Ignoring honey

[Hermiesguardian]

I have a camera inside my tank so I do know if they're eating. And the last couple of days all 3 (or 4) above ground have not eaten any of the honey I put out. They always do. Why are they ignoring it?

[LadyJinglyJones]

It's possible that if they have had it recently it is presently a less compelling food. As my kid sister would say, they're "full up of" honey.

As omnivorous (mostly) scavengers, they've evolved to seek different foods. You never know when you'll come across a quality protein/sugar/lipid/whatever foodstuff, so hermits prize variety - after they've sated themselves on one kind of thing, sort of "filling up" on that type of nutrient - it's on to the next one! Its been hypothesized that they do this because time is a factor. Were they to exclusively binge on the most available food, past the point where those nutrients were still needed, they'd risk "missing out" on a different, equally valuable nutrient type. For example, were a crab to spend all day gorging on an over-abundant ripe coconut harvest, they might miss out on a dead fish washed up several miles away.

So they gots to be constantly searching for the next thing.

... Aaaaand if they've not have honey, or much sugary food lately.... I'd blame their lack of interest on moult cycles. Where in the moult cycle they are may influence what kinds of foods they think they need - maybe they need to stock up on lipids (fats) right now, or maybe there's a type of vitamin this crab needs - or that crab craves cholesterol (which, unlike mamals, crustaceans can't synthesize, and so have to consume in their diet because all animals need cholesterol). There's no way to know; they could want anything (that isn't honey, lol ).

Not to mention that right before a moult some crabs just don't seem interested in eating.

Keep offerin' different stuffs. They'll let you know when they appove. :roll: