Blue legged hermit crab..food?

[cyberwild360]

Should I be feeding my blue legged hermit crabs anything inparticular?

 

[Weylin]

Shrimp pellets ??????

 

[Will Hayward]

Algae wafers, sinking pellets, frozen foods, Yaki Nori. They are naturally scavengers and algae grazers, but you should ensure that they do get to eat some food from time to time.

 

[cyberwild360]

I see them eat some left over algae wafer bits but wanted to make sure they didn't need anything I wasn't giving them.

Weird question: Will I ever have to get them a bigger shell or anything?

 

[Will Hayward]

Oh definitely. If you have Hermit Crabs in your tank, You NEED additional empty shells of approximately the size of your Hermits. They should have some that are smaller, some the same size as what they are in, and some that are bigger. They are very particular about choosing their new shell, and will even go as far as hiding any they don't like, or the one they just moved out of, so that no other crabs will find it. Sometimes they'll stash it in a rock, sometimes they'll bury it.

But the Crabs do NEED a selection of shells scattered about the tank.

If you have snails, and no empty shells, hermits may harass or attack snails for their shells. Having many empty shells int he tank, will convince the crabs to ignore any snails.

 

[cyberwild360]

ok..Thank you so much - inverts not my specialty.

 

[Will Hayward]

If you have a large tank you can keep a colony. Also Scarlet Leg Hermits get along with them very nicely, as they are only slightly larger. A common recommendation is 1 crab per 5 gallons of tank, to keep algae and detritus at bay. But that is very generalized as each tank has different needs.

A colony of hermits will interact. They will harmlessly squabble over shells and play King of the Castle.

 

[BIGgourami]

i've never fed my hermits directly, they all do fine on scraps.

the biggest blue legs i've seen are my own, he's moved ino a shell about the size of a ping pong or golf ball, somewhere in between