What Does the Hermit Crab Eat?

A Deep Dive Into Diet, Shells, Habitat, and Plastic Pollution

Hermit crabs are fascinating, gentle creatures whose habits, including what does the hermit crab eat, shape the coastal ecosystems they quietly inhabit around the globe. Their quirky personalities, ever-changing shells, and unique dietary habits have made them beloved pets and crucial members of marine ecosystems. Yet challenges like plastic pollution threaten their survival. 

 

In this detailed guide from Ocean Blue, we answer the essential question: what does the hermit crab eat, explore related topics, and show you how your actions can keep our ocean, and hermit crabs, healthy for generations to come.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Why Hermit Crab Diet Matters
2. What Does the Hermit Crab Eat?
3. Food for Hermit Crabs: Nutritional Needs
4. How to Make Hermit Crab Food at Home
5. Where Do Hermit Crab Shells Come From?
6. Hermit Crab Plastic & Hermit Crab Plastic Shell Problems
7. Ocean Blue’s Mission, How You Can Help
8. Conclusion: Protecting Hermit Crabs for the Future

Introduction: Why Hermit Crab Diet Matters

Understanding what does the hermit crab eat is essential to appreciating these unique creatures and protecting their role in nature. Hermit crabs are not true crabs, but more closely related to lobsters, and they thrive as resourceful scavengers along coastlines worldwide. 

Knowing why hermit crab diet matters is key, as their health, choice of shells, and survival all depend on the quality and variety of their food sources. Whether you keep them as pets or care about their wild counterparts, providing the right food ensures hermit crabs remain healthy and continue contributing to vibrant coastal ecosystems.

What Does the Hermit Crab Eat?

So, what does the hermit crab eat? The answer lies in their resourceful and opportunistic nature.

Hermit crabs are omnivores and scavengers. In the wild, their diet consists of a broad range of substances:

1. Decaying wood and leaf litter
2. Fruits (mango, papaya, apple)
3. Algae and seaweed
4. Dead fish, mollusks, plankton
5. Bits of plant and animal detritus
6. Worms and small invertebrates
7. Fish food flakes and spirulina (in captivity)
8. Crushed eggshells or cuttlebone for calcium

In captivity, it’s vital to mimic their wild diet. Commercial hermit crab food is available, but let’s explore why a natural, varied diet is the healthiest option for your pet.

The Importance of a Diverse Diet

What does the hermit crab eat? Hermit crabs thrive when their environment offers variety. Their omnivorous appetite is what the hermit crab eats best, it ensures they consume the essential nutrients, minerals, and fibers found in different food sources. A poor diet leads to lethargy, loss of limb, dull coloration, and shortened lifespan.

Daily Diet Basics

Aim to include the following in your hermit crab’s daily meals:

1. Proteins: Boiled eggs, fish, shrimp, chicken (unseasoned), unsalted nuts
2. Vegetables: Leafy greens, carrots, sweet potato, corn
3. Fruits: Banana, blueberry, mango, apple (remove seeds)
4. Calcium: Crushed oyster shell, cuttlebone, eggshells
5. Treats: Unsweetened coconut, honey, oatmeal
6. Supplements: Spirulina, natural sea salt

Always remove uneaten food after 24 hours to prevent mold.

Food for Hermit Crabs: Nutritional Needs

The phrase food for hermit crabs encompasses more than just any table scraps. What does the hermit crab eat needs to be a balanced, nutritious diet that replicates their natural environment. Here are essential nutrients:

1. Protein: For growth, strength, and shell development. Source from seafood, lean meats, eggs, and occasional nuts.
2. Calcium: For exoskeleton and shell changes (molting). Natural sources like eggshells and cuttlebone are vital.
3. Fruits and Vegetables: Provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Always rotate offerings to ensure a nutrient spectrum.
4. Seaweed and Algae: Rich in trace minerals; dulse, nori, or spirulina are excellent choices.
5. Fresh Water and Sea Salt: Hermit crabs need both pure dechlorinated freshwater and saltwater bowls in their enclosure.

Store-Bought or Home-Prepared?

While commercial “hermit crab food” is convenient, it often contains preservatives, colorants, and fillers. Fresh, home-prepared meals give control over ingredients and ensure your crabs get optimal nutrition.

How to Make Hermit Crab Food at Home

Wondering how to make hermit crab food? Creating balanced, nutritious meals at home is simple, cost-effective, and healthy for your pet hermit crabs.

DIY Hermit Crab Food Recipes

Protein Medley

2. Boil a small egg, chop finely.
3. Mix with boiled, de-shelled shrimp or fish.
4. Add a pinch of spirulina powder

Fruit & Veggie Blend

1. Mash together banana and sliced mango.
2. Add shredded carrots, spinach, or kale.
3. Sprinkle dried seaweed flakes.

3. Calcium Supplement

1. Rinse, dry, and bake eggshells at 250°F for 15 minutes.
2. Crush to a fine powder and sprinkle over meals.
3. Or add cuttlebone to the tank for self-feeding.

Tips:

1. Never use salt with iodine or food with preservatives.
2. Avoid avocado, onions, chocolate, and highly processed foods, they are toxic for hermit crabs.
3. Always use pesticide-free produce.

By customizing what the hermit crab eats in their diet, you promote brighter color, stronger shells, and happier pets. Any other ideas? Let Ocean Blue know more ideas of how to make hermit crab food by sharing this article on socials and tag @Ocean Blue with your recipes. 

Where Do Hermit Crab Shells Come From?

One of the hermit crab’s most unique features is their use of shells, but where do hermit crab shells come from? Hermit crabs are “borrowers,” not makers, their fragile abdomens require continuous protection from predators, drying out, and injury. Unlike snails, they cannot grow their own shell. Instead, hermit crabs search tide pools and beaches for abandoned shells, most often left by sea snails or other gastropods, and move into these cozy homes for protection.

As they grow, hermit crabs need to “upgrade” to larger shells. This crucial process can lead to competition among crabs and even shell fights if there are not enough quality shells available. The availability of natural shells is vital for their survival.

Hermit Crab Plastic & Hermit Crab Plastic Shell Problems

Hermit crab plastic pollution has become an acute environmental threat in recent years. Beaches and oceans once rich with natural gastropod shells are increasingly littered with discarded bottle tops, caps, and other plastic debris.

The Rise of Hermit Crab Plastic Shells

When natural shells are scarce, hermit crabs sometimes use inappropriate objects, plastic caps, broken containers, or even toy parts, as makeshift shelters. These “hermit crab plastic shells” are harmful for several reasons:

1. Poor Fit: Plastic often doesn’t fit hermit crabs well, causing discomfort and making them more susceptible to predation and dehydration.
2. Toxins: Plastics can leach hazardous chemicals into the crab’s soft tissues.
3. Impaired Growth: Poorly-fitted plastic restricts growth, leading to stress and even death.
4. Entrapment: Crabs can get stuck in small plastic items, sometimes fatally.

This substitution not only risks the health and wellbeing of hermit crabs, but also reflects the growing problem of plastic waste in our oceans.

Why Does This Happen?

As shell habitats dwindle due to over-collection by souvenir hunters and ocean plastic pollution, crabs have fewer choices. Hermit crabs, being opportunistic, simply use what is available, even if it’s dangerous.

Ocean Blue’s Mission, How You Can Help

Ocean Blue is dedicated to keeping our oceans clean, safe, and full of natural beauty, for hermit crabs, other wildlife, and humans alike. Plastic pollution directly impacts the question of what the hermit crab eats, where they live, and their continued survival.

You Can Make a Difference!

1. Donate Now: Your support helps fund beach cleanups, educational campaigns, and advocacy to ban single-use plastics.
2. Volunteer: Join local cleanup efforts. Every piece of plastic removed from the beach means a healthier home for hermit crabs.
3. Spread Awareness: Share this blog and help friends and family learn how plastic harms hermit crabs and other sea creatures.
4. Donate to Ocean Blue and help save hermit crabs now!

Conclusion: Protecting Hermit Crabs for the Future

Understanding what does the hermit crab eat gives insight not only into proper pet care, but also their delicate place in the bigger ocean ecosystem. Food for hermit crabs should be diverse and nutritious, and everyone can take simple steps towards making homemade meals. By respecting where do hermit crab shells come from and ensuring natural shells remain available, we safeguard their future. Most importantly, tackling the issue of hermit crab plastic and removing waste from the coasts is critical.

Ocean Blue invites you to join our mission: donate, act, and advocate for cleaner oceans. Every effort counts toward healthier hermit crabs and a thriving marine world.