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Home: Articles
From: "crabworks" <CrabWorks@aol.com>
Date: Tue May 14, 2002 4:24 am
Subject: Re: food calendar or schedule of eating varied
diet
"In answer to your question about Jon
and Kate's diet, they eat FMR Land Hermit Crab Food and Treat,
Tetra Baby Shrimp Sun-Dried Treat (favorite), a few other commercial
foods that I grind up--like Zoo Med. I grind all pellets. I never
met a hermit crab who eats pellets. :) They also nibble on Calci-sand,
which I keep in a bowl, and goldfish flakes.
For calcium I give them boiled egg shells about
once a week. They like spinach leaves, a little lettuce, brown
oak leaves and boiled or microwaved tree bark (not cedar or pine).
They just love bark and oak leaves. These too: bananas, apple
slices, scrambled eggs on Saturday, a variety of dry cereals (including
Kashi), occ. cookies. I just keep changing and trying new foods.
They don't like the same foods too frequently--or even two nights
in a row! I do sprinkle sea salt on their food a couple of times
per week and am right now trying a little sea salt in a second
water dish. I've already seen them drinking it.
My crabs don't care for peanut butter, popcorn,
coconut, other fruits. I think Equadorians like these better,
mine are PP's.
I really think that the key to their longevity (they'll
be 26 in August) is three things: 1) I keep a moist substrate--gravel--and
the tank at 80% humidity and 80 degrees temp. They also molt in
very moist fine gravel--underground. 2) They walk around my living
room almost every evening for exercise and fun. (I am blessed
with a sunken living room, two steps down.) 3) I have only two
hermit crabs and can easily keep track of when they want to molt,
etc. They are buddies."
Well, there it is along with a few opinions, strictly
mine, about their longevity.
Carol of CrabWorks
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hermies/message/26189
---
From: "Vanessa Pike-Russell" <vanessap@tpg.com.au>
Date: Tue Jun 6, 2000 8:25 pm
Subject: Bark info - please read!
G'day everyone..
I had some ISP problems but now I'm back.
Wow! there's been a lot of posting going on!
Welcome aboard and a big hello to Holly and the
other 6 members that signed on in the last week. Hope to hear
from you all very soon.
that said - on with the bark info!
Back in April I was talking with Carol about the
diet of her hermies which included bark and brown oak leaves.
Being the cautious person I am I asked Kathy at FMR for advice.
I haven't seen a brown oak tree in my area and so asked for her
advice on what kind of leaves and bark she would suggest as alternatives
to brown oak. The following is part of an email that I thought
I should share with you. Please read on.
Vanessa
Florida Marine Research fmrpets@gte.net
<snip>
Do you have any idea what kind of bark would be suitable for US
and Australian hermit crabs? i.e. which trees or plants are suitable?
I would like to give my hermit crabs some bark but I know that
there are many types of bark that may not be suitable for hermit
crabs.
> Good Morning,
> The only way I would feed any outside bark or grasses would
probably be to go to your local agriculture office they usually
have books on what plants and trees in your area that are not
poisonous or that are. I would also be careful if you have mosquito
sprayers that come thru your area this toxin would probably be
absorbed in the wood and would probably kill the crabs, also watch
out for critters that hide in the wood. Also fertilizers would
probably not be to good. Hope this helped.
> Kathy
--
From: CrabWorks@aol.com
Date: Thu Jun 8, 2000 1:11 am
Subject: Re: [More on Bark and Leaves]
In a message dated 6/6/00 5:41:16 PM Eastern Daylight
Time,
ruswilson@hotmail.com writes:
> Could the bark also be "baked" in the oven
and then moistened slightly? (If
> I remember correctly, you once said that you usually moistened
the wood
> previous to "nuking" it.) Also, are there any type of bark/and
or leaves
> that you give them besides oak?
Rus, I haven't tried any other leaves except for
oak leaves (don't want to push my luck). Discovered that they
like them brown rather than green, picked up in the fall each
year. I believe Vanessa said (quoting Kathy I think) to check
to see what leaves in your area are not poisonous if you don't
have oak trees. I'm sure there are many types of leaves in the
wild. Don't know about the oven for sterilizing bark or how long,
but don't see why not. Maybe you should moisten them first to
prevent burning. And moist heat penetrates better than dry heat.
Carol
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hermies/message/2047
--
From: CrabWorks@aol.com
Date: Tue Jun 6, 2000 11:13 am
Subject: Re: [Hermies eGroup] Sea Fans at Petdiscounters!
Agree with the eating of bark, have been giving
mine bark since they were young. I always microwave it (before
microwaves, I autoclaved it in my lab). They love bark (ripped
off of old trees) and washed brown oak leaves. Carol
--
From: "Rona Abbott" <ronaanor@intercoast.com.au>
Date: Tue Dec 5, 2000 6:18 pm
Subject: busy
Hermies love tropical leaf litter!!I sent for a large bag to
the Queensland insect farm for the litter bugs.I popped a few
dry crackly leaves and bark into Hermie Paradice and they literally
went bananas picking over them and consuming again and again.It
is the ritual now to pop a few in each day as they seem more healthy.Well
a few of the books do say that they scavange amongst leaf litter
near the beach.Rona
--
From: CrabWorks@aol.com
Date: Wed Dec 6, 2000 1:38 am
Subject: Re: [Hermies eGroup] busy (Leaves and Bark)
In a message dated 12/5/00 2:19:22 AM Eastern
Standard Time,
ronaanor@intercoast.com.au writes:
> I popped a few dry crackly leaves and bark into Hermie Paradice
and they
> literally went bananas picking over them and consuming again
and again.It
> is the ritual now
> to pop a few in each day as they seem more healthy.Well a
few of the books
> do say that they scavange amongst leaf litter near the beach.Rona
>
Rona, I have given my crabs dry brown oak leaves and tree bark
for years. They love both, especially the bark. I just rip it
off of old trees and microwave it in a little water. Glad your
crabs are doing better now. (They produce healthy looking droppings--in
abudance--when eating bark. Makes a lot more cleaning up for mom.)
Carol
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hermies/message/6652
--
From: "crabworks" <CrabWorks@aol.com>
Date: Tue May 14, 2002 4:24 am
Subject: Re: food calendar or schedule of eating varied diet
--- In hermies@y..., Bobjessk@a... wrote:
> what does e veryone feed their crabs?
> I'd like to make a schedule of some varied diet.....
> if someone can help.let me know.
Hi Bob or Jess (?):
In answer to a direct email to me from someone else,
I responded with my crabs' diet. A request was then made for posting
it on the LandHermitCrabs site, so I gave my permission to have
it posted there. Well, it only seems fair that I also post it
here, my home club....
"In answer to your question about Jon and Kate's
diet, they eat FMR Land Hermit Crab Food and Treat, Tetra Baby
Shrimp Sun-Dried Treat (favorite), a few other commercial foods
that I grind up--like Zoo Med. I grind all pellets. I never met
a hermit crab who eats pellets. :) They also nibble on Calci-sand,
which I keep in a bowl, and goldfish flakes.
For calcium I give them boiled egg shells about
once a week. They like spinach leaves, a little lettuce, brown
oak leaves and boiled or microwaved tree bark (not cedar or pine).
They just love bark and oak leaves. These too: bananas, apple
slices, scrambled eggs on Saturday, a variety of dry cereals (including
Kashi), occ. cookies. I just keep changing and trying new foods.
They don't like the same foods too frequently--or even two nights
in a row! I do sprinkle sea salt on their food a couple of times
per week and am right now trying a little sea salt in a second
water dish. I've already seen them drinking it.
My crabs don't care for peanut butter, popcorn,
coconut, other fruits. I think Equadorians like these better,
mine are PP's.
I really think that the key to their longevity (they'll
be 26 in August) is three things: 1) I keep a moist substrate--gravel--and
the tank at 80% humidity and 80 degrees temp. They also molt in
very moist fine gravel--underground. 2) They walk around my living
room almost every evening for exercise and fun. (I am blessed
with a sunken living room, two steps down.) 3) I have only two
hermit crabs and can easily keep track of when they want to molt,
etc. They are buddies."
Well, there it is along with a few opinions, strictly
mine, about their longevity.
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