Introduction
Can Hermit Crabs Eat Blueberries? The blueberry (vaccinium corymbosum) has a unique aroma, taste, and consistency. Hermit crabs, who find blueberries sweet and delicious, will likely enjoy these treats. Some hermit crabs may still be wary of blueberries despite this. Hermit crabs reportedly fear the color blue because their limited visual spectrum causes them to perceive it as threatening.
Antioxidants like those found in blueberries help hermit crabs avoid getting sick. Blueberries can be eaten raw, frozen, or dehydrated, adding to their advantages. Although some nutrients are lost during cooking, blueberries can also be made into jam. Because hermit crabs become bored easily, you should only feed them fruit twice a week.
Hermit Crab Nutrition: Blueberries
Blueberries can be fed to hermit crabs in a few different ways.
Original Blueberries
It would help if you ate your blueberries raw and fresh. Buy organic blueberries to reduce exposure to pesticides and herbicides, and give them a quick rinse under cold water before serving. Hermit crabs can eat blueberries with the peel on, but you should chop them in half so they’re easier to swallow.
This also causes the emission of a fragrance, which draws in hermit crabs (as reported by BMC Neuroscience). Due to the high temperature and humidity, the blueberries quickly rot in the hermit crab enclosure. Therefore, provide them in modest portions and remove any leftovers before they spoil and become a bacterial risk.
Cooked Blueberries
Blueberries become more tender and easy to digest after being cooked. Fruit, however, is better consumed raw because cooking it destroys some of its nutrients.
Frozen Blueberries
Blueberries and other frozen fruits may be found in the freezer section of most grocery stores. These are typically reserved for smoothies but can also be a good source of blueberries for hermit crabs. A large bag of frozen blueberries will keep for months in the fridge and provide the same health benefits as fresh blueberries. In certain cases, this is less expensive than buying blueberries in their unprocessed form. Pet hermit crabs may eat frozen blueberries after you let them thaw.
Blubbery Dehydration
Fresh blueberries go bad quickly, as previously indicated. You can avoid this by buying freeze-dried blueberries or purchasing a dehydrator and doing this step yourself. Dried blueberries can be purchased from health food stores. Those sold in stores are typically sweetened and preserved with chemicals to compete with natural foods.
Blueberry Jam
The usage of jam in establishing rapport with hermit crabs is recommended. Spreading some spots on your finger will greatly improve your grip. Due to the intense aroma of blueberries, blueberry jam is quite useful. Backup can be made from blueberries by boiling them over medium heat, mashing them with a potato masher, and then allowing them to simmer.
After that, put the jam in a jar, let it cool, and set it in the fridge overnight. There are better methods for hermit crabs to consume blueberries because boiling them destroys some nutrients. The jam will be eaten in moderation, mostly as a reward.
Blueberry Squeeze
Blueberries in juice form are equally as healthy as eating the whole fruit. Due to their high water content (up to 84%! ), blueberries may also entice hermit crabs to drink up. Stickiness is the only real issue with blueberry juice. Another thing to keep in mind is that if blueberry juice is spilled on the substrate, it will attract germs, go rancid, and produce an unpleasant odor. So, the short answer to “Can hermit crabs drink blueberry juice?” is, “Yes, there are limitations. Caution should be exercised when giving hermit crabs blueberry juice to consume.
Grain of Blueberry
Many people don’t even know that blueberries have seeds because they’re so tiny. Hermit crabs may safely eat blueberries with intact roots, so removing them is unnecessary. Hermit crabs might enjoy a sprinkle of blueberry seeds, which can be purchased at a garden center.
Blueberry seeds have a mild, nutty flavor but little nutritional value. Blueberry seeds can be found under their Latin name, Vaccinium myrtillus, on packaging. The European blueberry bush is one of the best choices for your health.
Cooked Blueberries: Safe For Hermit Crabs?
Why bother cooking blueberries if your hermit crab pets can eat them raw? Some of you may not be aware of this, but cooking blueberries releases the antioxidants (polyphenols) within them, making them more digestible for pets.
Cooked blueberries are better for hermit crabs than raw ones due to their higher antioxidant content. If you want to feed your pet crabs cooked blueberries, there are a few things to remember. Blueberries lose some nutritional value if you cook them too long.
Blueberries lose all their health benefits when deep fried, just like any other food. As a result, you shouldn’t deep fried them either. Please wait until the blueberries have cooled down sufficiently before giving them to your pet; otherwise, they may burn its mouth.
Is It OK For Hermit Crabs To Eat Blueberry Seeds?
When you bite a blueberry, do you see the little black seeds? The seeds in blueberries are so small that many people don’t realize they’re there until they’ve already eaten the berry. Since people have been eating blueberries with seeds for decades without ill effects, it’s safe to assume they pose no threat to human health. What about the crabs, though? Do they find blueberry seeds to be risk-free? Yes, without a doubt.
Unlike apple or orange seeds, blueberry seeds are perfectly safe for your hermit crabs to eat. They couldn’t choke on these seeds because of their size. Staining the blueberries to remove the seeds before feeding them to your dogs is unnecessary.
Is It OK To Feed Dried Blueberries To Hermit Crabs?
You must know that blueberries are only available during certain times of the year. These fruits are dehydrated in the sun for days (or in the oven), so they can be stored for a long period and eaten at any time of the year. Dried blueberries are a common ingredient in blueberry desserts, including cheesecakes and tarts.
Have you heard that dried blueberries are just as healthy as fresh ones? Is it safe to offer dried blueberries to your pet crabs now? The answer to this question will vary depending on whether the blueberries are purchased, dried, or dried by you at home. To extend their shelf life, the dried blueberries sold in stores are treated with chemicals and preservatives. Although humans are mostly immune to the effects of toxic substances, the same cannot be said for your furry friends.
But if you buy fresh blueberries from the market and dry them in the sun or your oven, the resulting dried blueberries will be more natural and safer for the hermit crabs. Even if you dry the blueberries yourself, it’s best to give them to your pets in moderation. The sugar in these berries becomes concentrated throughout the drying process, accounting for the dehydrated blueberries’ much-increased sweetness.
Conclusion
Blueberries, particularly, are a favorite of hermit crabs because they are tasty and convenient to eat with their tiny beaks. Even their infants won’t get sick from eating these berries. Blueberries are a great treat for your crabs, but you should limit their exposure to them like any other type of fruit. Overfeeding is the only real risk when giving blueberries to hermit crabs.
The hermit crab species is very greedy. They are free to eat as much as they like, but if given too much, it can cause diarrhea or even death. Make sure your pet crab has access to a wide variety of foods before offering it a dish of fresh blueberries or any other fruit as a treat.
