Crabs are chowing down their hut

[TinaLouise]

We have two crabs. They have recently taken to climbing on top of their coconut hut and eating it?! We have had them (and the hut) about a year and this is a new behavior. I guess it's not terrible for them, but is it a signifier of something else? Their diet isn't incredibly varied as the only thing I have ever gotten them to eat was salmon and we don't often have it.
They have a pellet food and a powder food. And that's been the same the entire time we've had them. Should I be concerned? (Outside of the fact that I will need to buy a new hut if they keep on like this! ) They are both fairly active with distinct personalities. One is a climber and the other is a digger.
Thanks in advance for the sage advice !

[CrabbyLover77]

It sounds like you need to include more variety in their diet. I offer 6-8 different crabby foods in their main dish, and also fresh food every night or two (tonight my crabs are having scrambled eggs I cooked in the microwave, so there's no butter/oil). You can get great preservative free crab foods online at The Hermit Crab Patch (the store will be closed from Oct 11th-Nov 4th though). You can also buy Fluker's freeze dried grasshoppers and crickets on Amazon. I even give my crabs organic flaked coconut I bought at Giant for about $4 (the bag is a decent size too).

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[Moe2076]

They eat a lot of different kinds of human foods, I have been trying different things to see what they like, I haven't really gone out of my way to find it either, just whatever fruits and veggies we have in the fridge. The Safe Food list is a great resource:

https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/p ... 25&t=92557

If that link doesn't copy right, it's in the care section under food
So far mine like apples the best, I did buy them some dried coconut and they love that too. Eggshells are good for calcium. They eat a lot of the moss I have too. I thought they would go nuts for a strawberry but they didn't hardly touch it, I gave them some zucchini and I don't think it was super popular, it shrank up kinda fast tho. Mushrooms shrank up and weren't too popular either. They like blueberries. It's hard for me to tell if they eat a lot of the mealworms I have in there, I think they are eating them. Dried papaya has been lukewarn response, I see them eat it every now and again, but they pick other things over it.

[Hermiesguardian]

They need calcium and protein daily. The store foods marketed for hermit crabs is often toxic for them. Check the ingredients that there's no perservatives. Calcium can be eggshells, crushed oyster shells purchased from a feed store or cuttlebone from a pet store, in the bird section. They also need leaf litter, worm castings.

[GotButterflies]

Nothing is wrong with them eating their hut...
The problem consists mainly with them not having a more variety in their diet, and having pellets as food. Hermits can be really fun to feed! They can pretty much eat what you eat, and don't eat much!

Check out these links:

GB: Make sure you cover all aspects of food pyramid Especially provide calcium and leaf litter. Foods should be organic when possible. Hermit crabs are sensitive to pesticides and fertilizers.
Safe food list: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92557
Unsafe food list: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92556
Food pyramid: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92554

[Hermiesguardian]

Here are all 5 at the food dish. What was the draw? Raw chicken wing.

https://youtu.be/i3Huoy6puiQ