Hermit crabs are drawn to sweet tastes and aromas, making bananas (Musa) highly appealing to the senses. The Cavendish banana, the most common type available at grocery stores, is hermit crab-safe.
Bananas are among the most sugary fruits. Consequently, 1-2 slices will give hermit crabs energy to get through the day. As hermit crabs have no teeth, the softness of the banana makes them easy to swallow.
There’s nothing toxic about banana peel, but it’s too rubbery due to a tough outer layer of cells called the epicarp. While this protects the banana, hermit crabs may struggle to swallow and digest the peel.
Remove the uneaten banana because it’ll spoil, attracting bacteria in the heat and humidity.
Why Bananas Are Good for Hermit Crabs
This table outlines the nutritional value of a Cavendish banana:
| Calories | 105 |
| Total Fat | 0.4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 0.13 g |
| Cholesterol | 300 mg |
| Sodium | 1.18 mg |
| Potassium | 422.44 mg |
| Carbohydrates | 30 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3.1 g |
| Sugar | 14.4 g |
| Calcium | 5.9 mg |
| Protein | 1.3 g |
The benefits of banana include:
- Manganese: This is used to convert carbohydrates, proteins, and fats into energy.
- Calcium: This is essential for building and maintaining the exoskeleton.
- Potassium: Important for developing the exoskeleton because it creates calcium carbonate.
- Fat: Some chunks of banana are an excellent pre-molt snack because molting hermit crabs hide, living off the fat they’ve stored.
- Carbohydrates: Provides the energy needed for climbing, digging, and foraging.
- Soluble and insoluble fiber: This is essential for digestive transit, preventing constipation.
The flesh of a banana is easy for hermit crabs to swallow, so there’s no choking risk.
How Hermit Crabs Eat Banana
If you put the banana chunks in the tank, you’ll notice the hermit crabs’ antennae will start to twitch. This means they’re sniffing the air because they’ve detected food in their environment.
Then, they’ll collectively likely descend upon the banana. Hermit crabs pick up banana with their chelipeds, the claws at the forefront of the body.
From there, the secondary antennae will detect the taste and guide the banana into the mouth. Hermit crabs have small mouth parts that grind down food as part of the digestive process.
How To Offer Banana
If you offer banana to hermit crabs, ensure it’s relatively fresh. While hermit crabs are less fussy than humans about fruit that’s turning, a black or bruised banana will have started to develop mold spores.
Green bananas are unappealing to the human palate, but hermit crabs enjoy eating them. According to the Journal of Agriculture and Social Sciences, humidity rapidly ripens a banana.
Sliced or Mashed
You can slice or mash up the banana. If hermit crabs leave any uneaten banana, remove it from the cage. Banana attracts bacterial microbes if allowed to turn rancid in the high heat and humidity.
Dried
Freeze-dried banana is often sold in supermarkets and health food stores as banana chips.
Many banana chips contain artificial additives and preservatives, while some manufacturers add more sugar than naturally found in a banana, which can cause digestive distress.
If you want to offer banana chips, get a dehydrator and make your own at home. This way, you can control the ingredients added to the food.
Frozen
As bananas decay quickly in humidity, keeping frozen slices in an icebox is recommended. Thaw some slices of frozen banana. While frozen, the banana doesn’t release scent and will be too hard.
Banana Milk
As hermit crabs prepare to molt, they’ll increase their fat reserves. You could offer banana milk as an occasional treat, as hermit crabs aren’t lactose intolerant.
Use a blender or food processor to make banana milk, as pre-packaged drinks will be laden with sugar. Only offer a small quantity and remove what’s left once they’re done drinking.
Liquid often gets spilled, creating a gooey mess that must be cleaned up.
How Often To Feed Hermit Crabs Banana
One chopped-up, medium-sized banana is enough for a colony of hermit crabs.
You can feed hermit crabs banana 1-2 times per week. As banana appeals to the senses, it’s best held back as a training reward.
Banana shouldn’t be the cornerstone of a hermit crab’s diet. However, it can be a supplementary snack. Hermit crabs like the taste and smell of banana, and the nutrients will benefit their health.
