In: FAQ, Food and Nutrition, General
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***REMEMBER NO SEASONINGS OR ADDED SUGAR*** Safe to feed: Turkey raw or cooked Save the neck and giblet bag for the crabs Turkey bones Crack them open so they can get at the marrow. Potatoes No eyes or green parts raw or cooked. Veggies raw or cooked *no onions or garlic* Dark Leafy Greens must be cooked first. Nuts ground, whole, chunks. Fruits Sour fruit will not be eaten (for example: they will not eat like lemon) Oils pure and cold pressed are best Herbs No Rosemary evergreen family. If you brine or injected with rosemary or rosemary oils compound butters etc could have absorbedRead More →

Anthocyanin nibbles

In: Recipes
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Ingredients: 1 portion dark red/black cherries 1 portion blackberries 1 portion blueberries 1 portion red apple (Unwaxed only, she peel is the important part) 1 portion red beets 1/2 portion red raisins 1/2 portion dried plums/prunes 2 portions red beans (do not skip, or you won’t be able to grind into a powder) Blanch each item in a small pot of crab safe water, reserving and reusing the water for each item. Prunes and raisins get soaked in the warm water last until they are very soft. Blend all items, including the reserved soaking/blanching water (start with a little) until its a paste about asRead More →

In: Recipes
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If you are going to be away on vacation these cookies are an easy way to provide your hermit crabs enough food until you return.  In addition to offering a Hermit Crab Oreo Vacation cookie I suggest sprinkling your crabitat with some dried foods. This will encourage foraging and offer lots of different foods at once. Dried flowers, grains, seeds, egg shells, nuts and mealworms are all ideal dried foods.  I recommend that greensand and worm castings be available in your tank pretty much all of the time. You can cycle them out for a day or two if your crabs completely refuse other foods.Read More →

Compressus-Eating-Darcy-Madsen-2019Compressus-Eating-Darcy-Madsen-2019

In: Food and Nutrition
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In an effort to simplify feeding for hermit crab owners we have put together a few printable hermit crab food guides.  These should be used in conjunction with our safe and unsafe lists. *Nutritional Guide *Foraging Guide *Where to Buy Guide *What to Feed and Why Guide ****The files can be downloaded at the bottom of the article.**** Safe Food list you can print: https://docs.google.com/document/d/113toruv4u7NJxPYdM8-xVXZ7W4duiC54EvKqrh33-pY/edit?usp=sharing If you have additions or corrections for any of these guides or other food lists please send them to crabstreetjournal@gmail.com As we don’t allow commenting due to spammers. Additional food related articles: Safe and Unsafe WoodEdible FlowersWhat Foods are GoodRead More →

In: Food and Nutrition
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Written by Julia Crab Saturday, 19 November 2005 Zeaxanthin is an important precursor to astaxanthin, the carotenoid crustaceans need most to regulate their body systems. If astaxanthin is hard to come by, then zeaxanthin is the substance that coenobita need most. Beta carotene, while a valuable carotenoid, is not used as efficiently by crabs and is not of as much dietary use as zeaxanthin is. The following lists are of zeaxanthin-containing foods. There are three lists, one each for foods containing high, moderate, and low or trace amounts of this important substance. They are partial and will be updated as new information comes in. FeedRead More →

In: Food and Nutrition
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Written by Julia Crab 2005 Coconuts: A Really Tough Nut to Crack Yeah, these guys are tricky to open. But the fresh meat and milk inside are crab ambrosia. The best method for opening them is to employ an adult human male. Barring access to one of those, note the three depressions at one end of the coconut. These are the coconut’s eyes. An icepick, a chisel, or a strong slot head screwdriver placed firmly in the center of one of the eyes, and bashed firmly and repeatedly by a hammer will eventually reward those with perseverance. A drill or jigsaw can also be employedRead More →

In: Food and Nutrition
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Written by Julia Crab Sunday, 07 August 2005 This list contains foods that are moderate to high in beta carotene: apricots bell pepper of any color, red being the highest in carotenids blueberries broccoli cantaloupe carrot chard cilantro (raw) collard greens dandelion greens (raw) fava beans in the pod (raw) grape leaves (raw) lettuce (dark varieties, not iceburg which is nutritionally empty) mango papaya parsley (raw) passionfruit peaches peas persimmon pineapple pumpkin and squash, and seeds (dried) snap beans (raw) spinach spirulina seaweeds and microalgaes sweet potato Astaxanthin is another carotenid found in shrimp and krill and red seaweeds, that the crabs also use. TanninRead More →

In: Food and Nutrition
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Written by Vanessa Pike Russell 2004 I have done some research on colour enhancing foods and figuring out how to get crabs a certain colour. If you want really dark brown colour hermit crabs then give them lots of foods rich in tannins such as Brown Oak Leaves, Brown Oak Bark (pesticide free). This comes from Carol of CrabWorks. Her hermit crabs have been eating this since they were itty bitty crabbies, 28+ years ago! https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/tannins.shtml If you want orange hues that foods such as carrots, marigold petals have been known to create an increase in orange colour. Foods rich in Astaxanthin are what youRead More →

In: Food and Nutrition
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written by Kerie Campbell 2005 If you’ve decided to get rid of commercial diet completely, and go natural, here is a list of the recommended human-grade beginner foods. These are the highest in nutrition and will make a good base for adding fresh fruit, vegetables and meat too. Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (olive oil will do in a pinch) for cooking eggs, etc.Hemp seed meal (very high in HUFAs, and extremely nutritious)Spirulina (if you can get only one algae product, this alone can just aboutreplace commercial diet)Rooibos (high in many nutrients, and vitamin C)Dandelion leaf and rootFlax seed or seed mealRed raspberry leaf Add aRead More →