In order to keep your hermit crabs happy and healthy, the number one thing you can focus on is their diet. Specifically, the fruit they eat. It’s full of vitamins, phytonutrients, and other helpful nutrients that keep your pets energized.
Your hermit crab will happily eat any sort of fresh or slightly wrinkled fruit from your kitchen, with the exception being anything decomposing or moldy. Hermit crabs benefit from a well-balanced diet of fruits including citrus, berries, tropical fruit, and melons.
I decided to pick 12 fruits that I feed my hermit crabs with at least one from the citrus, berry, tropical, and melon fruit families. I don’t give my crabs any commercial foods or supplements, my crabs rely on fruits and other foods for all of their vitamins. I’m proud to say that my four crabs are alive and well after four years! So, let’s go over the fruits I feed my crabs that keep them active and healthy.
Bananas
Sliced bananas are a great fruit to add to your hermit crabs diet. It’s a great source of Vitamin C and potassium, both of which enable your hermit crab to stay active and curious. An active hermit crab with a good diet lives a longer, happier life.
When you serve your hermit crabs a banana, peel the banana, and take one or two thin slices to leave in their food bowl. Some owners leave the peel on as well, but this attracts fruit flies. Also, there’s very little nutritional value in banana peels. You’re better off throwing that in the compost pile.
Hermit crabs don’t mind the mushy parts of a banana. If you’re like me and you can’t stand the brownish mushy part of a banana, set it aside for your pets. Don’t confuse this with rotten or moldy bananas, which should never be served to your hermit crabs.
The banana is one of my favorite fruits to feed my hermit crabs. Before I go on my morning runs, I have a banana and drink some water to wake me up. I’ll save half an inch of banana for my crabs, slice it into a few pieces and leave it in their food bowl. The banana peel goes in my worm bin to compost.
Strawberries
Strawberries are some of the best fruit to feed hermit crabs. They are filled with vitamins and nutrients important to a crab’s diet. Rinse a strawberry before giving it to your hermit crabs, and don’t worry about cutting off the tops because these are safe for your hermit crabs as well. I love giving my hermit crabs leftover strawberry tops.
Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C, and potassium for your hermit crabs. They are a fan favorite among hermit crab owners because of their sweet scent which hermit crabs love.
The only issue I have with serving my crabs strawberries is that they tend to grow mold quickly. Mold will start to grow from any strawberry left in the tank for too long. This is the case with most fruits in such a humid environment.
Pineapple
Pineapple is a safe citrus fruit to feed hermit crabs, and full of nutrients hermit crabs need such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, to name a few. Serve pineapple to your crabs sliced, and avoid giving them the stem and outer shell which could be sprayed with preservatives.
While most pet owners agree it’s safe to feed your hermit crabs citrus fruits, I try to feed it sparingly. I don’t want to give my crabs acidic fruits too often. This isn’t backed by any studies, it’s just my way of thinking. Pineapples are a safe and healthy fruit for hermit crabs, just try to mix it up here and there.
One slice of pineapple should be plenty for hermit crabs. I included a picture of a plate I served my crabs that has pineapple and blueberries. I find that pineapple lasts longer in my hermit crab tank than other fruits (it won’t mold as quickly).
Blueberries
Blueberries should be a part of every hermit crab’s diet. They have plenty of fiber, protein, magnesium, and vitamin C. They are especially rich in calcium, which hermit crabs need lots of to maintain a strong exoskeleton. Feed your hermit crabs blueberries as often as you can.
A few foods to pair with your blueberries would be some dried shrimp, dried grasshoppers, or saltless nuts. That would add some extra proteins most crabs don’t get enough of. I would also add some washed eggshells or cuttlebone to supplement the needed calcium hermit crabs crave.
Slice each blueberry into halves before serving them to your hermit crabs. Each crab will eat between 2 and 5 blueberries (depending on their size). Blueberries pair well with strawberries or apples, which provides your hermit crabs with plenty of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B, and potassium.
Remember to rinse your blueberries before serving them to hermit crabs. I tend to slice them in half as well so they don’t have to tear through the fruit’s skin.
Watermelon
Hermit crabs love watermelon because of its sweet scent, and it’s perfectly safe for them to eat. Crabs love all types of melons, including cantaloupe, honeydew, and even pumpkin! However, they won’t eat watermelon rind since it has little nutritional value.
I feed my hermit crabs watermelon whenever I have it myself. They’ll gladly eat the little bit of red leftover when you eat a slice of watermelon. I find that watermelon doesn’t mold as fast as other fruits do in a hermit crab tank, but it attracts a lot of fruit flies. Once you see fruit flies, it’s time to take your watermelon out of the tank and remove the lid so the flies go away.
Grapes
I feed my hermit crabs grapes nearly every day. It’s safe for hermit crabs to eat grapes as well as the grape stem. It’s a great source of Vitamin C, K, and A for hermit crabs, which promotes hermit crab activity and general health. Rinse and slice grapes before serving them to hermit crabs.
It doesn’t matter what type of grape you decide to serve your hermit crabs. They’ll enjoy red and green grapes or whichever you have at your house. I find that one grape sliced is plenty for my four hermit crabs.
Kiwis
Kiwis are an excellent source of calcium and vitamin C, both of which are imperative for a healthy hermit crab. One slice of kiwi will be plenty for a few hermit crabs. The vitamin C in kiwis encourage active hermit crabs, which is proven to make hermit crabs live longer.
I feed my hermit crabs the slice of kiwis that are closer to the stems, which would have been thrown away anyway. They’ll pick off the kiwi-part and separate it from the skin. I make an effort to put high-calcium fruits such as kiwis and blueberries to make sure their exoskeleton stays strong. This is especially important after they molt.
Apples
Next up is an apple. Your hermit crabs would really appreciate your leftover apple core. My hermit crabs love to nibble away at my apple cores or a nice apple slice when I’m feeling generous.
Apples are a great source of fiber and vitamin C, which goes nicely when paired with other fruits high in vitamin A and calcium. Apples are like a nice sugary treat hermit crabs just love.
When serving your hermit crabs an apple, be sure to peel the skin before you give the crab a slice. It’s’ best to avoid any leftover residue of whatever chemical farmers use to preserve apples. Be sure to thoroughly wash your fruit before giving it to your hermit crabs.
A downside with apples is that they won’t last very long in your hermit crab enclosure, even less than other fruits. It’ll brown after a few hours and start to mold after a day or two. Hermit crabs don’t mind a brown apple, but they do mind mold. Remember to not leave apples in your tank for more than a day.
Apples may be a favorite among hermit crabs. A 2018 study performed several trials where six purple pincher hermit crabs got to choose to eat lettuce, cucumber, carrots, and apples. When apple was pitted against cucumber, five of the 6 hermits chose apples over cucumber. Apple won when pitted against carrot, and apple tied with lettuce.
Oranges
Next up is our first citrus fruit: oranges. I especially love feeding my hermit crabs oranges because they contain calcium, along with an outstanding amount of vitamin C.
Similar to an apple, wash and peel your oranges before giving them to your hermit crabs. I usually cut a wedge out of an orange I’m eating, then split it open along the center so my crabs have easy access to the juicy fruit.
The vitamins in oranges will give your hermit crabs the energy to climb, dig, swing, and whatever else they do for fun. Meanwhile, it will prove your hermit crabs with a tasty source of calcium, which is very important in a hermit crab diet.
Calcium is so very important to hermit crabs because it helps strengthen their exoskeletons and overall bodily functions. Without it your hermit crabs will be weak and slow, even with a healthy diet of fruit and veggies.
Oranges are not a substitute for a solid calcium source. Add some eggshells or cuttlebone to your crab’s food bowl. This will make sure your crabs have plenty of calcium.
Cherries
Hermit crabs love cherries, which are rich in Vitamins C, A, and K. All of these nutrients are important in a hermit crab’s diet. Hermit crabs also find nutrients in cherry wood. Rinse and slice your cherries before serving them to your hermit crabs and remove the pit.
I’ve found bits of food in my hermit crab tank days after I serve them it. Hermit crabs, or mine at least, love to make a mess of their environment. I can see the pit being hidden away by crabs that’ll blend right into your coconut substrate. Save yourself the trouble and throw out the pit when giving your hermit crabs cherries!
Works Cited
Arenella, S., & Michaelson, S. (2004). The All-Natural Hermit Crab Sourcebook: A Complete Guide to Pet Crab Care and Feeding. Stacey Arenella.
Sure, C. (2014). Hermit crab care: Habitat, food, health, behavior, shells, and lots more: The Complete Hermit Crab Care Pet Book … BLEP Publishing.
Flesner, Tricia & Ransin, Olivia. (2018). Food Preference in the Purple Pincher Hermit Crab (Coenobita clypeatus). 10.13140/RG.2.2.13257.85609.