Hermit Crab Diet
Many first-time hermit crab pet owners ask the question – what do hermit crabs eat? As you purchase your hermit crabs, it is essential knowing all about their eating habits in order to ensure feeding them with the best hermit crab diet.
Hermit crabs are the easiest to maintain and flexible pets. They are not choosy eaters and can live on anything you feed them. Left in the wild, hermit crabs thrive on leaf litter, fallen fruit, decayed wood, grasses and plants. As a pet under controlled conditions, hermit crabs require a lot of calcium and carotene for good health apart from their regular food. Carotene ensures that their colour does not fade after molting.
It is highly recommended to include organic vegetables and fruits in your hermit crab diet to eliminate any health problems. Hermit crab diet must essentially include the following –
1. Include a lot of vegetables such as corn and carrots rich in carotene
2. Feed them with a lot of raisins, peanut butter, honey, nuts, cereal, crackers and apple sauce
3. Hermit crabs enjoy eating fruits such as papayas, mangoes, coconuts and bananas.
4. Post molting, they must be fed with dairy foods such as cheese to enable them to bounce back to good health
5. You can occasionally feed them with meat taking care not to add sauce or butter
Hermit crab diet can also include a variety of supplements found in pet stores. They sell hermit crab foods such as seaweeds, brine shrimps, escargot, frozen fruit, fish food flake and freeze dried shrimps that are healthy and nutrient filled. You can feed your pet crabs with these foods too.
Internet is a treasure house of many different hermit crab recipes. You can make your hermit crab diet exciting and interesting by taking efforts preparing food for them that are rich in calcium and carotene.
Other popular and nourishing hermit crab diet choices include crab food granules or pellets and fish flakes. Water you give your pet crabs must be de-chlorinated. Provide enough fresh water and salt water for your crab to drink as well as to soak in. Break up your hermit crab diet with exotic treats of cooked meat pieces and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Crabs enjoy eating marigold petals. Find some ground dried petals and add to their food after ensuring that no pesticide was used for growing them.
Vets will advise you against certain hermit crab foods that contain harmful ingredients. Be sure to check the labels before you purchase any commercial food for your crab. Find out information on what exactly your pet hermit crab diet should be and you are on your way to providing them with a balanced diet to ensure good health.
Providing them with healthy food ensures that they live a long, well fed and contented lives eating delicious food. Cook up some exciting recipes and add excitement to their diet. Hermit crabs are wonderful pets to own and do not require any maintenance. It is a great pleasure taking care of them and feeding them with the right food to ensure optimum health.
