Hermit crabs are scavengers by nature. In the wild, they eat a little of whatever they come across — today's meal rarely looks like yesterday's.

Feeding them well just means giving them that same variety at home. This guide covers what they need, what to avoid, and how to build a buffet without overthinking it.

Protein Is a Big Part of the Diet

Hermit crabs need protein to support growth, energy, and molting. The goal isn't finding one perfect protein — it's rotating through several over time.

Good options include:

• Meat proteins — Chicken Breast, Chicken Hearts, and the beef in our Sunday Pot Roast Complete Meal
• Fish and seafood — Salmon, Cod Bites, Salmon Rolls
• Ocean proteins — Krill, Mysis Shrimp, Plankton, Bloodworms
• Whole proteins — Whole Quail Egg Yolk
• Insects — Mealworms, Black Soldier Fly Larvae, Jiminy Crickets Complete Meal, earthworms

The Gimme The Meats! 12 Proteins set and the Land & Sea Protein Set both make it easy to rotate through several at once.

There's More to It Than Protein

Fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, calcium, minerals, leaves, and flowers all have a place too. Three pillars make this easy to keep track of: The Core, Complete Meals, and Single Ingredients.

A Simple Hermit Crab Food Guide

A good hermit crab diet doesn't need a complicated food pyramid — just a daily buffet with different foods to choose from.

Always Available
The Core — green sand, worm castings, and calcium.

Daily Buffet
Complete Meals, with a mix of Single Ingredients for extra variety.

Mix It Up
Proteins, fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, seeds and grains, leaves and flowers.

Foraging & Enrichment
Add foods they can pick at, tear apart, and forage through just like they would in nature.

You don't have to offer everything every day. Rotate what you offer and let your hermit crabs choose what they need.

The Core

The Core is green sand, worm castings, and a calcium source. Keep all three in the crabitat at all times.

Green Sand — Packed with trace minerals. Think of it as a multivitamin for your crabs.

Worm Castings — Nutrient-rich material created as worms break down organic matter. Think of it as nature's compost.

Calcium — Think of it as the building blocks for every molt. Offer a single calcium source or a mix, like Calcium Reserve.

Unlike everything else in the buffet, The Core doesn't rotate.

Complete Meals

A Complete Meal brings protein, calcium, fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, harvestables, and more together in one scoop.

Keep a few different Complete Meals in rotation. Each recipe has its own mix of ingredients, so changing the meal is an easy way to add variety.

Single Ingredients

Single Ingredients are individual foods you add to the buffet for variety. They can be proteins, fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, seeds, harvestables, and more.

Here are a few examples:

• Proteins: Krill, Bloodworms, Whole Quail Egg Yolk
• Fruits & vegetables: Goji Berries, Super Sweet Corn, Spinach Pieces, Zucchini
• Healthy fats: Shredded Coconut, Norwegian Virgin Salmon Oil
• Seeds: Black Chia Seeds
• Harvestables: Flower Confetti, Raspberry Leaf, Marshmallow Root

Choose a few from different groups and change them from day to day. Some days you might offer three or four. Other days, more. There's no fixed number. Variety is the goal.

Foraging Foods

Foraging foods are an extra you can add around the crabitat. Foraging Mix and Flower Confetti work a little differently than the rest of the buffet.

Sprinkle them around the tank instead of adding them to a dish, and let your crabs pick through them on their own. They don't need to be swapped out every time you refresh the buffet — just top them off as they run low.

How Often and How Much Should You Feed Hermit Crabs?

Hermit crabs should have fresh food available every day. Since they're most active at night, evening is a good time to refresh their food, but there's no set feeding time.

Start with small amounts of several foods and adjust based on what your crabs actually eat. How much they eat can vary, so watch what disappears and adjust the amount you offer over time. Variety is more important than trying to follow an exact serving size.

Refresh their food dishes daily, removing old food before offering a fresh buffet. The Core — green sand, worm castings, and calcium — should stay available at all times.

For a simple approach to building the daily buffet, see The Buffet Method.

What Does a Buffet Actually Look Like?

There's no single correct combination. Here are two examples:

Tonight: Tropical Delight Complete Meal + Krill + Goji Berries + Sunflower Oil + Raspberry Leaf.

Next time: Seafood Feast Complete Meal + Hawaiian Pizza Complete Meal + Sweet Peas + Honey Granules + Norwegian Virgin Salmon Oil.

One buffet starts with one Complete Meal. The other starts with two. Both add different Single Ingredients for variety.

You don't need to include every food group at every feeding. Complete Meals provide the base. Single Ingredients add variety. The Core stays available every day.

Keep The Core stocked. Build a fresh buffet each day. Let the combination change.

What to Avoid

Avoid foods with preservatives, copper sulfate, or artificial colors and flavors. When you're unsure about an ingredient, check that it's safe for hermit crabs before feeding it.