Emergency- Florida Fighting Conch? (Strombus alatus)

[w h a l e b o n e]

Ok guys, I have no idea what to do but I know some of you guys on here are also marine hobbyists. My parents just got back from Clearwater Beach, Florida and they accidentally brought home a live conch and they feel bad because they thought they checked all the shells. I currently have it in a Tupperware with Instant Ocean SW because I already had som for my HC but I don't know what to feed it or what a good temporary solution is. If anyone has any helpful tips, let me know. We are currently offering it to the local aquarium, but we don't have a definite answer. We're also going to put up an ad on Craigslist to see if there are any local marine hobbyists who are willing to take it.

That being said, if there is anyone near the Tulsa, Oklahoma area or willing to drive it's free lol, however, I'd have to check with my parents for a definite OK about that.

So yeah, that happened. It currently looks like it is thriving and is a real survivor. It survived a whole airplane trip and the whole time it had no water to breathe or anything. Like I said though I don't know what to feed it and worst case scenario I have to rear yet another critter. The problem is I know nothing about cycling tanks and all that jazz, my only experience with aquatic stuff is a couple of guppies and stuff when I was a kid and they all eventually died. :/

[wodesorel]

Hey, whalebone. How are things going, were you able to find someone to help? I think you're doing everything you can to try and help him, unfortunately these things happen sometimes. I'm just hoping someone local was able to take him for you. Did you try the pet shops that have salt water fish in your area? Some people run side jobs cleaning aquariums, they might know of a salt water keeper who could help as well.

[w h a l e b o n e]

Unfortunately not anytime soon. We do know some people that are moving there in July who could bring it back and release it. So far it's doing alright, but I'm not sure if it'll last that long. We have been trying to contact pet shops to see if they'll take it, but I didn't think about trying that specifically. Unfortunately a lot of people get it mixed up with this other specie that's a snail predator but I've double checked and I'm pretty confident it's not that one. Thanks for checking up

[w h a l e b o n e]

Update: the conch is dead. I did the best I could for him. Hopefully he lived a good long life in the wild.

[wodesorel]

Aw man, I am so sorry.

[w h a l e b o n e]

It's okay, it was bound to happen. In a way I am relieved because it would have been a lot of stress to keep it alive but I am sorry for the conch that he was in such a bad situation. Just when I was getting attached, too. He had the cutest little eyestalks and proboscis. The eyes were really pretty, too, a sort of blue around the edges. The moral of the story is check your shells thoroughly before you take them home.