HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Does anybody have some recommendations about hermit crab pellets? Personally I prefer to make my own blend of grass,flowers,fruits,veggies,shrimp, etc. for my crabs instead of using pellets FULL time, but are there any pellets that would be good to add to my blend of food? Anything that has a lot of protein and vitamins?

Thanks for any recommends

You should always be offering your crabs a wide variety of protein, calcium, fruits, vegetables, and some fats.

Staples that I consider extras which are always in my tanks are worm castings, calcium carbonate, and greensand. You can use your own dry food mix, as long as everything in it is on the safe list, and if you are supplementing their diet with other fresh foods as well. I have heard of some members here giving their crabs a high quality aquarium pellet food. The brands Hikari and Omega One are usually good choices.

You just need to be aware of copper sulfate or any type of preservative, these are harmful to hermit crabs in the long run and should be avoided.

Nearly all commercial pellets in the US contain some preservatives (listed or not) and questionable mineral supplements.

It’s better to just avoid them. Your current blends sound good to me.


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You want to make sure that any commercial foods that you provide do not contain the following ingredients:
⁃ EQ or Ethoxyquin an antioxidant
⁃ Copper Sulfate
⁃ BHT, also known as butylhydroxytoluene

GotButterflies wrote:You want to make sure that any commercial foods that you provide do not contain the following ingredients:
⁃ EQ or Ethoxyquin an antioxidant
⁃ Copper Sulfate
⁃ BHT, also known as butylhydroxytoluene

Kilimanjaro’s nutrition article also mentions other compounds to aboud such as zinc oxide and ferrous sulfate. Do we still consider those to be potentially unsafe?


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I never provide my crabs with commercial food and prefer to give them a natural diet instead. I believe utilizing the safe food list is a good way to find out what they really like and what they don’t. Like, I know my crabs love oak branches with lichens on it. It gives them a tannin source and it encourages foraging behavior.


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