crabs. In fact, most crabs really enjoy cheddar cheese, live-culture yogurt, and the occasional drink of milk. While extended long-term testing is still underway, there has been 8 months of trials with no harm to the test crabs. For now, dairy is acceptable, once every 30 to 60 days as a treat. It should not be relied upon as a food base.
Last Updated ( Sunday, 04 February 2007 )

 

Would it be ok for me to put this list on a hermie site im making, crediting you of course?

 

The person to credit is Julia Crab and I don't think she'd mind sharing the info if you credit her. Here is her site

epicureanhermit.com - Home

 

Thankyou. Ill add her name when I get home

 

thanks for telling me (us) the info.

 

Wow thats a very detailed list thanks! although my problem is, my hermit crabs don't seem to eat. its like the food doesn't get eaten.what am i doing wrong? should i grind down the food into a fine substance?

 

very usefull, thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I saw sand dollars on your list. Are you talking about the dried white ones or fresh dead ones? I have a dead, dried white one in my tank and was wondering if they might be nibbling little pieces off of it? I recall somone else on the site making a comment about their crabs being in love with a sand dollar they added to their crabitat.

 

How do I need to prepare zucchini? Do I blanch it or no? Peel or no peel? Thanks

 

You can feed it raw, blanched or cooked. I have left the peel on when I do it.

 

Thank you very much.

 

I've been feeding mine freshly killed (squished actually) mealworms. I bought a small container, filled with 50 of them, thinking my newts would eat it. My newts ended up just running away from the mealworms... So, I'm stuck with a ton of them now and some have started to try and turn into beetles! So before that happens, I've been grabbing my pair of tongs and squishing them really fast, then tossing it into the hermit crab tank. I toss about 2 per night. They're all gone in the morning. I have 29 crabs in that tank, although not all are up. I think my crabs like the worms a lot, because I tried throwing in dead ghost shrimp/fish and they don't even touch it.

 

You could pop them in the freezer as well.

 

My mealworm tub ended up getting infested with ants over the past few days. Threw em away instead

Ughhhhh... I hate ants that bother my crab (and dog) food!

 

Now that Julia's site has moved, where is the safe list? and the unsafe list? I only see a forum when I go to the new site.

 

I want to see if my hermits like to nibble on lilacs.... How do i go about cleaning them, or is it ok to just give it to them right from the bush?

 

In the search bar type in safe foods. And then click on the topic under the forum. It's still there.

 

Lilacs have a tendancy to have a lot of tiny mites, so I'd give them a good rinse in saltwater.
Thanks for directions to the food lists!

 

Is jicama ok to feed them?

 

I have frozen dead bloodworms that my fish eat.
Would those be ok to give to my crab, or should i defrost them or something?