What do you feed your hermit crabs?

Anchorites.

Hermits

(Anchorites are hermits.)

Hi! Okay, Hermit crabs are interesting and easy,easy,easy pets! make sure he has a place where he can get wet but not drown for starters, keep part of his sand damp too(Not all of it so he still has a dry area). Check at your local pet stores, you can buy a hermit crab food pellet that will give them the proper nutrition. They are scavengers and will eat just about anything, but still keep it to healthy foods, the grape was a good idea, lettuce, berries, cucumber; I’d generally stick to fruits and veggies that contain a fair amount of water.

Check at your local book stores (or the pet store) for a simple beginners book on hermit crabs :) They are usually only $8–10 and most places should be able to order it in for you if it is not in stock. Having a beginners guide to any pet you are not 100% on will save you a lot of stress and guesswork along with possible heartache if the worse happens and your new pet passes away from lack of proper care. I’m not saying you are doing this at all, though! You took the right step in asking for advice for your new little family member :)

A crab as a pet? He’d probably be happier in the ocean eating stuff in the ocean.

Also, I believe peanut butter is a great little treat for them, but in moderation. Only a pea sized amount for a full grown hermit crab every other day or so :)

heres a good recipe for crab food if you dont want to buy any.
2 large cuttlebones
1 cup dried rice (any non-instant type)
1 cup unflavored oatmeal
1 tsp. salt, uniodized (Do not use table salt, but sea salt or aquarium salt)
¼ cup dried plankton, krill or any other very stinky dried sealife
2 tablespoons spirulina powder (you can buy this at almost any health food store)

Break up the cuttlebones with your hands into nickel-or-dime-size chunks. Using an electric coffee grinder, powder them. Sometimes they get stuck in the blades—if so, stop grinding and poke them out of the blades and continue grinding. Take all remaining ingredients except the salt and grind them into a sort of lumpy powder fine powder. The krill won’t completely grind so just get it to where you can stand it. Add in the salt and any other things you think your crabs will enjoy, such as cornmeal, cracker meal, bread crumbs (unflavored), wheat germ, ground nuts, seeds, etc.

they also love tropical fruit! just be sure to de-pit any of them

@Reushbag : That’s fantastic!

thanks :)
i had a couple hermit crabs myself.

I’ve seen a guy throw bacon into the enclosure. The crabs appearead to love it. They ripped it to shreds until it was gone.

Bacon bits. No joke. I think they were called bacos.

@mowens and @UScitizen : it’s true they love bacon because they are scavengers. But being that this little guy is a pet it’s best to keep his diet healthy to keep him healthy. Bacon(bits) are a great treat in moderation :)

Thanks for all the great suggestions/ideas! I bought some mangoes. My daughter loves mangoes but she can never eat a whole one… so our new little friend can have the scraps, haha.