When you feed your crabs reach for organic produce. Wash all fruits and vegetables with treated dechlorinated water. Fruits and vegetables that have been treated with pesticides can be very harmful for your crab. Washing it thoroughly can still leave traces of toxic chemicals behind.

• Acorns (crush and soak overnight in salt water then drain before serving)
• Agave
• Alfalfa
• Almonds, crushed
• Amaranth (Ancient grain)
• Anchovy oil
• Apple and natural, unsweetened apple sauce
• Apricot (do not feed the pit)
• Artichokes
• Ash Wood
• Asian Pear
• Asparagus
• Avocado (do not feed the pit or skin)
• Bamboo (live plants make wonderful tank toys and grazing)
• Banana (peel is safe ONLY if organic)
• Barley
• Basil
• Beans
• Bell peppers (red, yellow, orange, green or purple)
• Bee pollen
• Beef, no seasoning, *not ground
• Beets
• Bilberries/Huckleberries
• Birch Wood
• Bison, no seasoning
• Blackberry leaves
• Blackberry and leaves
• Blackstrap molasses (unsulfured) – amazingly high in nutrients such as calcium and potassium; 1-2 times monthly
• Bladder wrack
• Bloodworms (alive or dead)
• Blueberries
• Borage blossoms (Borago officinalis)
• Brazil nuts
• Broccoli and leaves
• Brown rice (no instant rice)
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage (all varieties)
• Calcium carbonate powder, plain
• Calendula flowers (Calendula officinalis)-Also known as “pot marigolds”
• Camellia (Camellia japonica)
• Cantaloupe
• Carnation flowers (Dianthus caryophyllus)
• Caribou, no seasoning
• Carrots
• Carrot tops
• Cashews
• Cauliflower and leaves
• Celery leaves
• Cereal; Brown rice, soy, wheat or 7 grain, muesli
• Chamomile flowers
• Chard
• Cherimoya
• Cherry, Fruit and wood (no pits)
• Chestnuts
• Chicken bones
• Chicken, cooked and unseasoned (smash the bone for marrow access)
• Chickweed
• Cholla wood (untreated, NO Hobby Lobby cholla)
• Cilantro
• Citrus (all fruits, skin edible if organic)
• Clams
• Clover blossoms and leaves
• Coconut meat, shell, water and coconut oil
• Cod liver oil
• Collards
• Coral
• Cork bark
• Corn (on the cob, too)
• Cornmeal
• Cranberries (dehydrated)
• Crickets
• Crustaceans (any and all crustaceans including crayfish, lobster, shrimp and other crabs)
• Cucumber
• Currants
• Cuttlefish bone
• Daisies (Bellis perennis)
• Dandelion flowers, leaves and roots (Taraxacum officinale)
• Dates
• Day lilies (Hemerocallis)
• Duck
• Earthworms
• Egg, scrambled or soft boiled
• Eggplant
• Eggshells
• Elderberries
• Elderberry flowers (Sambucus canadensis)
• Elk, no seasoning
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Fig (ripe fruit only)
• Fish, no seasoning
• Fish Oil
• Flax seeds/Linseeds (crushed)
• Flax seed oil (small amounts infrequently)
• Garbanzos
• Gladiolus (Gladiolus spp.)
• Gooseberry (ripe or overripe)
• Grape Leaf
• Grapes
• Grapevine (vines and root)
• Grasshoppers
• Green and red leaf lettuce (not iceburg; dark green)
• Green Beans
• Guava
• Hazel leaves
• Hazel nuts
• Hemp seeds
• Hemp seed Meal
• Hibiscus flowers (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)
• Hollyhock flowers
• Honey (organic, or at least locally produced, for anti-microbials)
• Honeybush
• Honeydew Melon
• Honeysuckle flowers (Japanese Lonicera japonica)
• Hot Peppers (Chile, Habanero, Jalapeño)
• Impatiens (Impatiens wallerana)
• Irish Moss
• Japanese red maple leaves, dried (Acer palmatum)
• Jasmine flowers (Jasmine officinale)
• Johnny-Jump-Up flowers–(Viola tricolor)
• Kale
• Kamut
• Kelp
• Kiwi
• Krill
• Lentils
• Lilac (Syringa vulgaris)
• Lima Beans
• Liver, no seasoning
• Lobster with crushed exoskeleton
• Locusts (dead)
• Lychee fruit (fresh; no kernel)
• Macadamia nuts
• Madrona wood
• Mango
• Mangrove (small live trees can be obtained on eBay, use in water basin)
• Maple leaves
• Maple syrup
• Marion Berries
• Mealworms
• Millet
• Milk thistle flowers (Silybum marianum)
• Mint (but not peppermint!)
• Moose, no seasoning
• Most organic baby foods
• Muscadine (grapes)
• Mushrooms
• Mussels
• Nasturtium flowers (Tropaeolum majus)
• Nectarine
• Nettle (wilted)
• Nettle, stinging (pour boiling water over leaves first)
• Oak Leaves and bark
• Octopus
• Okra
• Olive and olive oil (extra virgin)
• Oranges
• Oysters
• Pansy flowers and leaves (Viola X Wittrockiana)
• Papaya
• Parsley
• Parsnip
• Passionflowers (Passifloraceae – passion flower family)
• Passionfruit
• Peaches (do not feed the pit)
• Peanut butter (avoid sugar, corn syrup and hydrogenated oils)
• Peanuts
• Pears
• Peas
• Pecans
• Pecan bark
• Peonies
• Persimmon
• Petunia blossoms
• Pineapple
• Pistachio nuts
• Plankton
• Plantain
• Plum
• Pomegranate
• Popcorn (unseasoned, unflavored, unbuttered)
• Pork, no seasoning
• Potato (no green parts, including eyes)
• Prickly pear
• Psyllium & husks
• Pumpkin
• Purslane (Portulaca oleracea)
• Quinoa (New World grain)
• Radish
• Raisins (no sulphur dioxide)
• Raspberry
• Red raspberry leaves (highest bioavailable calcium source + vit. C and trace minerals)
• *Repashy Products (Beach Buffet)
• Rolled Oats
• Rooibus (or rooibos)
• Roquette (Eruca vesicaria)
• Rose petals (Rosa spp)
• Rose hips
• Royal Jelly
• Russian Olive leaves (Elaeagnus angustifolia)
• Safflower oil, Sage blossoms (Salvia officinalis)
• Salmon
• Sand dollars
• Sardines
• Scallops
• Sea biscuits
• Sea fan (red or black)
• Sea grasses
• Sea salt (*not to be used in place of marine salt)
• Sea Sponges
• Sea urchins
• Seaweed
• Semolina
• Sesame seeds (crushed)
• Sesame oil (in tiny amounts as appetite stimulant)
• Shrimp and exoskeletons
• Silkworms
• Snails (use human food grade only; not wild snails)
• Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)
• Soy and soy products (human grade; miso, tofu, etc.)
• Spelt
• Spinach
• Spirulina (complete protein and chlorophyll source; highest in beta carotene)
• Sprouts (flax, wheat, bean, alfalfa, etc.)
• Squid
• Squash (and squash blossom)
• Star fruit (carambola)
• Strawberry and tops
• Sugar cane
• Sunflower Seeds (crushed), flowers and leaves (Helianthus)
• Swamp cypress wood (false cypress, taxodium sp.)
• Sweet potato
• Sycamore leaf
• Tahini (no garlic variety)
• Tamarillo
• Tangerine
• Timothy hay
• Tomato
• Tree Fern
• Triticale
• Tulip flowers (Tulipa spp.)
• Tuna
• Turkey. no seasoning
• Turnip greens
• Venison, no seasoning
• Viola flowers
• Violet flowers (Viola odorata)
• Walnuts
• Wasa All-Natural Crispbread (Oat flavor)
• Watercress
• Watermelon (no seeds)
• Wax worms
• Wheat grass
• Wheat
• Wheat germ
• Whitefish
• Whole Wheat Couscous
• Wild rice
• Worm castings
• Zucchini (and zucchini flowers)*

A partial list of Edible Sea Vegetables:

• Spirulina
• Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus)
• Nori (Porphyra sp.)
• Wakame (Undaria Pinnatifida)
• Dulse/Dillisk (Palmaria palmata, Rhodymenia palmata)
• Green Seaweed (Ulva lactuca)
• Mojaban (Sargassum fulvellum)
• Sea Whip fronds (Nereocystis) Sea palm
• Alaria (Longicruris)
• Various kelp species:
• Kombu (Laminaria sp.)
• Laverbread (Porphyra dioica, Porphyra purpurea)
• Digitata (Alaria esculenta)
• Gracilaria parvispora
• Bladderwrack (Gracilaria changgi or Fucus vesiculosis)
• Sugarwrack (Laminaria saccharina)

All sea vegetables are members of the algae family.

This food list is mainly adapted from Summer Michealson and Stacey Arenella’s book,

The All-Natural Hermit Crab Sourcebook, and expanded on by Julia Crab and others.

*Denotes HCO edits.

HCO Note: This list was posted from epicurean-hermit.com with explicit permission to do so. Krabitat does not claim to own this information or take credit for compiling it.

For more information Hermit Crab Owners/Safe_List