Safe Food List - By Category

Variety is the key to healthy hermit crab diet, something which the often preservative riddled pelleted foods cannot truly give. Here we have listed by category a vast range of safe foods to help inspire keepers to expand their crab's diets.​ As with all foods, use pesticide and chemical free sources and avoid unnatural additives.
This list will be updated regularly.



Animal Proteins

Anchovy (no preservatives, added salt etc)
Bass
Beef
Bloodworm
Bone marrow
Brine shrimp
Carp
Chicken (meat and bones)
Clams
Cockle
Cockroaches (prekilled or dried)
Cod
Crab (meat and exo)
Crayfish
Crickets (prekilled or dried)
Cuttlefish (meat and bone)
Daphnia
Deer
Duck
Earthworm (prekill or dried)
Eel
Egg
Escargot
Flounder
Haddok
Herring
Isopods (woodlice)
Krill (pacifica and superba)
Lamb
Lobster (meat and exo)
Locusts (prekilled or dried)
Mackrel
Mealworms (dried or prekill unless ensured cannot escape)
Mussels
Octopus
Oysters
Pheasant
Pigeon
Pork
Ray
Salmon
Sardines (no preservatives, added salt etc)
Scallop
Shrimp
Silkworm pupae
Skate
Snails
Squid
Starfish
Trout
Tuna
Venison
Waxworms
Woodlice
Worm (prekill or dried)
Whelk

Fruit and Berries

Apple
Apricot
Avocado (not skins)
Banana
Blackberry
Blackcurrant
Blueberry
Currant
Cherry
Chili
Coconut
Damson
Dates
Dragonfruit
Elderberry
Fig
Gooseberry
Grape
Kiwi
Lychee (Stone is highly toxic)
Mango
Melon
Olive
Papaya
Peach
Pepper
Pear
Plum
Pineapple
Pomegranate
Raisins
Raspberry
Redcurrant
Strawberry
Sultanas
Tomato


Vegetables

Acorn squash
Aduki bean
Artichoke
Asparagus
Aubergine
Beans
Beetroot
Broad Bean
Broccoli
Brussel sprouts
Butternut squash
Button Mushroom
Cabbage
Carrot
Cauliflower
Chard
Chestnut Mushroom
Collard Greens
Corn (cob, separate and baby)
Courgette
Cucumber
French beans
Green beans
Hot peppers
Kale
Lettuce
Lentils
Mangetout
Mung bean
Mushroom (human edible)
New potato
Oyster mushroom
Parsnip
Peas
Pepper (Sweet and hot)
Potato
Pumpkin
Radish
Rocket
Runner beans
Soy beans
Spinach
Spring greens
Squash
Swede
Sweetcorn
Sweet pepper
Sweet potato
Turnip
Watercress
Water chestnut

Plants and Sprouts

Acer, leaf and twig
Alfalfa sprouts
Bamboo (NOT lucky bamboo) whole plant
Bean, leaf, sprouts
Beetroot, whole plant
Birch, bark
Blackberry (bramble) leaf
Blueberry, flower, leaf and twig
Buddleia, flower and leaf
Calendula flower
Camellia, flower
Carnation, flower only
Carrot greens
Celery, leaf
Chamomile flower
Chia spouts
Chickweed
Cholla (cactus) wood
Clover,whole plant
Comfry, flower
Cornflower, whole plant
Courgette, flower
Daisies
Dandelion, whole plant
Grape, leaf and vine
Hazel, leaf and twig
Honeysuckle flower
Hollyhock, flower
Hibiscus, flower and leaf
Jasmine, flower
Lilac, flowers
Maple, leaf, bark and twig
Melon leaf
Mint, whole plant
Millet, sprout
Oak, leaf, bark and twig
Pansy, whole plant
Pea, leaves, flowers, sprouts
Peony, flower
Pinecone
Raspberry, leaf
Ribwort plantain, leaf
Rose, flower, leaf and stem
Seaweed
Sunflower, petals, sprouts
Viola, whole plant

Nuts, Grains and Seeds

Almond nut
Amaranth
Brazil nut
Chia seed
Flax seed (linseed)
Hemp seed
Millet
Oats
Peanuts
Pecan nut
Pumpkin seed
Quinoa
Rice (wild)
Sesame seed
Sunflower seed
Walnut

Beach and Ocean Foods
Always avoid polluted areas.


Coral
Crab exoskeleton
Cuttlebone
Barnacle shells
Driftwood
Egg casings (shark, whelk)
Pinecones
Sea urchin shells
Shells (crushed or whole)
Sponge (NOT for use in water)
Seaweed

Other Foods

Bee pollen
Crabby Cravings crabby cookies
Honey (100% natural no corn syrup, small blobs or mixed with food)
Oils (all natural safe such as coconut, cod liver, flax, salmon, light drizzle over food)
Peanut butter (no added salt or sugar, 100% peanuts)
Popcorn (natural ingredients only, no salt or sugar etc)