HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi,

I mostly put whatever fresh whole foods we are eating in the food bowl. However I also add dried shrimp and mealworms every few days. The whole foods stay on the food bowl and are climbed on but the dried shrimp and mealworms end up ALL over the tank. I mean everywhere. I'm confused, are they being eaten? saved for later? does this mean they are preferred or not wanted? Or are the whole foods just too big to carry? I always clean the food out the next day but I let them stay in the tank once just to see if they were possibly being saved and they ended up getting fuzzy so I cleaned out the whole tank. Now I just scoop them out the next day with a spoon but I'm wondering if I should just skip them?

They do tend to scatter food around and attempt to stash it for later when they can. They also like to eat in private places that are not out in the open and will drag food off to do so. You can help to control the mess by not providing as much at one time, as they aren't able to eat a lot overnight. The larger pieces are probably too big to run off with which is why they end up staying in the bowl.

I was having that problem with mine, too. I have some major stashers.

I found two solutions which you may want to try, depending on what works best for your crabs.

1) I put a coconut hide right beside the food bowl. That's often enough for them to feel safe and they don't have to drag it far to get to a covered, "private" spot. I point the door opening toward the front of the tank and I can still see them, but they feel protected.

2) Another option is simply crumbling the mealworms and shrimp between your fingers as you fill the dish. They like it crumbled and they can't drag off a whole shrimp that way. It also forces them to stay at the food dish where I can enjoy watching them eat.

Thank you all! Oh I didn’t even think about that I have the food right out in the open. I’ll go move it right away to a more secluded spot! Great idea thank you! My daughter likes to help put in the food and she does pour quite a bit. I’ll have to help her not pour so much too.

Is your daughter younger? Can you make it into a counting game where each crab gets one or two? It might keep her excited!