The “Fresh & Foraged Foods for Land Hermit Crabs” Guide
(Skip the blah blah and find out where to buy the guide in various formats…)
HOW IT ALL BEGAN…
I have hermit crabs – four to be exact: one Ecuadorian and three Caribbean crabs, two of which were captive bred in 2018 and adopted through Mary Aker’s Hermit House Captive Breeding Program. I also have a crested gecko, semi-aquatic turtles, freshwater fish, and three dogs on a flexible homemade diet under the guidance of a nutritionally-trained veterinarian. Feeding my “zoo” has always been a little challenging – what’s safe for each species, what’s not, what didn’t I feed them yesterday that would be exciting for them to have today, and what provides them all with the nutrition they need to be happy and healthy?
For my hermit crabs, I wanted an easy species-specific reference regarding foods that I could offer – something that would give me dinner ideas, something I could carry with me when I was foraging or shopping, whether online or at the grocery store, definitely something to replace the bulky three ring binder that contained multiple “safe” lists and a myriad of handwritten additions from the occasions when something wasn’t listed yet deemed “safe” through research – something more comprehensive that did not yet exist. Simply put: I wanted one consolidated “list” that made planning, purchasing, or foraging a varied diet for my hermit crabs, well, just all around EASIER.
With my basic ideas and an outline in hand, I approached a few people with years of hermit crab experience and whose extensive knowledge I valued, the Contributing Editors, to eventually review the content I was compiling, add items for further research, provide overall guidance, and to fill in a few gaps where I knew their strengths exceeded mine. Their participation was out of their continued desire to further contribute to the hermit crab community and they have not been compensated – other than by my eternal gratitude for their assistance. At the same time the pocket guide idea was born, I had begun a drawing of my Ecuadorian hermit crab – an image that would eventually become the cover art. With over 20 years of experience designing documents and publishing projects for clients through my business and pen name, Creative Solutions :: RipdNTorn, it has been exciting to use the same skill set creating a personal project – and one that has finally been completed after several months of research and revisions.
The original concept, a pocket guide, is available directly from the author/publisher through myhungryhermit.etsy.com while various other formats are now available and published by Amazon, worldwide (additional links provided below).
WHAT IS IT?
“Fresh & Foraged Foods for Land Hermit Crabs” is a reference guide with an extensive listing of safe foods and items to introduce to a crabitat, as well as a section addressing things that are unknown or typically considered unsafe. Everything in the “safe for hermit crabs” category may be served raw, cooked, freeze-dried, or dehydrated (unsulphured, without preservatives) unless otherwise noted. Because hermit crabs are scavengers and liable to taste anything, things that aren’t typically food have also been included amongst the relevant lists (i.e. wood for climbing, decorative pods for hiding, aquatic plants in water, living bioactive cleanup crew insects). They aren’t necessarily a part of a diet, but their potential toxicity is relevant when they are introduced to a hermit crab’s environment. Because new information becomes available from time to time, pages that would otherwise be blank have been formatted for note taking and additions throughout.
Please note: the foraging portion of the guide refers to items generally found in North America.
WHERE TO GET IT
The Original Convenient Pocket Guide (plus Amazon paperback editions and other hermit crab-related items – including Burning Bush leaves and the Crabitaturals natural decor line): myhungryhermit.etsy.com
POCKET GUIDE SPECIFICATIONS:
Size, with spiral binding: 4.5″ wide x 5.5″ tall x .375″ thick.
98 pages, not including the front pages or references (124 total pages).
Interior color printing as originally intended.
ISBN: 978-1-7375423-0-8
Published July 15, 2021.
Available through Etsy: https://myhungryhermit.etsy.com/listing/1034560070
On Amazon (same content, larger format, available internationally through regional Amazon sites – .com.au, .ca, .de, .es, .fr, .it, & .co.uk; The following links are for US fulfillment through amazon.com. You may change the .com to your region of search the ISBN for versions published in your country.):
PAPERBACK & HARDCOVER EDITIONS:
5.5″ wide x 8.5″ tall, thickness varies depending on format
90 pages, featuring a larger font size, not including the front pages or references (116 total pages).
ISBN: 978-1-7375423-3-9 | Economy Black & White Paperback Edition – lacks any interior color printing. On Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Um2Y3N
ISBN: 978-1-7375423-1-5 | Full Color Paperback Edition. On Amazon: https://amzn.to/4dX5CUD
ISBN: 978-1-7375423-4-6 | Full Color Hardcover Edition. On Amazon: https://amzn.to/4ferX11
Published September 29, 2021.
Prints and other products resulting from the cover art (my pencil drawing of my Ecuadorian hermit crab, coenobita compressus) are available through the following shops:
society6.com/ripdntorn | zazzle.com/ripdntorn | http://bit.ly/ripdntornFAA
MyHungryHermit is a member of the LHCOS Approved Seller Program.