Your Hermit Crabs Need Vitamin Supplements Too!
Hermit crabs need vitamin supplements just like most of the rest of us! We humans need to round out our diets by adding extra vitamins and nutrients when needed, right? And our dogs and cats and backyard chickens also need vitamin supplements from time-to-time. Our hermit crab pets are no different!
Hermit crabs are omnivorous scavengers and eat a big variety of foods in the wild. But as pets they rely solely on YOU to provide them with the right nutrition!
In this post, we’ll discuss the importance of vitamin supplements for hermit crabs, what types of supplements they need (AND DO NOT NEED), and how to provide vitamin supplements to them successfully.
- Introduction: Hermit crabs need vitamin supplements
- The Importance of Vitamin Supplements for Hermit Crabs
- How do you know if your Hermit Crabs need more Vitamins?
- Store-bought types of Vitamin Supplements for Hermit Crabs
- Are store-bought “Vitamin Supplements” for Hermit Crabs SAFE???
- How to provide more essential vitamins to your Hermit Crabs
- FAQ section
- Conclusion
The Importance of Vitamin Supplements for Hermit Crabs
Hermit crabs are omnivores requiring a balanced diet to maintain their health. While a varied diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, and protein sources can provide most of the essential nutrients they need, they may not always get enough vitamins and minerals from their food alone. This is where vitamin supplements come in.
Vitamin supplements can help fill in the gaps in your hermit crab’s diet and ensure they are getting all the necessary nutrients to stay healthy. Without adequate nutrition, your hermit crab may become lethargic, lose their appetite, or even develop health problems over time. Here’s my post on hermit crab food and nutrition with lots of food ideas, here.
How do you know if your Hermit Crabs need more vitamins?
Just like us humans, and your pet dog, cat and backyard chickens… we all need vitamin supplements to round out our diets and vitamin deficiencies.
1. Assume your hermit crabs need vitamin supplements, at least sometimes. A wide variety of fresh natural organic foods should be your first go-to solution for vitamin supplementation.
See my post on hermit crab food and nutrition for ideas, information and food lists here.
Example? Hermit crabs need calcium, lots of it before they go through the molting process especially. Are you providing a diet rich in calcium? Are you sure they are getting enough? If not, add more sources of calcium, easy!
2. Watch their behavior and activity: boredom, listlessness can be a good indication that their diet needs a boost. See more information on hermit crab behaviors, here.
Example: hermit crabs get bored if you feed them the same thing every day. Think about it… what would happen if you ate the same type of granola bar for every meal, every day, all the time?
Hermit crabs don’t want the same food all the time, especially if it isn’t even real food! See my post that compares the most common store-bought hermit crab “foods”, here.
Store-bought Types of Vitamin Supplements for Hermit Crabs
Most pet stores have a very small, limited hermit crab products section. And there aren’t very many companies that make hermit crab products! But this is fine, because FRESH FRUITS, VEGETABLES and PROTEINS are THE BEST VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS you will feed your hermit crab pets!
However, if you need a store-bought option to round out your hermit crab’s diet, here are a few products to consider:
Cuttlebone:
Cuttlebone provides an excellent source of calcium and is a natural product from the ocean. They are usually inexpensive and found in the bird section of most pet stores.
What is cuttlebone? See my post “Feed Your Hermit Crabs Cuttlebone from the Ocean”, here.
Mineral Block:
Mineral blocks can be found in the hermit crab section of pet stores. They provide lots of vitamins and minerals. While there are a ton of ingredients in this product, most are natural and beneficial.
Note: I’ve personally used these for many years, making sure there is always 1-2 inside my hermit crab habitat at all times. I’m NOT a huge fan of these only because I hate long lists of ingredients, the more ingredients the more it tends to also include synthetic stuff you probably don’t want.
However, I am also a big advocate for providing a big, wide, varied selection of lots of foods, giving my hermit crabs the ultimate choice to eat what they need. They know what they like, and what they need. And they like to pick at (and I’m assuming eat) these particular mineral blocks.
Seaweed:
Natural dried seaweed is a big part of a land hermit crab’s diet in the wild. Seaweed washes up on shore and hermit crabs feast on the seaweed as well as the tiny shrimp, plankton and other organisms that get caught up in the seaweed clumps.
There are lots of vitamins and minerals in seaweed, and this makes a great supplement.
Note: I give my hermit crabs dried seaweed a few times per month, as a snack food. I place it in a different part of the habitat than where their main food dish is. Make them forage for snacks like they do in the wild, it’s fun for them!
Greensand:
Greensand is a natural product found in the ocean and this product says it’s for hermit crabs specifically.
HOWEVER, I HAVE NEVER FED THIS TO MY OWN HERMIT CRABS.
Greensand is used as a fertilizer and DOES have lots of vitamins and minerals in it, very beneficial to plant growth. However, in my opinion it’s more of a substrate than a food or vitamin supplement. Perhaps if sprinkled lightly over their main food it might be beneficial, but this is a product I’m currently choosing NOT to introduce in my own hermit crab habitat at this point.
FAQ Section: Frequently Asked Questions about Hermit Crab Vitamin needs
Q: Do hermit crabs need supplements every day?
A: Supplements such as cuttlebone, mineral blocks and seaweed can be kept in the habitat at all times as long as they remain dry.
Q: Can I use human supplements for my hermit crabs?
A: No! Only use supplements specifically designed for hermit crabs or other crustaceans or very small animals being careful to review ingredients to make sure they are safe for your hermit crabs specifically.
Q: How do I know if my hermit crab is deficient in vitamins?
A: Signs of vitamin deficiency in hermit crabs include lethargy, loss of appetite, and slow growth. The best way to avoid vitamin deficiencies is to always provide a wide variety of fresh, natural and organic foods, regularly.
Last update on 2024-05-08 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API