They were collecting shells and had no idea that this little guy was tucked away, very far back into his home.
They needed to find a home for it right away so I told them I would take it and foster it until a permanent solution could be found.
He came in a kritter keeper full of calci sand.
I gave him a bath to get all of the yellow sand off of him.
I asked the DFW Marine Aquarium Society for help. One of their admins told me to get some live rock, Instant Ocean and Prime, and that would be sufficient until I could get him to a cycled marine tank.
They cannot live with other fish from what saltwater enthusiasts have told me as they are aggressive and will eat other animals in the tank.
We had a spare 5 gallon and pump, and my friend bought a heater and the sand. We had plenty of shells and chunks of coral that were collected from beaches (came with adoptions).
He changed shells and he does not understand the glass walls. He wants to go explore the ocean.
Aaaaand...there he goes...
I replaced the hood with a screened lid for now and will fix the hood so he can't get out.
Please don't collect shells from beaches. Just don't do it.
Had I not had almost everything here already to set this temporary home up, it would have cost over $100 for everything easily.
Wild animals need to be left in the wild. I know it was an accident and I know the people felt so bad about what happened.
Shells should stay on the beach as well. Take pictures of your amazing finds and leave them on the shore.
This has been a PSA from Soilentgringa. Signing out!
