Oranges and other citrus fruits are safe and nutritious for hermit crabs.
Hermit crabs are natural scavengers, so they prefer oranges that have passed their sell-by date. The mushier the orange, the more they’ll enjoy eating it. Never feed them moldy or rotten fruit.
The leaves and bark of the orange tree are highly toxic to hermit crabs.
Feeding Oranges To Hermit Crabs
As a tropical fruit, oranges can be found in the same regions hermit crabs call home.
Hermit crabs eat fruit along shorelines that have fallen from the trees. The world’s biggest hermit crab, the coconut crab, earned its name from doing so.
Hermit crabs can smell great distances in humid weather and are drawn to fruit near their habitats.
Hermit Crabs Like Eating Oranges
There are many types of oranges, which have subtly different flavors.
Most oranges are sweet, fleshy, and juicy and carry a strong scent, which makes them highly appealing.
Hermit crabs dislike oranges with sharper, tangy variations, such as Seville oranges and blood oranges. They prefer sweet-flavored oranges, such as Valencia oranges and navel oranges.
Other favorites include tangerines, mandarins, and clementines. These aren’t technically oranges but are often considered part of the same family because they look and taste similar.
Why Oranges Are Good for Hermit Crabs
Here’s the nutritional value of 140 grams of sweet orange:
| Calories | 66 |
| Potassium | 237 mg |
| Carbohydrates | 14.8 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2.8 g |
| Sugar | 12 g |
| Protein | 1.3 g |
As well as an appealing taste sensation, the benefits of oranges include:
- Vitamin C keeps the immune system healthy.
- Potassium is needed for muscle contractions and cellular activity.
- Fiber assists with digestion.
- Calcium for the exoskeleton.
- Antioxidants, such as flavonoids and carotenoids.
Parts of The Orange Hermit Crabs Can Eat
Let’s look at what parts of the orange are harmful and beneficial:
Flesh
The flesh of the orange is what hermit crabs should eat, offering significant health benefits.
Consider removing the pith – the white, stringy material between the flesh and peel of the orange – when feeding orange to hermit crabs. This offers no flavor and limited nutrition.
Peel
Fresh orange peel contains a natural repellent that deters hermit crabs from approaching. However, the potency diminishes once an orange falls to the ground.
Wild hermit crabs encounter orange peel while scavenging for food.
While a hermit crab’s claws are somewhat dexterous, they lack the flexibility to peel an orange before eating. Ergo, wild hermit crabs can eat the peel.
Food Chemistry stated that orange peel is rich in flavonoids and antioxidants.
Unfortunately, orange peel is harsh on hermit crabs’ digestion, leading to stomach upsets. Nibbling on a small scrap of orange peel won’t harm a hermit crab.
Seeds
The seeds of an orange contain trace levels of amygdalin, which converts to cyanide once ingested. The levels of amygdalin aren’t high enough to harm a human, but a hermit crab is at risk.
The Proceedings of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences explain how orange seeds have antioxidant qualities. The same applies to the flesh of an orange, so don’t give hermit crabs seeds.
You can feed hermit crabs seedless navel oranges and clementines.
Leaves
If you remove the peel, it stands to reason that you’ll also have removed any leaves from the orange tree. To be clear, orange leaves should never be added to a hermit crab’s tank.
The bark and leaves of citrus trees contain three toxic compounds:
- Psoralen.
- Limonene.
- Linalool.
Additionally, the leaves of the orange tree may have been treated with pesticides and insecticides.
Juice
Hermit crabs like the aroma of orange juice, deriving vitamin C from drinking it.
Hermit crabs are messy drinkers, so they’ll likely spill orange juice, creating sticky floors and attracting bugs that detect sugar in the liquid.
How To Feed Oranges To Hermit Crabs
Peel the orange, removing all leaves. Separate the segments of the orange and extract the seeds.
Hermit crabs can eat a segment of orange. They’ll cut the portion to size with the large cheliped. You can cut the segment in half, but there’s no need to pulp or mash the orange.
Hermit crabs prefer oranges that are starting to turn through age. If you consider the flesh too soft and pulpy to be appetizing, hermit crabs will find it enticing and delicious.
How Often Hermit Crabs Can Eat Orange
Keep orange feeding sessions to once a week. Hermit crabs grow bored of recently eaten food.
Alternatives To Oranges
Here are some other citrus fruits hermit crabs can eat:
- Lemon.
- Lime.
- Grapefruit.
- Papeda.
- Citron.
- Kumquat.
- Akamatsu.
How much hermit crabs gravitate toward alternatives to oranges depends on their preferences. Many hermit crabs dislike the sourness of lemon and lime but enjoy grapefruit.
Oranges are a favorite of hermit crabs in terms of taste, offering many health benefits. Ensure that your pet hermit crabs are given a wide variety of fruits, not just ones from the citrus family.
