What Do Hermit Crabs Eat? - The Answer Might Surprise You

I guess if you are reading this article, you are already considering having a hermit crab as a pet right! Well if you are, then you could certainly do a lot worse! As well as being inexpensive to look after you might be surprised to know that their eating habits are certainly less than exotic. So in order to answer the question "what do hermit crabs eat?" let's have a look at what they consume in their natural environment. You see, if you can understand this, then feeding them becomes easy and, more importantly, inexpensive!

The little critters, as you probably know, are land based animals that live on or around the shore in tropical climes. They are foragers and will feed on things like papaya, mango, wood bark, seeds and grasses and basically whatever else might be washed up on the shores. They will also feed on tiny shrimp and other small crustaceans.

As you can see they are certainly not fussy, So when asked the question "what do the little guys consume?" if the truth be told, they probably have a far more varied diet than that of say, a picky teenager, and are certainly less fussy! So how can you adapt what they eat in the wild to feeding in captivity?

Well, the best way to keep your new friends happy is to combine a diet of commercial crab food and "people food." You see these little crawlers are omnivores just like humans. This means that they eat meat, fish and vegetables, which is pretty much the same as most humans. So, if you are scratching your head worrying about what do these guys consume, then simple! Take a trip to the supermarket and stock up on all of your favorite foods and problem sorted. Put quite simply, you can feed them the same sort of foodstuffs that you eat, within limits! With this in mind here are a few foods that your pet crab might like to chow down on!

Pieces of fresh fruit such as oranges, mango, pineapple
Crunchy vegetables such as carrots
Pieces of well cooked meat
Small pieces of cooked fish

Now believe it or not, these little guys are known to have a bit of a sweet tooth and are quite partial to chocolate and peanut butter ( although this one can get a little messy!) so if you are feeling like you are in need of a bit of a chocolate fix then remember your crab probably does too! As with humans please give in moderation!

The hermit crab loves variety in its diet so try to rotate their foods on a daily basis. Also try to experiment with what you give them In the wild, your baby crab would learn what to feed on by watching what other crabs are eating and by smelling food with their antennas. When you put your crabs' food down, see their antennae go up and watch them run towards the food.