Hermit crabs are opportunistic omnivores that eat both plant and animal matter. Their natural menu may include algae, decaying plants, fallen fruit, small marine animals, carrion, plankton, and organic debris. Pet hermit crabs also need variety rather than relying on one food every day. A balanced diet should include protein, vegetables, fruit, healthy fats, and calcium-rich foods. However, land hermit crabs and marine hermit crabs have different feeding needs, so owners should choose foods based on the species and its natural habitat.
What Do Hermit Crabs Eat?
Hermit crabs eat a varied combination of plant material, animal protein, algae, and decaying organic matter. They are scavengers, meaning they often consume whatever suitable food is available. This adaptable diet helps wild hermit crabs survive in environments where food availability changes regularly.
Common foods eaten by hermit crabs include:
- Algae and seaweed
- Fallen fruits
- Leaf litter
- Seeds and nuts
- Dead fish and animals
- Small worms
- Plankton
- Mollusks
- Tiny crustaceans
- Decaying organic matter
Hermit crabs use their claws to collect, hold, shred, and move food toward their mouths. Their smaller claw is particularly useful for handling small pieces, while the larger claw may assist with defense and breaking food apart.
What Do Hermit Crabs Eat in the Wild?
Wild hermit crabs eat whatever nutritious materials they can locate in their environment. Their exact diet depends on whether they live on land, along beaches, in tide pools, or beneath the ocean.
Wild Land Hermit Crab Diet
Land hermit crabs usually search for food at night, when temperatures are cooler and humidity is higher. They may eat fallen fruit, dead leaves, seeds, nuts, flowers, grasses, animal waste, insects, and dead animals.
Because they are natural scavengers, they help clean their habitat by consuming decaying material. A wild land hermit crab may also eat food dropped by birds, mammals, or people when living near populated coastal areas.
Wild Marine Hermit Crab Diet
Marine hermit crabs search reefs, rocks, sand, and the seafloor for edible material. Their diet may include algae, microscopic organisms, dead fish, worms, mollusks, tiny bivalves, and other crustaceans. Some marine species also filter or collect suspended food particles from the water.
When food is limited, certain hermit crabs may eat smaller or weaker members of their own species. However, this behavior is less likely when they have access to sufficient food, space, and suitable shells.
What Do Pet Hermit Crabs Eat?
Pet land hermit crabs should receive a rotating selection of natural foods. Feeding only pellets or one fruit can result in a poorly balanced diet. A varied menu helps provide protein, calcium, pigments, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats.
A formulated hermit crab food may be used as one part of the diet, but it should be supplemented with fresh, minimally processed foods. Pet hermit crabs can eat vegetables, fruits, unsalted nuts, seeds, plain meat, eggs, and seafood.
Good Protein Foods
Protein is especially important for growth, activity, tissue repair, and recovery after molting. Offer small portions of plain protein foods regularly.
Suitable choices include:
- Cooked egg
- Unseasoned chicken
- Plain turkey
- Cooked fish
- Shrimp
- Mealworms
- Crickets
- Unsalted dried seafood
- Plain sardines without added seasoning
Do not serve meat cooked with salt, butter, garlic, onion, sauces, or strong spices. Remove uneaten fresh protein before it spoils.
Calcium-Rich Foods
Hermit crabs need calcium to develop and maintain a strong exoskeleton. Calcium becomes particularly important before and after molting, when the crab replaces and hardens its outer covering.
Useful calcium sources include:
- Cuttlebone
- Crushed oyster shell
- Clean, baked eggshell
- Crushed coral
- Unsalted seaweed
- Calcium-rich commercial crab foods
A piece of cuttlebone can remain available in the enclosure so the crabs can eat it as needed.
What Fruits Do Hermit Crabs Eat?
Hermit crabs enjoy many kinds of fresh and dried fruit. Fruit provides natural sugars, moisture, antioxidants, vitamins, and pigments. However, it should be part of a varied diet rather than the only food offered.
Safe fruits may include:
- Apples
- Bananas
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Blackberries
- Mangoes
- Papayas
- Pears
- Pineapple
- Grapes
- Watermelon
- Cantaloupe
- Coconut
- Peaches
Wash fresh fruit carefully to remove dirt and possible pesticide residue. Remove seeds, pits, stickers, and spoiled portions. Unsweetened dried fruit may also be offered, but avoid products containing added sugar, preservatives, sulfur dioxide, or artificial flavors.
Highly acidic fruit does not need to be completely forbidden, but it is better offered only occasionally and in small portions. A varied rotation is more useful than serving the same favorite fruit every day.
What Vegetables Do Hermit Crabs Eat?
Vegetables add fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and natural pigments to the diet. Brightly colored produce can provide carotenoids, which help support the crab’s natural coloring.
Good vegetable choices include:
- Carrots
- Sweet potatoes
- Pumpkin
- Squash
- Corn
- Peas
- Green beans
- Broccoli
- Spinach
- Kale
- Zucchini
- Bell peppers
- Cucumber
Vegetables can be served raw or lightly cooked without seasoning. Hard vegetables may be grated, sliced, or softened to make them easier to eat.
Iceberg lettuce is not toxic, but it contains little nutritional value. More nutritious leafy greens, such as kale or spinach, are better options. Plain sweet potato can be useful, but greasy fries, chips, and heavily seasoned potatoes should never be offered.
What Do Saltwater Hermit Crabs Eat?
Saltwater hermit crabs commonly eat algae, leftover fish food, dead organisms, and organic debris in marine aquariums. Blue-legged and red-legged hermit crabs are often kept as part of a reef tank’s cleanup crew because they graze on certain algae and scavenge uneaten food.
However, aquarium algae may not provide enough nutrition by itself. Marine hermit crabs can be supplemented with:
- Dried marine seaweed
- Algae wafers
- Sinking marine pellets
- Mysis shrimp
- Brine shrimp
- Small pieces of raw seafood
- Leftover fish food in controlled amounts
Some reef-dwelling hermit crabs may need supplemental dried seaweed when the aquarium does not contain enough algae.
Avoid overfeeding a saltwater tank because decomposing food can reduce water quality. Offer only as much as the animals can consume and remove larger leftovers.
How Often Should Hermit Crabs Eat?
Pet land hermit crabs should have food available every day, although they may eat only small amounts. Because they are often nocturnal, it is best to offer fresh food in the evening.
Serve small portions from several food groups rather than filling the dish with one item. For example, one meal could include a little cooked egg, carrot, apple, coconut, and cuttlebone.
Dry foods may remain slightly longer if they stay clean and mold-free. Fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, and egg should generally be checked and removed daily. Commercial pellets can be crushed for small crabs, and uneaten food should be removed regularly to prevent mold and pests.
A hermit crab may temporarily eat less before molting, while adjusting to a new enclosure, or when environmental conditions are unsuitable. Warmth, humidity, access to water, security, and proper substrate can all affect feeding behavior.
What Do Hermit Crabs Drink?
Land hermit crabs need access to both fresh water and properly prepared marine saltwater. They drink fresh water, but they may also drink and bathe in saltwater to regulate the moisture and salt levels inside their shells.
Tap water should be treated with an aquarium-safe conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramine. Use marine aquarium salt to prepare the saltwater pool. Do not use ordinary table salt because it does not reproduce the mineral composition of seawater.
Both dishes should be deep enough for the crab to enter but designed with safe exits, such as textured ramps, stones, or plastic mesh. This allows the crab to climb out easily.
Marine hermit crabs do not need separate water bowls because they live fully submerged. Instead, they depend on clean, correctly maintained aquarium water.
Foods Hermit Crabs Should Not Eat
Hermit crabs should not be given highly processed, salty, sugary, or heavily seasoned human foods. These products may contain ingredients unsuitable for their small bodies.
Avoid offering:
- Salty chips and pretzels
- Candy and chocolate
- Sweetened breakfast cereal
- Fried foods
- Buttered foods
- Processed meats
- Spicy sauces
- Foods containing pesticides
- Moldy or spoiled produce
- Foods seasoned with garlic or onion
- Dairy products
- Table salt
Processed snacks may be attractive to hermit crabs because of their smell, fat, or salt content, but that does not make them healthy. Salty, fatty, and sugary snack foods should be avoided.
Can Baby Hermit Crabs Eat Adult Food?
Young hermit crabs generally eat the same types of foods as adults, but they need smaller, easier-to-handle portions. Crush dry food, finely chop vegetables, and offer tiny flakes of protein.
Very young marine hermit crab larvae live in water and may eat microscopic plankton. Their feeding requirements are much more specialized than those of juvenile or adult crabs, which makes raising larvae in captivity difficult.
FAQs
What do hermit crabs like to eat best?
Individual preferences vary, but many hermit crabs enjoy coconut, banana, mango, fish, shrimp, egg, nuts, and sweet vegetables. Their favorite foods should still be rotated with other nutritious choices to create a balanced diet.
Can hermit crabs eat fish food?
Marine hermit crabs can eat appropriate sinking fish pellets, algae wafers, and leftover marine fish food. Land hermit crabs may eat some plain fish foods, but the ingredients should be checked for excessive salt, preservatives, and artificial additives.
Do hermit crabs eat every day?
Hermit crabs should have access to food daily, but they may not visibly eat every night. They consume very small portions and are usually active after dark. Reduced appetite can also occur before molting.
Can hermit crabs eat bananas?
Yes, land hermit crabs can eat fresh or unsweetened dried banana. Offer a small piece as part of a varied meal and remove the leftovers before they become moldy or attract pests.
Do hermit crabs eat other animals?
Yes. Hermit crabs are omnivorous scavengers and may eat worms, mollusks, insects, fish, shrimp, plankton, carrion, and small crustaceans. Some may also become cannibalistic when food is scarce or living conditions are poor.
