how often should i feed my Hermit Crab!?!?!?!?

You need to feed your crab daily. And be sure to feed it natural food, not the commercial pellets. This is because it contains EQ( or Ethoxyquin an antioxidant), Copper Sulfate, BHT, or Bone Meal (any "meal" listed on the ingredients of commercial food). Your best bet it to give it an all natural diet. In my sources I've included an article about commercial foods, as well as a list of safe and unsafe foods for your crab.

Here's an idea of what to feed them instead:

Hermit Crab Food Favorites

Hermit crabs enjoy certain foods that are high in nutrients and can also satisfy them with a certain taste. Some of the hermit crab favorite foods I have collected came from the forum. I have decided to post the most popular foods.

Bloodworms (freeze-dried)

Blueberries

Chicken bone marrow

Coconut

Cuttlebone

Earthworm castings

Krill (frozen & thawed or freeze-dried)

Mango

Millet

Oak leaves

Papaya

Peanut butter (organic)

Pineapple

Popcorn (no butter or salt)

Rolled oats

Shrimp (whole)

Wheat germ

- The list was from Kilimanjaro's post on the HCA -

Here are some basics of hermit crab care:

- Never listen to what the pet store tells you--they have no idea what they're talking about. They're just trying to make a buck, and have you leave with as much overpriced "hermit crab" stuff as possible. Do your own research first (which you're doing, so that's good).

- The smallest size tank you should get for a crab is a 10 gallon fish tank. This will cost you around $10. Now the pet store will try to talk you into getting a plastic kritter keeper. Don't. It's more expensive, and will not properly house your crab.

- Get more than one crab. They like company. A 10 gallon can hold several crabs, granted they aren't jumbos.

- NEVER use gravel as a substrate. They can't dig in it, and it will irritate them if it gets in their shells. Again, the pet store might try to tell you to use it. Instead, opt to buy Eco-Earth or a similar fiber substrate, or sand. Don't buy sand from the pet store, you can buy sand much cheaper at home depot and get a lot more for your money.

- You must have three bowls. One is for food. One is for fresh water. One is for salt water. You can buy reptile dishes, they work well, and you can use clam shells for food bowls if you don't want to buy three reptile bowls. The salt water should be aquarium salt, not table salt or anything else. The fresh water needs to be dechlorinated or bottled (granted it's not just bottled tap water. Something like deer park is good). For dechlorinator, use stuff for a fish tank, granted it doesn't have stress coat or slime coat.

- NEVER use sponges. They just catch bacteria. And contrary to popular belief, they don't drink off them. How many sponges do you see floating around the ocean? If you're afraid of your crab drowning, add shells or small rocks to the bottom of the dish. And always be sure there is some sort of ramp or stairs for the crabs to easily get in and out of the bowls.

- Buy a thermometer and a hydrometer. They will keep tabs on your tanks temperature and humidity. This is super important, as they need to be kept in warm, humid conditions. This means everything should be in the mid to high 70s (75-80 degrees farenheit, 70-80% humidity). Pet stores usually sell them together in the pet section, although I've heard Wal-Mart also carries them.

- To keep the heat up, invest in some sort of heating device. Some people use UTHs (Under Tank Heater's), others use Heat Lamps. But unless you live in someplace like Florida, they're essential, especially in the winter months.

- Hermit crabs need shells. They need AT LEAST 2 per crab, but more is always better. Don't buy these in the pet store--you only get one or two tops and it's really expensive. Go to your local craftstore or look online for shells instead. They're much cheaper and much, much prettier. You need shells that have an opening about the same size as your crab's current shell opening (in case they feel like switching now), as well as shells slightly bigger for when they molt.

- NEVER buy a painted shell. They may look cute, but the paint WILL chip and your crab will eat it. They'll eat damn near anything. The paint itself may not be toxic, but the stuff they use to coat it is.

If you want more information, visit my sources.

they should be food new fresh foods daily or at the latest every other day. Commercial crab food is useless so it's best to feed fruit and veggy scraps along with animal products.

A great site to check out is Crab street Journal

They need to be fed daily and need to have fresh food put into their tank at least every other day.They can eat almost anything not prosecced or full of junk, like fats, salts, and sugars. E.g.) You can use cooked chicken, dried or fresh fruit (NO PESTICIDES!!! IT CAN KILL THEM!!!), and dried marigold flowers. Ours really enjoy bananas and honey. They really need a source of calcium so you can give it a peice of cuttlebone. You can also use special hermit crab food, but I just find it easier to use stuff you already have.

You should use at least a 10 gallon fishtank with a lid. If it doesn't have a lid they might escape. They enjoy climbing so put something they can climb on in it like some of those fake ivy branches, small peices of driftwood,or a special coconut husk climbing wall. You can buy most of these at petstores or online. In the wild, hermits will walk a lot so you should leave a side of the tank open for them to walk. We've got a coco-hut (it's basicly half a hollowed out coconut shell with an opening for a door) and they use it a lot.

They need some sort of sand or substrate to bury themselves in so that they can molt (I suggest Eco-Earth). They need their substrate deep enough for your largest one to completely cover themselves and then some. It's good for it to be moist so it's like damp sand- it should hold together and a few drops of water should come out of it if you take a hand full and squeeze it.

As they grow, they will need to change shells. Sometimes they will just change shells for the heck of it. Try to supply at least 4 shells slightly larger than your crab for them to change into. They prefer natural shell to painted ones, so don't buy the ones with your favorite football team's helmet on it. They do judge shells by how they look. Boil them first before putting them into the tank to make sure there are no unwanted substances in/on it.

They need a minimum temperature of 72 degrees fahrenheit or about 22 degrees celcius. If you're going to have a problem keeping their tank warm, I suggest you buy a light to put over the tank (they have special ones that you can buy that have a regular and black light because hermit crabs are not bothered by black light) or you can buy an under-the-tank heating pad. We use both. Try to keep their tank moist, too, by occasionally spraying it with a spraybottle full of dechlorinated water. The humidity should be between about 70 and 80 percent. You should buy a thermometer and hygrometer to make sure the temp & humidity are good.

Give them a bowl of dechlorinated water. You can buy water dechlorinator at petstores.They will drink this and sometimes put some in their shells.The bowl should not be metal, because hermit crabs are sensitive to metal. They also need saltwater, so you should give them a separate bowl of that too.

We have 2 purple pichers and they're mostly active at night, so I wouldn't expect to see them out a whole lot during the day. Our equidorians are a lot more active during the day than the purple pincers.

I hope this helps some! Try going to http://www.hermit-crabs.com/ too if you've got any further questions. :)

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You can actually visit a pet store and buy pellets for a hermit crab, they look like fish food cans. Offer small amouts of fresh pellets daily as they go stale. Its really the best and easiest route. Also make sure they're is a shallow dish for wading and a chunk of wet sponge for drinking and to maintain humidity.

They should always have access to food.

I suggest you buy a book on hermit crabs. They are more complicated than you think.

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RE:

how often should i feed my Hermit Crab!?!?!?!?

i just got my hermit crab and i don't really know how to take care of it

please help!!!

There should be fresh food every 1-2 days.

On top of using commercial crab food, add fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat.

Just make sure they have clean water and food everyday and they only need a little bit so i leave enough for about 2 days and its still some left 5 days later so everyday

fruit grows on forest or vines and fruit and vegetables grow in the floor.

Normally i would just say fruit, but i think both. I really like the sweet taste of the fruits but i love the piquancy and kick the produce bring