When living in the wild, hermit crabs eat a wide variety of food from rotting wood, fallen fruit, leaves and grasses, and objects that wash ashore. These pets are omnivores, meaning they eat both meat and vegetables. They may be very picky about the clams they will use as a home, but they are not picky at all about the food they eat. They locate food in two ways: by smelling the food and seeing other crabs eating the food.
- You can purchase hermit crab food at most pet stores that sell terrestrial hermit crabs. These commercially produced foods are suitable for your crab’s diet. However, your pet hermit crab can also live on the food we eat.
- Your small pets will eat almost anything you serve them. But these foods are suitable additions to your pet’s diet: apples, chicken, bananas, carrots, bread, corn, cornmeal, crackers, granola, coconut, grapes, fish, lettuce, and shelled shrimp. If you’re serving meat, make sure it’s well cooked and doesn’t have butter or sauce on it.
- If your local pet store doesn’t sell specialty foods, you can also purchase pelleted turtle foods. Find pellets that are appropriate for the size of your hermits to prevent them from choking on large pellets.
- You don’t have to worry about how much to feed your pets. You can feed your terrestrial hermit crab as much food as it can and is willing to eat. But don’t forget to remove uneaten fresh food from your crab the next day to prevent the food from spoiling and attracting insects.
- These fascinating creatures can also go without food for long periods of time. Don’t fret if your Hermies don’t eat for a while. Keep offering food and they will eat when they feel ready to eat again.
- How much do you feed a hermit crab? How much of the fresh food and the commercially prepared food? The key here is to balance it. Never let your hermit crabs eat too much commercially prepared food. Always alternate it with fresh foods.
- Always have fresh, clean water in their cage. Keep the water in a shallow dish or prefer a shallow dish. These little animals can drown in the water bowl if they can’t climb out of the bowl, so make sure it has stone or wooden climbing steps. Clams in your tank are the best food and water dishes as they can also be a good source of calcium for the crabs. Another good source of calcium for your hermit crabs is sepia. Never use metal utensils on your crab as metal can be toxic to them.
- You can do this test to determine how much to feed a hermit crab. Offer two or three types of food at the same time. Your crab will eat the treat that smells stronger and better than the others, and that’s the food they like best. Of course, offer them a variety of food and not just the same thing over and over again.
Thanks to Sarah Winter
