HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hey all, i was hoping you could help me with this issue. My hermit crabs don't even touch the carrots that i put in, regardless of how i make it. I shave it, cut it into small pieces and sometimes steam it to soften in up a bit. I can only think of carrots as the only readily available source of carotene. If you have another way of getting your crabs to get carotene, please tell me. Thanks

I don't feed my crabs carrots. I may have once but they to didn't eat the carrots. What else do they feed them. Try giving them sweet didn't.

Any bright yellow/orange fruit or vegetable should have some carotene in it. If you can experiment with some of those you might find something they will eat. Lucky for me, my crabs are like rabbits, they love carrots.

My crabs don't eat carrot at all either. They do LOVE a little plain baked sweet potato- I just microwave a whole one, then slice in into rounds and freeze them. Then I just take it out one round at a time to serve them. I don't even warm them up first, I put it in there frozen in the AM and by the time they wake up that afternoon it's thawed out.

Oh ok thanks. I feed them papaya as well. I could try sweet potatoes. Are oranges safe for them to eat? And do you think a banana has carotene? I could try those.

I'm pretty sure all citrus fruits are safe. Banana is definitely good, but I can't be sure that it has carotene.

I don't know crabs, but I know food... Please double check to make sure these are on the safe food list...I did a quick check...

Dandelions! They've got even more beta carotene than carrots!

Pumpkin, winter squash, spinach, broccoli, romaine lettuce, apricots, and green peppers, kale, turnip greens, cilantro, thyme, canteloupe.

Tomatoes have lycopene, which is very similar to beta-carotene...lycopene doesn't have the vitamin A activity of beta carotene, but still has anti-oxidant properties and great nutritional value.

And yes, oranges are orange because of beta carotene.

Bananas and plaintains have beta carotene too.

In a related thread "Good Foods that promote rich coloring..." Exotic Crabby posted the following link with a comprehensive list:

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=62686

Beta Carotene
Definition - an orange and red pigment molecule that is found in brightly-colored foods.
Function - enhances red and orange color in hermit crab's exoskeleton and is processed into Vitamin A in a hermit crab's body
Foods - apricots, bell pepper (red, orange, and yellow), blueberry, broccoli, cantaloupe, carrot, chard, cilantro (raw), collard greens, dandelion greens (raw), lettuce (dark), mango, microalgaes, papaya, parsley (raw), passionfruit, peaches, peas, persimmon, pineapple, pumpkin, snap beans (raw), spinach, spirulina, squash, seaweeds, sweet potato

Other Carotenoids
Definition - molecules that enhance color and reflect different wavelengths of light
Function - enhance color in the hermit crab exoskeleton and aid in bodily functions and keeping organ systems healthy
Foods - apricot, blueberry, carrot, collard greens, egg yolk, guava, kale, mango, pink grapefruit, salmon, shellfish, spinach, squash, sweet potato, tomato

Thanks for the information It helped a lot. If you feed them seaweed, does it have to be just plain seaweed with no preservatives and stuff like that? Oh and the chart said that i should be giving them a lot of animal protein everyday or at least 5-7 times a week. This is also another thing cos i don't get the chance to visit my local aquarium so it's a bit hard to get freeze-dried shrimp, plankton, stuff like that so i substitute it with chicken and beef yet they never eat it. Is there a way to make them more enticed such that they eat it?

I see you live in Singapore, so the places you purchase food items may be different than where I do in the US.

Do you have a local pet shop where you can buy dried crickets, shrimp, mealworms, etc? If not, can you purchase these items through the internet and have them shipped to you?

I get nori/dried seaweed that has salt in it; I just soak it a bit in fresh water to reduce the salt. Preservatives or flavourings are not allowed for the crabbies.

If you have corner or neighborhood markets, you can purchase a variety of items: Fish/fish heads, shrimp, octopus, squid, whatever variety of fresh seafood is available.

Well I have seen freeze-dried bloodworms but i'm not sure about shrimp, crickets etc. Can you feed them crickets and mealworms that are fresh?

I tried feeding them fish as well but they don't eat it, or at least not all the time.

I just fed them egg yolk rolled in egg shell powder specially for my newly molted Brevimanus and the greedy bugger ate it in a flash once i turned my back.

Also, regarding the nori/dried seaweed, i believe i can get those from health stores but its only a maybe.

Are you sure they are not eating it? It's possible they are and it's just not enough to be noticeable. Mine love meat, all meat but especially shrimp.

Well only a small, microscopic bit each but after that they drag it around the whole tank and leave it where they want to. Mine doesn't really care about meat to be honest and i cook it too cause i'm not sure whether its clean or not to serve raw.

Fresh crickets, mealworms, earthworms, grasshoppers, etc... are fine...I've even given them cicadas/locusts!

Oh i see.

like as in crickets and meal worms that are alive fresh?