Shinto Loves Maple Leaves

Here's a video of one of my Purple Pinchers named Shinto eating a freshly harvested maple leaf!  He is always the first one to come and eat.

Young Coconut

Normally when I offer coconut for my land hermit crabs, I give them mature coconut. This is the kind with the very hard, dark brown shell that is very difficult to break. The flesh inside is much tougher than that of young coconut as well, and there is less coconut water inside.

Tonight, I found young coconut at my grocery store, and I decided to give this a try with my land hermit crabs! The husk was soft, but very difficult to get through. I first drilled holes into the nut in order to get to the water. There was a lot of coconut water inside; it was very plentiful. I drank all of it and didn't save any for my crabs! If you do not like coconut water, you can use it in your crabitat. You can offer it in a small dish by itself, or you can mix dried foods in it and make a paste or smoothie!

You'll find that the outer husk is very fibrous and tough, and inside there is a whiter, but otherwise normal coconut shell. Once you've managed to remove the tough outer husk (I had to hit it outside multiple times to crack it, and the pull it apart), you'll find the inside, which is full with gelatinous coconut meat! Very tasty if you ask me. To the right is a picture of the high yield of sweet coconut water.

Tonight, I offered part of the husk with some of the coconut still attached to it. My crabs normally go crazy for regular coconut, so I'm eager to report the results of tonight's food trial.

Nutritionally speaking, young coconuts are higher in sugars, whereas mature coconuts are higher in protein. However, young coconuts may offer more health benefits, and are known to be very high in minerals and electrolytes, making it great for the blood.

The Tale of the Grasshopper

Disclaimer: If you do not like feeding live foods or have issues with killing insects, please do not read this story!

Today, while outside in my yard, I found a grasshopper hopping about. I decided to capture him and feed him to the hermit crabs due to some members of the HCA feeding different live insects and having good results.

I have an entire jar of freeze-dried grasshoppers. Unfortunately, my hermit crabs don't always go crazy for these. They may nibble at a leg here or there, but they never devour them... like they did tonight with the live grasshopper I put in!

To subdue the grasshopper, I captured him in a jar and froze him for ten minutes or so. This slows down his metabolize severely, but doesn't kill him. After he's been out of the freezer for a little, I put him into the crabitat, and he slowly started regaining his mobility. He didn't even have time to start walking before the crabs started munching.

The grasshopper was completely torn apart! There are legs everywhere, the body is severed in half... these hermies really went to town on this bug! That said, my hermies really seemed to enjoy Mr. Grasshopper!

Papaya

Looking for a delicious and nutritious treat for your land hermit crabs that they're sure to love? Why not try papaya?

This tropical and exotic fruit has very sweet flesh and a musty flavor that land hermit crabs seem to really enjoy. To prepare the papaya, simply cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and feed the inside flesh. You can freeze any leftovers or store them temporarily in the refrigerator.

Papaya is a great source of Vitamin C, folate, potassium, fiber, and is a good source of Vitamins A, E, and K. High in antioxidants, minerals, and other compounds specific to the papaya like papain, the papaya is believed to promote cardiovascular health in human beings.

Food Trials: Fresh Dragonfruit

Today at the grocery store, I came across a fruit I have longed to try. I have a taste for exotic fruits, so I've always been on the hunt for the elusive dragonfruit. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when I found it! It cost me around $7.00 for this little fruit, but it was worth it. Not only had I longed to try it, I had also wanted to see what my crabs thought of it!

To prepare this fruit, you cut it once down the center and then hollow out the insides. They're somewhat firm, but yield easily to the scraping of a spoon. Once you have the insides all scraped out, you can dice it into chunks or smaller slices.

The taste for me was somewhat light and kind of similar to a pear or kiwi. The texture is very interesting because the seeds make it somewhat grainy.

I have placed it in the crab's food dish, so we will see how they like it!

Dragonfruit is high in Vitamin C and other minerals, making it a good choice of fruit to offer land hermit crabs. It varies their diet, which is very important in keeping them interested in the food dish! You can find dragonfruit at some grocery stores, health food stores, or Asian grocers.

Tonight's Dinner

Tonight, the clan is having a baby spring mix salad with blackberries, grapes, river shrimp, rose petals, goji berries, coconut flakes, bladderwrack, and bee pollen!

Variety is very important to keep in mind when feeding land hermit crabs. I usually try to offer different foods every night while still maintaining a good balance of foods from each food group.

The Importance of Bark

I have long suggested and promoted a healthy, natural diet for land hermit crabs, but do you know that this includes items that you can't find at your grocery store?

My idea started quite a few years ago, where I was inspired by another crabber to start using things I could find outside to give my crabs. The result was "harvestables", foods that you could go out into the woods and take for your crabs!

Today, the focus is bark. There are two types of bark that are favorites in my crabitat: maple and oak. My crabs really love oak bark, and they will munch on the pieces. Bark is high in tannins, as well as many other minerals and good plant compounds. Hermit crabs really enjoy picking at and chewing on the bark, so it's always fun to watch them!

To harvest your own bark, be sure to know what kind of tree you're dealing with. If you go to the sidebar at your left, you'll find a "Harvestables" link with all types of trees that are safe. Once you've identified your tree, you can scrape some of the bark off. You may wish to wash it off first, and then it is ready to give to your land hermit crabs!

If harvesting is not possible in your area, we are currently selling oak and maple barks at Kilimanjaro's Kibbles!

http://www.kilimanjaroskibbles.com

Sunflower Harvest

Harvesting sunflower petals for the store at night time is the safest thing to do, but even then, some busy bees don't rest once the night falls!

The Importance of Nutrition

I am someone who has always believed that good nutrition is the key to a healthy lifestyle. For myself, I believe that eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables will lead to healthy organ systems, and therefore I will feel and look better.

I have always extended this policy to my hermit crabs. I have completely cut out processed foods from their diets. I don't feed preservatives. I offer fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and dried products. Refined sugar is never fed, besides the occasional treat of organic maple syrup or honey.

I believe that a natural approach to nutrition is key for keeping land hermit crabs healthy. This includes produce from the store, but also things that you are able to collect outside, dubbed "harvestables". The important thing is to keep it varied. A diet full of variety will not only keep your hermit crabs healthy, it will keep them interested and continuously drawn to the food dish!

Food Bits: Avocado

The avocado is known to be a favorite food for land hermit crabs. The avocado is native to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, making it a common fruit that C. clypeatus and C. compressus could come across in the wild. Avocados are scientifically a fruit, bearing a large seed in the middle. Avocados are normally eaten plain, cooked with another food, or served as guacamole, a type of dip.

Avocados are a great source of fiber, vitamin C and K, and folate. Here you can view all of the nutritional facts regarding the avocado.

Avocados are a great way to treat your crabs to a healthy treat. Land hermit crabs require fresh fruits and vegetables in order to maintain their bodily systems and regulate bodily functions.

The avocado possesses special cancer-fighting properties, cardiovascular benefits, and cholesterol-lowering power. It is a great antioxidant for land hermit crabs.

One interesting fact I found while researching more about this amazing fruit is that it helps the body absorb carotenoids. If this were also true with land hermit crabs, avocado would be a great food to serve along side other color-enhancing foods like red and orange bell peppers, carrots, cilantro, and spirulina.

It is important to know that when feeding avocado, you use only the ripe meat. The skin, seed, and leaves of the plant are considered toxic to mammals, and haven't been thoroughly tested on land hermit crabs.

Food Bits: Almond

As an intro, I would just like to introduce what "Food Bits" posts will be. I will try to introduce one crab-safe food every week and break it down: where it comes from, nutritional facts, and how to serve it to the crabs. You can trial the foods at home with your hermits and comment on how the crabs liked each food!

Almonds come from a tree native to the Middle East. There, they are found inside of the harder, inedible outer hull. The inside is the true nut, while the entire fruit is known as a drupe. Once the outer hull is removed, the inside may be eaten. Some popular methods are to eat them raw or roasted, and usually with salt.

Nutritionally, almonds are particularly high in protein, fats, and vitamin E. These foods are an excellent source of plant-based protein for your land hermit crabs, but be sure to substitute in meat-based proteins such as fish and poultry, too.

The proteins from the almond are good for land hermit crabs. They make up 61% of a human's daily value when 145 g are consumed, making them a high-protein food. Almonds are also a great source of Vitamin E, scoring over 100% of a human's daily value when 145 g are consumed. Besides being high in protein and Vitamin E, it is also a good source of magnesium and manganese.

The type of almonds that should be served to land hermit crabs are raw, unroasted/unsalted almonds. These can be found, usually, in any grocery store, but they are expensive. However, if you're planning on using them for the crabs only, they will last over one year. The crabs will also be able to eat roasted/unsalted almonds. Salted almonds are never a good choice for land hermit crabs.

To serve the almonds, you can slice them in thin slivers using a sharp knife or grater. You can also use a food processor to powder or puree the almonds with a little spring water or organic fruit juice. I have given my crabs almonds in the following methods: slivers, grated into a powder, and puréed with organic apple juice. The crabs loved the slivers!

So, try almonds! They go great in a crabby fruit salad or served as purée. The purée opens up a big possibility because you could add in calcium through cuttlebone powder and you could throw in some fruits to make a very healthy smoothie!

*Nutritional data collected from Nutrition Data.

Cooking for Your Crabs

What do the pet stores and kiosks recommend for your hermit crabs when you purchase them? Most likely hermit crab pellets, or maybe "cakes". While this food may be high in synthetically made vitamins and minerals, the chemicals used to preserve your food have found to be harmful to the molting cycle of land hermit crabs.

Of course, this leaves us, the crabbers, which a decision to make: should we feed any of this food? Most crabbers opt to leave out the staple foods found in pet stores from their crab's diet. Besides, preparing a natural diet can be quite simple and the hermits can eat most of the things you can, but of course, with a few exceptions.

Here are two meals that I've prepared for my crabs:


The above is EVOO fried egg, blue cornmeal, anchovies, hibiscus cuttlebone treat, dried asparagus, kelp-dusted popcorn, walnut, fresh grapefruit, fresh mango, organic alphabet pasta, and calendula petals.


The above is saltwater rehydrated tentacles with honey glaze, coconut couscous with a calendula garnish, home-grown organic lettuce, fresh cherry, and my own Kilimanjaro's Kibble.

A natural diet consists of all types of foods that are healthy for hermit crabs. If you need more to understand the nutritional needs of the land hermit crab, look under "Kilimanjaro's Resources" for "Kilimanjaro's Guide to Land Hermit Crab Nutrition" on the left-side panel.

There, one can find all the information needed to feed your hermit crabs naturally, without worrying you're not giving them enough nutrition. With a little practice, a natural diet can be easy to accomplish.

And of course, it is necessary to mention that there are people out there who have the natural diet and busy crabber in mind. One can buy completely natural dry kibbles that you can easily feed to the crabs. Just keep in mind that fresh foods should be offered frequently, and dried foods are not an equal substitute for all the time!

You can click on the shopping links on the left-side panel to find some of these great kibbles. Keep on crabbin'!

Easy Snack: Popcorn

After all of the talk I've read about crabs loving popcorn, I decided to go out and buy a box of all natural, plain kernals at my local supermarket and give it a whirl. I found that cooking the popcorn is really easy in a frying pan, and the crabs do love it!

Step 1) Place the desired amount of kernals into the frying pan with some olive oil (extra virgin is preferred). Teflon (non-stick) pans should be avoided, but I had to use one in this case as I have no others.

Step 2) Cover the pan to prevent the popcorn and hot oil from flying all over the place. Give the pan a good shake every now and then to make sure the kernals don't burn.

Step 3) As the popcorn pops, you may want to take the pieces out so they don't burn. Be careful, however, as the oil can splash and burn you! All of the popcorn will eventually be popped.

Step 4) Serve or store. I'm not sure how long the popcorn will store on a shelf, but I'm testing it now to see it's lastibility.

And just as a sidenote, my Petco order came today! I'm really excited as my Hermit Crab Patch order comes tomorrow and then I should be able to get the actual 55G this weekend! Whoohoo!

New Hermits on Friday!

Right now, I have so much excitement building up in me. I can't wait until Friday! That is the big day in which I plan to order my crabs from Hermit Crab Vendor!


I am planning on ordering three small Strawberry hermit crabs (Coenobita perlatus) and 4 Violas (Coenobita violascens). This will pretty much fill up my crabitat!

Friday seems to take so long to get here... but anyway, definitely keep a heads up for any future posts!

Ahh, also, I tried something new today, for both me and the crabs. It was a persimmon! I didn't like it... in fact, I thought it was downright disgusting. However, I just saw an Ecuadorian chowing down... so they must think otherwise!

The Powers of a Fresh Coconut

To all of the crabbers out there who haven't tried giving their land hermit crabs coconut yet, I recommend you do so. Land hermit crabs really enjoy coconut, especially tearing off the pieces from the bark!

Coconuts are very good nutritionally, too. There are many tribes and villages of people who eat coconuts regularly and believe that they have healing properties. Land hermit crabs benefit off of coconuts because of the vitamins inside and the essential oils. Some land hermit crab enthusiasts have noted that land hermit crabs improve color after a molt when eating coconut regularly.

So, definitely try it!

The Amazingness of a Food Dehydrator

If you are not equipped with a food dehydrator and a food processor, I suggest you get one now. These two products are one of the most beneficial things a crabber can have. Why? Read more to find out.

With a food dehydrator, you can dehydrate any fruits, vegetables, wild-harvested foods, or meats. This is pretty amazing because you are able to store this stuff almost infinitely! And with these dried goods, you can mix them together to make various kibbles using the food processor.

So far, I've made three kibbles (and I'm planning on two more which I will also post here):

1) Staple Kibble
INGREDIENTS: dried kiwi, dried cantaloupe, dried apple, dried blueberry, dried carrot, dried grape, assorted dried leaves (mulberry, green leaf lettuce, kale, radish leaf, romaine lettuce, endive, and many other greens), assorted wild-harvested leaves (oak, maple, elm, and a few others), wheat germ, dried baby shrimp, maple bark, rolled oats, egg shell, and nori seaweed.

2) Banana Calcium
INGREDIENTS: dried banana, dried mango, cuttlebone, wheat germ, and freeze-dried krill.

3) A Handful of Earth
INGREDIENTS: worm castings, dried mushroom, dried carrot, dandelion greens, dandelion root, maple bark, purslane, assorted wild-harvested leaves, and crickets.

4) Beach Cuisine (Not Made Yet, but Planned)
INGREDIENTS: dried whole shrimp, dried smelt, baby shrimp, freeze-dried krill, dried coconut, dried mango, dried papaya, dried kiwi, dried seaweed, and oyster shell.

5) Very Berry (Not Made Yet, but Planned)
INGREDIENTS: dried blackberry, dried blueberry, dried grape, and cuttlebone.

So, as you can see, these kibbles open up many a possibility!

ZooMed's Can O' Crickets

I've always wanted to give my land hermit crabs a different source of protein. There is a little talk in the crabbing community that says that land hermit crabs would eat dead insects in the wild. Immediately, I thought of the different possibilities I could do!

I managed to find a few earthworms on my sidewalk and I gave them to the crabs. They loved the earthworms! Both of the dried

worms I placed in were gone.

I knew that there had to be another source of bug protein, and I figured that I would have to buy freeze-dried crickets. I was surprised when I found this product at the pet store!

Can O' Crickets was a great product that my crabs have been enjoying as of now. The crickets smell pretty bad, but the crabs can't seem to pass them up. I would definitely recommend this product.

I am currently looking for the Can O' Snails at my pet store to try out some snail!

Happy Thanksgiving, Crabbers!

Thanksgiving is a truly great holiday for everyone. What could be better than family getting together and enjoying a delicious, hot meal while thinking about all of the things they may take in life for granted. As much as you enjoy this holiday, it can also be a great feast for land hermit crabs, provided that everything is safe for them.

Here are a few holiday foods that are sure to be a hit in your land hermit crab's diet!

Turkey can be a great food for land hermit crabs because of it being a good source of protein. Additionally, land hermit crabs are known to eat dead birds in the wild, so this closely resembles what they may find. Please be careful if you are planning to give your land hermit crabs turkey that you pull some aside and do not add salt or pepper to their portion.

Sweet potatoes or yams can be another good food for land hermit crabs because of its high concentration of Vitamin A and beta carotene. This can be a great color enhancer for lighter crabs and will really bring out the color in your hermits. Be sure not to feed the canned variety, but you can buy fresh and cook those (without any seasonings!).

Green beans and other vegetables are a great food to offer to the land hermit crabs because of the wide range of nutrients and vitamins. Just make sure they aren't seasoned with anything!

Finally, cranberry sauce may not be the best option for your land hermit crabs, but naturally dried cranberries with no added sugar or preservatives are the closest relative to that delicious jelly that the crabs will love!

Will all these ideas, here's hoping that your land hermit crabs will have a delicious and nutritious Thanksgiving!

A Sweet Treat

A while back when I was a bit younger, I remember wading through streams and catching crayfish. This was always a fun activity for my brothers and I (and hey, this might have even started my addiction to crustaceans!).

Anyway, we kept a few of those crayfish and went to the library to see what they liked to eat. One of the recommended foods was sweet potato (or yams, whatever you want to call them), along with other protein sources.

I've pretty much figured that land hermit crabs and crayfish would enjoy the same foods, so I have finally decided to give them some fresh sweet potato! The crayfish used to love it and eat it all, so I am sure the crabs are bound to love it.

The sweet potato is full of beta-carotene, so that means a lot of vitamin A for the crabs tonight. It is also a great enhancer in color. Just in case they like it and if the United States goes on a yam famine, I have some extra stored up in the freezer along with some other fruit.

So, the results for the yam test will be posted some time soon! Keep an eye out for that post. Hopefully it will have some pictures. :)

Shrimp, Anyone?

As far as my crabs and I are concerned, shrimp has to be the best food on this very Earth. Every time I place a piece of shrimp inside of the crabitat, it is never ignored!

The shrimp is constantly thrown all around the tank - a sign that they really enjoyed the meal.

Not onnly do crabs adore shrimp, but it is also a complete protein source for your land hermit crabs.

Krill and freeze-dried shrimp will also offer the same nutrients as a whole shrimp would, so that is okay to feed, too, although mine usually prefer fresh (although freeze-dried krill is usually dragged around the tank).

Protein is extremely important in a land hermit crab's diet so make sure you offer shrimp!