HCA: Hermit Crab Association

A friend of mine's parents brought her home a saltwater crab from the beach and she has no idea how to take care of it. I told her to come here but I doubt she has. I'll be seeing her on Monday, is there anything I can tell her to do to make the crab more comfortable? Right now she said it's in a a plastic container with it's seawater and some sand. She said something about food to, I think.......

Why did she take home a wild crab not knowing how to care for it?!

caring for marine hermits is not simple at all, to keep them healthy you need a fully set up marine aquarium with a pump, etc, and you need to monitor the various levels of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, etc. the best thing your friend can do is take the crab back to the beach, without a proper setup it WILL die within a couple of weeks. it might look alright and active now, but it wont be for long before he heads downhill. if its impossible to take him back, i recommend finding an aquarium store that will take him in. as it stands, it sounds like what your friend has right now is no where near to adequate for the marine hermit's health. personally, i have a fully setup marine aquarium and i STILL have problems keeping water quality good, its a hard job, and an expensive one, even the least expensive setup would be a couple hundred dollars, if she is seriously interested in them.

Caroline

Unfourtunately, it died.

That is what happens when somebody brings home a crab not knowing how to care for it.

i feel bad for it. marine hermies are very complicated so unless she'd of taken immediate action it would of died anyway.

poor little guy...rest in peace.

Caroline