This post is going to discuss the role of starches and simple carbohydrates in our hermit crabs' diets. I have been thinking about this topic for a while, after the first time I offered a piece of boiled potato. Since then, I have been watching the food choices my crabs have been making when I offer them a starchy/high carbohydrate food.
The first carbohydrate foods I ever offered the crabs were puffed millet and puffed rice. These foods, despite the fact that they ended up being offered every other day due to my lack of other "puffs" to offer, were always a favorite. I've watched Benny eat his millet puffs many times, and he's always eaten at least half of a puff at a time.
The next high carbohydrate and high starch food I ever offered my crabs was, as I mentioned above, a small piece of boiled potato. It was stolen out of the food bowl and I found it a few days later, about half of its original size. Since then, I have offered three other instances of potato in my tank. Every time it has had the same reaction.
After that, I offered a whole wheat organic noodle. It, too, was stolen and found two days later. The second and third noodles I offered (all of which were white/pale colored, either an organic whole wheat or egg noodle) garnered the same reaction from the crabs, although the first time a beet noodle (out of the vegetable radiatore purchased at the Addiction store) was offered, they didn't bat an eyelash (they don't have eyelashes, but their reaction fits the description).
The fourth carbohydrate I offered the crabs is a 9 grain organic Amish oatmeal. It's a combination of a variety of grains grown organically...and those grains were gone the first five times they were offered. The interest has waned somewhat (mostly due to the fact that only 3 of my 8 crabs are currently on the surface and the dry food lasts 2 whole days instead of just 1 night) but they are always eaten at least partially when they are offered.
My final "high starch/high carb" food I regularly give my crabs now is cooked rice. I cook a organic basmati rice in the microwave in dechlor. fresh water and have fed it to them once. To be fair to this topic, I mixed some of a pineapple fruit chilly into the rice to make a 'rice pudding' before I fed it to them, but the crabs have never really gone for the chilly, preferring instead other foods. I witnessed two of my crabs eating it within an hour of my putting the food shell in the tank (a rarity indeed).
My theory, based off of my starch/carbohydrate experiences is that our crabs have a need for this type of food that has never really been addressed before. I am somewhat hesitant to say this as my first question is "if they have a need for that type of food, where would they get it in the wild?" And yet, the reactions do stand for themselves in whether the crabs wanted the starches. I have heard about crabs' favorite foods being birthday cake (made with crab-safe ingredients) before, and this also fits the theory. Popcorn can also be explained with this theory as the puffs provide similar nutrition to what the crabs get out of the millet and rice puffs.
If crabs react to carbohydrates this way, does that mean that it's necessarily a good thing for them? Not especially, as some of the carbohydrates listed (most especially birthday cake
) don't offer anything but a short term energy boost. However, oatmeals and rice are more of complex carbohydrates that provide a longer energy boost that can sustain humans over a long period of time.
Maybe when talking to crabbers with a crab emergency, we should advise them to offer longer term carbohydrate foods than just honey. Honey is great for an immediate boost, but its carbohydrate content can be likened to a candy's nutritional content. It is an extremely simple sugar that will give a small boost followed by a possibly even lower crash. However, offering a slightly longer-term carbohydrate will provide a more even energy level and a better chance for recovery from whatever ill is plaguing them.
Additionally, maybe it isn't such a good idea to put our crabs on an Atkins diet - maybe a low carb/low starch diet will put more stresses on their bodies as they have to digest proteins and such into carbohydrates to use for energy. Maybe if we offer them more carbohydrates, they can choose their own food to meet their needs and be happier and more energetic for it.
I would love some other users' inputs on this as I only have 8 crabs and the more peoples' experiences we can have, the better our understanding on this topic will be. Please, comment away!
Update: I fed plain rice in the fresh bowl along with corn, green bean, and steak and the only thing even remotely touched by crabs (other than being sandy from a shell sitting on it :S ) was the rice - pieces of it were dragged around the bowl and into the other bowl. Maybe there is something to this after all!
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