What Hermit Crabs Eat in the Wild

A healthy, well-balanced hermit crab pet diet should include an understanding of what hermit crabs eat in the wild. Their natural habitat is ocean-adjacent, along beaches and in mangroves.

A large part of a hermit crab’s natural diet comes washed up from the ocean where they forage for food along the seashore. Favorite hermit crab foods found in the wild include:

shrimp
fish
zooplankton
clams and snails
seaweed and algae
seagrape, coconut, mango

Hermit crabs live and eat ON LAND

It’s important to note that land hermit crabs remain on land and eat what washes up or grows along the shorelines. They do not go into the ocean to find food. Sometimes they may wade into a very shallow tide pool, or do a shallow wade along a calm beach for both bathing and finding food. But LAND HERMIT CRABS DO NOT SWIM! (yes, land hermit crabs can drown)

Hermit crabs are scavengers and omnivores

Hermit crabs are scavengers and omnivores and need a healthy balanced diet of meat, vegetables and fruits. Feed hermit crab pets lots of ocean-related foods like shrimp, fish, clams, seaweed that are naturally found washed up along a seashore. These foods provide protein, calcium and other needed vitamins and minerals.

Also found along seashores are fruits and vegetation like coconut, seagrape, mango, hibiscus. Also, there are insects and worms (and worm castings), and other nuts and berries and microgreens that grow in sand and near the ocean and mangroves that hermit crabs like to eat.

Hermit crabs are noctural and forage for food at night

Hermit crabs are nocturnal and usually forage for food at night. Shoreline birds like to eat many of the same washed up foods along the seashore that hermit crabs do. But shoreline birds eat during the day. This gives opportunity for hermit crabs to find food at night before the birds arrive when the sun comes up.

Sargassum Seaweed Clumps

If you’ve been to a beach, chances are you’ve seen plenty of brown sargassum seaweed clumps. Sargassum floats across the ocean and eventually washes up on shore.

There is an amazing amount of life inside these clumps of seaweed including tiny fish, shrimp, crabs, starfish, snails, zooplankton.

In the wild, hermit crabs love foraging through washed up sargassum seaweed clumps! Once sargassum washes up on shore, hermit crabs will pick through the clumps to find all their favorite foods.

Feed Your Hermit Crab Pets lots of Ocean-related Foods

The nutrients and minerals found in ocean-related foods and vegetation is needed for hermit crabs to remain healthy and happy.

Ocean-related foods like fish, shrimp, plankton, seaweed etc. should be the majority of foods you feed your hermit crab pets.

These foods are contained in many manufactured hermit crab foods, usually in pellet form. Also look at the frozen food section of your local pet store.

There are frozen food cubes containing many of these ocean foods made to feed saltwater aquarium fish. These frozen foods make great snacks for hermit crabs.

BUT these mass-produced foods often contain lots of fillers that aren’t good for hermit crabs. Read the ingredient labels before buying!