HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi all! I'm planning on adopting some hermit crabs soon. I live very close to the Puget Sound and i was wondering if it would be safe to bring some things from the ocean for my crabs to eat!
things like:
-seaweed
-kelp
-moss
I also have a separate question about bringing fish or other crabs home. I see lots of dead crabs on the beach and occasionally I go fishing. Is it safe to feed either of those things to hermit crabs? And what would i need to do to sanitize anything id be bringing back?

I wouldn’t bring anything from the ocean because you have no way to determine if it’s polluted, whether any parasitic organisms are in the decaying fish/crabs, and putting outside contaminants in the tank can cause issues with bacteria.


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would boiling/baking/freezing not help with those factors?

Not with pollutants. Arsenic, mercury, microplastics, and other pollutants are there for good.


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Gotcha. Thanks for the info!