what to feed if ive never seen him eating??

[Ashleigh]

I'v had my hermit crabs 3 days and they wont eat. I'v tried carrots, raisins and hermit crab food but they wont eat

[emmac350]

Hermit crabs need more than just fruits and veggies. My "hermit crab food groups" that I use to get a good mix of food are:

1. Meat - shrimp, turkey, chicken, dried silverside fish, bloodworms.
2. Fruits - coconut, strawberries, raspberries, apples, etc. The list is rather long. Ensure if you use commercial dried products that there are no chemical preservatives in them (I think it's sulfur dioxide but I'm not sure off the top of my head).
3. Veggies - green beans, peppers, squashes, cucumbers, corn, etc.
4. Cellulose - organic rice or millet puffs, maple leaves, etc.
5. Grains and seeds - rice/millet puffs fit here too, pumpkin seeds, organic granola, etc.
6. Worm castings - fairly self-explanatory.
7. Spirulina - dust over the top of the food lightly.

In addition, my crabs like rehydrated dry food better. They enjoy anything that's moist it seems...for a long time I was doing mostly dry and then when I switched, I had immediate results. I put the food in a shell dish with a little salt water and microwave it until soft, replenishing the water if it needs it.

[Ashleigh]

I hand fed them raisins but I can't seem to get them to eat anything else

[emmac350]

If you've had your crabs for 3 days, you should not be handling them at all, even if you think they need to eat more. They know when they're hungry, and if you offer them a good variety of the things I mentioned in my previous post, they will eat when they want food. Additionally, you probably won't see them eating. When they do eat, they do it when they want to, which is usually at night. The only way you can tell if they're eating is if they've gotten sand in the food bowl.

If you've only had the crabs 3 days, you should be strictly hands off for the next month or so. They need to get used to their new life, and not be stressing about being handled. These crabs were wild until a few weeks before you bought them, and being handled is something they need to get used to.

Could you describe what your tank looks like? What kind of tank it is, what kind of substrate you have, the foods and waters you offer, the accessories, the temperature and humidity, etc. These will be helpful in ensuring that your hermit crabs survive their first month with you, at which point there is a lower risk of them dying from stress.

[Ashleigh]

I have had them for 3 weeks now and they're doing fine . My tank has fresh and saltwater their substrate is recently bought play sand, the food I offer to them is watermelon carrots, raisins, grapes and hermit crab food. The tank is 10 gallon. I have a climbing net plastic palm tree's and a cave. The humidity is 70 and the temperature is around 25c - 30c.

[emmac350]

You should not offer commercial hermit crab food. Stick with fresh stuff. Fresh fruits/veggies, unseasoned cooked meat, etc.

Also, your temperature has a lot of fluctuation in it - have you tried evening it out a bit? (Not that I'm one to talk, still getting used to the new heat lamp and all, but still...it could help them a bit.)

[CrabbyJo]

My Barnaby seems to really enjoy Tomatoes! And peanut butter. He also eats the commercial crab food I have for him, and I don't want to take that away until I feel I'm giving him all he needs with what I can provide personally.
I cooked some salmon the other night but didn't think it would be okay to give him salmon with butter and garlic on it? I pulled a little piece from the middle and put it in his cage, but he ignored it and ate the tomato, peanut butter and commercial crab food.

I think it's quite fun how many foods you can give these little guys!

[emmac350]

The best thing to do with human meats is to take a little piece out before you cook it for yourself. So if you're cooking salmon, break off a little corner of the salmon and cook it separately for the crabs.

Garlic is being debated within the crabbing community as to its safety for crabs because it has some natural insecticide compounds within it. As for butter, dairy is safe but if it is salted butter...I'd recommend not using it due to the salt.

Also, what kind of commercial food do you use? Some of them contain ethoxyquin or copper sulphate which are insecticides that can actually harm your crabs. Some even contain pheromones so your crab is attracted whether it actually needs the nutrients within the food itself.

[CrabbyJo]

Oh my I'll take a look tomorrow morning as to what I've got for commercial food - is there a brand you would recommend that doesn't have the chemicals or pheremones in it?

If I don't use commercial food, what do you recommend I make absolutely sure they get in their diet besides a good protein and calcium source?
I'm already planning to purchase some shrimp in shells to cook on a regular basis for them - I can't eat it myself and my family doesn't like it, so it will be just for the hermies. Best way to cook them... boil? bake?
What about raw meat if it's removed the next day? I know it's probably something to be very careful of. I ask because in the wild hermies will find raw meat, not cooked.

[emmac350]

My "food groups" for my crabs are:

1. Fruit - fresh or dried and rehydrated, has coconut, strawberries, etc. in it
2. Flower petals - crabs can eat most flowers (and the epicurean hermit has a list of safe and unsafe ones), I mostly have dry calendula flower petals from the addiction store
3. Veggies - everything from dry green beans that I rehydrate regularly to fresh zucchini and cucumber
4. Grains, nuts, and seeds - sesame seeds were actually a huge hit with my guys, as was the addiction store's 9 grain cereal, walnuts, etc.
5. Protein - self-explanatory, but my "fresh" out of this category was shrimps I bought and sauteed in extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with lime juice and pulp...I cut them up into pieces when serving and I usually have to search for pieces within the tank...the olive oil is also important - they need oils in very small amounts, like coconut oil and olive oil and fish oil and such
6. Calcium - hard-boiled eggshells crumbled up, calci sand, etc.
7. Worm castings - in the wild, hermies eat everything from dirt to animal droppings and everything in between...every time I offer these they're at least partially eaten so I know they like them
8. Spirulina - this is a superfood algae that contains all sorts of good stuff...it's a very fine powder so just sprinkle over the top
9. Cellulose - you don't have to include every time as the crabs can and will supplement their diets with things like pieces of coconut husk off cocohuts or pieces of your wood ornaments in the tank

I think that's everything big. As for which brands of HC food use the chemicals...look at the ingredients on yours. What all is listed?