Saturday, October 13, 2012

What Can a Hermit Crab Eat to Keep Your Pet Happy and Healthy

You just got yourself a new pet hermit crab and you already bought him a nice home and toys but you now ask yourself "what can a hermit crab eat?"
Land hermit crabs are pets that require low maintenance especially when it comes to their diet because they will eat just about anything, from fruits and fish to popcorn and tofu.
Nowadays, you can buy hermit crab foods from a pet store. Make sure that they do not have too much chemicals or preservatives. This can be bad for your hermit crab's health. However, if chosen carefully and if given properly, commercial crab food can provide your pet with the required nutrients that can keep them healthy and happy exotic pets.
Commercial foods for these fascinating creatures could be in the form of pellets to powder. Some food products have to be moistened while others have to be mad into smaller pieces such as large pellets.
For these small animals, foods should also be given in small amounts and they should also be soft and easy to digest. Overfeeding your pets could be fatal.
However, try to give them a variety of foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables so that they will not get tired of the same old commercial foods every day. Crabs are omnivores and scavengers which makes it easy for you to try to give them new foods or tastes such as scrambled eggs, sardines, or chips that can make your hermit crabs' mouth water. Try not to give them too oily, spicy, or hot foods.
It is also interesting to note that hermit crabs love sweet foods with a variety of flavors, especially those flavours that babies usually like such as apples, bananas, pears, mango, kiwi, applesauce, sweet corn casserole, sweet potatoes, fruit medley, guava dessert, mango dessert, and papaya dessert. You can mix 2 to 3 flavors in one meal, just like baby foods.
If your crabitat is in an open area, you can give them fresh fish head. This is only ideal for a large group of hermit crabs. They can finish it off after a few hours. The smell can be strong, though, and you might not want to smell this in your house every day.
Other foods that they love are coconut shavings, natural peanut butte, hard boiled eggs and even shells, and plain, unbuttered, and unsalted popcorn. Raw meat is also a favourite meal for these little creatures.
Provide them with a water dish with enough fresh water in it and another dish with salt water in the aquarium. Saltwater does not mean you will sprinkle in table salt to fresh water. It should be real saltwater that you got from the ocean. Just make sure that the dishes are not so big or the water is not too much to prevent your crabs from drowning, especially the small ones.

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