What Do You Feed Your Hermies???

I have not included a poll, I just assumed you could type it out in the provided space, below.

What do you feed your hermit crabs? By this, I mean what is their main diet..

 

I found this great type of cereal with 7 whole grains and I feed them that about 2 times a week but other than that I just throw in some meat fruits veggies and nuts and seeds and they get what they get.

 

Thank you for replying to this thread, Cococrisp. I feed my hermies a pelleted crab diet. Also, the occasional coconut.

 

You can go ahead and throw that out. Pelleted food is not safe. If you read the ingredients list it's go all these preservatives and can be toxic. Also, you should feed them meat or eggs every day. If they don't have enough protein or clacium they may be come cannibals.

 

You mean they'd eat each other? Okay, I will try to serve meat and eggs every day, and I will trash the pelleted crab food. Thank you, Cococrisp!

 

Yes, crabs will eat each other if they don't get enough protein.

I've started something new this week - base food is cooked chicken and rice with lettuce and carrots mixed in, then I mix in a bunch of dried foods (a dried fruit, cellulose, algae/seaweed, trace mineral food like worm castings, veggie, cuttlebone treat, calcium, nut or grain, flower, protein with calcium (sea critters like shrimp or dried bugs), protein without calcium (beef, pork, fish, egg, etc.)). They really like the variety, and I can rest assured that they get the nutrition they need.

The guys I had that used to be fed a pellet are the biggest pigs in my tank still. They haven't had pellets in 3 months, but they still chow down as if they're afraid that they will have to start eating them again. I haven't seen a single 'pellet' or 'powder' commercial food that is actually good for crabs and won't kill them due to the chemicals they put in them to make them last longer on a shelf until they're bought.

 

Do your hermit crabs have a particular preference to coconut???

 

Honestly, they've never seemed to like it. I don't do fresh coconut though, so maybe that's why? They've always ignored coconut thus far anyways.

 

Mine love the outside of the coconut.

 

My hermit crabs like the meat and milk of the coconut. . .

 

Emma if you have any coconut, even dried, heat it up for a bit inthe microwave(a second or 2) and it will release the oils. Maybe that will do the trick for your crabs.

 

I've tried doing lime coconut chicken (raw chicken + little pieces of dried coconut + lime juice, then microwaved) and even I could smell the chicken, but they never touched it. Smelled really nice though!

 

i give them my dinner -salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, cabbage), tuna fish or eggs, some fruit and nuts. some times i`ll put in some chicken or peanut butter. it`s hard to tell what they like best because they are tiny, but i noticed they really like apples and they eat more if i leave the food in for 2days at a time.

 

Mne didn't much like chiken or tuna but the ground beef I zapped in themicro went over like gangbusters before they all went under.

Right now, I am keeping dried shrimp, random fruit, coconut and cuttle in the tank for night risers, but I think we have everyone under for a good long time -- nothin has been touched in a couple of days in the main tank.

 

When they all go under at the same time I usually switch to just dry food so I can leave it in until it's been disturbed (or a week, whichever happens first). I'm making an effort to feed more fresh food daily, so it's been fun. Rice, chicken, lettuce, carrot daily and then bits of other stuff (pineapple was 2 days ago, then shrimp yesterday) and all of their dried Addiction foods. Yes, my crabs are spoiled, and yes, they love it.

 

which dry foods do you use?

 

Ones from the addiction store. Every night, they get the following types of dry food - fruit, cellulose, algae/seaweed, trace elements (bee pollen, worm castings, etc.), veggies, cuttlebone powder, nuts/grains, protein with chitin (dried shrimp, bloodworms, etc.), flowers, and protein without chitin (beef, chicken, fish, etc.).

 

Do hermit crabs like dandelions???

 

I don't know if they like them, honestly, because there's so much food in the food bowl any given night that I can't tell what foods specifically they were going after. They always eat their dinner, though, like good little crabbies.

 

Yea!!! What foods/treats have you been the most successful with???