5 Don'ts When Feeding A Hermit Crab
Author: Preston Blackmore
Hermit crabs are not the hermits as the name might suggest. Feeding hermit crabs might not seem any herculean task but even this requires us to be careful. These delicate creatures are prone to many microbes and this is why sterilization must be done. When the surrounding air is more humid, there is a more likely chance that your crab might catch an infection. This is why crab lovers tend to imitate the traditional tropical environment. Imitating the tropical climate is just to get humidity out of your pet’s cage.
There are a few steps
to consider while building the perfect hermit crab environment. Your pet will get used to the artificial habitat once you have made efforts for all its comforts. There are 5 don’ts to consider while feeding hermit crabs are as follows:
1) Don’t use tap water to feed your crab. Tap water is chlorinated to kill harmful bacteria. This chlorine is harmful for the crab’s shell and with time, it also causes the outer layer of the skin to rot. Sometimes the spots we see on the crabs skin is the start of an infection from algae and fungi.
2) Don’t give inorganic or artificially flavored food to your crab. This will deteriorate your crab’s health in no time. Give organic food as far as possible and there must not be any artificial flavorings or colorings.
3) Don’t feed organic food containing copper sulfate and ethoxyquin. Though copper is an essential nutrient but sometimes it might be present in crab’s food in the form of copper sulfate. Copper sulfate is toxic for crab’s health and thus must be prevented. Instead, feed your crab green leafy vegetables containing the enzyme oxalate. The enzyme binds with calcium and helps the crab during the molting period.
4) Don’t feed spicy food to your crab. Crabs don’t love spicy food. Organic food without spice is what your crab will love. People unknowingly feed spices thinking food might taste better to the crabs as it does for humans. This is not so because crabs have different taste buds from humans and spices destroy the digestion of crabs.
5) Don’t season your crab’s food with table salt or refined sugar. If you think seasoning is necessary then don’t season food with salt or sugar. Instead you can use aquarium sea salt, molasses, parsley and organic honey.
Apart from the above few points there are many other things that you need to consider while feeding hermit crabs. When cooking vegetables or washing crab food, de-chlorinated water is best. Feeding vegetables containing oxalic acid and zeaxantin are good to boost your crab’s health. Feeding nutritional food only will not result in a proper health. There are also other steps to keep under consideration. Hermit crabs grow constantly and love to have their outer shell replaced after a certain interval. Provide your hermit crab the best tropical environment at home by keeping them away from all chemicals, perfumes and pesticides. These chemicals are irritants and may cause a lot of suffering to your beloved crab.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/5-don039ts-when-feeding-a-hermit-crab-1845929.html
About the Author
Preston Blackmore is a hermit crab enthusiast. For more great tips and advice on feeding a hermit crab, visit www.hermitcrabclub.com