What do Hermit Crabs Eat

Hermit crabs are known to be one of the free swimming aquamarine saltwater animals, that somewhat resembles a snail’s structure, minus the slow paced move. It’s protective armor or hermit crab shells serves two purposes both beneficial for survival and protection. Given that hermit crabs are more commonly seen in the wild like in the sea, are there any chances that it can be turned into a household pet?

If your down and bored with the usual options on what house pet you would like to keep, you can perhaps try having one of the two different types of hermit crabs. That also answers the question of whether you can have them as pet. Hermit crabs are able to survive in salt water and fresh water although the chances of survival would be much guaranteed if you provide a tank of aquamarine salt water instead of a kitchen formulated salt water. In keeping hermit crabs as household pet, your number one concern should be mimicking its environment and making a friendly habitit for hermit crabs.

Hermit crabs have been known to burrow down the ground and climb in and out of the water once in a while. With this, you should already have an idea on what your fish tank should look like if you’re planning to house a hermit crab at home. Aside from the aquamarine salt water, the presence of sand is very important too. Hermit crabs have this some kind of sense for privacy that’s why they need to do some burrowing. Also, drift wood which can be bought at some reptile pet stores can be also placed inside the tank so that the hermit crab can climb up to it. Just try to watch out on positioning it near the opening of the tank as they can be really sneaky and do some escape acts.

Talking about food, what do hermit crabs eat? Before you go gaga over feeding your pet hermit crab, you should know that even if they have claws or clippers, they are not purely carnivores. Hermit crabs are omnivores, meaning they feed on both meat and vegetables. You can put fruits in too. Since as a pet owner you’d be more concerned about what do hermit crabs eat, here’s a list of the common foods you can provide them with.

MEAT
The term itself is very broad so to be specific, hermit crabs are to be fed in moderation with any type of meat. Be it beef, pork, or fish, feeding them with these food types alone will not make a healthy and balanced diet for the hermit crab.

VEGETABLES
Now given the word “vegetables” there are a wide variety of leafy greens and veggies you can feed your hermit crab. From broccoli, spinach, carrots, etc. Other than these, what do hermit crabs eat that can be really easy to find? Those would have to be grass and leaves except for conifers. On feeding your hermit crabs with these easy to find food, make sure that it is pesticide and chemical free.

FRUITS
Are hermit crabs choosy about fruits that they can feed on? Of course not, you can throw in any fruit that you might even want to share with your hermit crab. Upon learning about these foods that you can feed your pet hermit crab, you may still ask what do hermit crabs eat other than these mentioned? Well, you might be surprised to know that hermit crabs can share some snacks with you too other that fruits and vegetables. Hermit crabs can actually be fed with a low salt content cracker and peanuts, some unsweetened cereal, raisins, plain rice cakes, and occasionally you can even give them some peanut butter.

Learning about what do hermit crabs eat is as important as maintaining its healthy well being even though it is away from its original habitat. Should you decide to have more than one pet hermit crab at home, now you know how to handle these low maintenance critters.