5 Store Bought Hermit Crab Foods Compared and Reviewed
If you’re feeding your hermit crabs store bought hermit crab foods, consider the ingredients and form, besides the price.
We have used our hermit crabs to compare and review 5 common foods. These 5 foods are among the most common store-bought foods.
Spoiler alert: store-bought hermit crab foods should not be fed as a daily main source of nutrition. Many hermit crabs DO NOT EVEN RECOGNIZE some of these as “food”.
Hermit crabs ARE scavengers and are known to eat some pretty crazy things. But they DO need a wide variety of healthy fresh foods to stay healthy and happy.
Here are 5 hermit crab foods found in most pet stores and within the pet industry online. We’ve compared and reviewed them (our reviews are based solely on our own hermit crabs).
When purchasing hermit crab foods, always look at the top 4-5 ingredients first. Then consider the form this food comes in. Many hermit crabs don’t recognize hard brown pellets as food.
5 Store Bought Hermit Crab Foods Compared
NONE OF THESE FOODS SHOULD BE FED TO YOUR HERMIT CRAB PETS DAILY as their main food. The most these foods should be used are for supplemental feeding in addition to fresh foods, or as a dry vacation food temporarily.
Store-bought hermit crab food is best as supplemental and vacation food
Dry mass-produced hermit crab foods could be good as a dry food to provide daily, as a supplement to fresh foods. These foods don’t contain the fresh nutrients hermit crabs eat in the wild, and do NOT meet their full overall nutritional needs.
IF your hermit crabs like a particular store-bought dry food, it will make a good food to use when you are away on vacation.
Dry hermit crab foods won’t rot while you’re away (unless they drop in water or there’s too much moisture and humidity in the enclosure). This makes a good alternative food that can sustain your hermit crabs until you return.
Most fresh foods will begin to rot with 12-24 hours. If you’ll be gone for a few days, it’s always best to leave dry food that won’t rot quickly.
Look for Small Sellers who are also hermit crab pet owners!
Best hermit crab food (besides fresh unseasoned foods from your kitchen and garden)? Small sellers you can find on Amazon and Etsy who make great foods and are fellow hermit crab pet owners! They know what hermit crabs like, what’s healthy for them, and there aren’t preservatives and fillers!
Tip: provide two food dishes
Food dish one: DRY FOODS
Use one dish for dry food, like one of the foods above. Test the food, make sure your hermit crabs like and eat it! Look for the ingredients that seem to round out the nutritional needs of your hermit crabs (in addition to what other fresh foods you provide).
Food dish two: MOIST FOODS
Use another dish for fresh, moist foods. Fruits, vegetables, meats all have some moisture and begin to rot in 12-24 hours.
Remove these foods every day, and if it’s seafood or strawberries remove after 12 hours! Foods that rot quickly shouldn’t be avoided, because your hermit crabs may love these the most!
Salmon, shrimp, other fish and lobster will be foods your hermit crabs will love. BUT it’s important to remove within 12-24 hours (depends on if they are raw vs cooked, how moist/humid your crabitat is etc.).
By separating dry and moist/fresh foods, hermit crabs will always have one food they can eat (while the other may begin to rot or get moldy). Also, mold on rotting food will spread very quickly to anything else in the dish (including dry food) and spoil it all. By separating dry and moist, you guarantee a food source at all times.
