Thinstripe Hermit Crabs found on Hilton Head Beach in South Carolina …. HELP PLEASE?
ByI found a whelk about four days ago on vacation, but put it in the ocean because it had a snail inside of it (the whelk). My mom was so angry that she guilt-tripped my boyfriend and I for the last three days of vacation, pressuring us to go seashell hunting with her each night and morning (I am ran down and tired!)
This morning, right before we left, we found two whelk shells on the beach (in the sand) that had hermit crabs inside of them. Because we are dumb*****, we decide to take them home in order to appease my mother. Plus, we figure, What they hey? Hermit crabs are easy pets, we will treat them well, and when they upgrade their shells my mom can have her whelk shells.
Now that I am home (twelve hours from the beach on which I found them) and have access to my computer, I have a sick feeling in my stomach because I do not think they are regular land hermits. In fact, I think that they are a marine hermit called “Thinstripe Hermit.”
I cannot return these guys to the ocean at this point (I wish I could and would if I could), but I am not willing to let them die a slow and painful death because of my stupidity. I need to know how to care for them. I cannot get to the pet store until tomorrow. Right now they have a sponge soaked in water to drink from and food to eat. How long can these guys survive out of the ocean? What can I do to make a good habitat for them? Please, please help!
This is what they look like: http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=121470&stc=1&d=1142185238
3 Comments
March 7th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
First of all why is this in the fish section?
On the subject of the crab you should get a 10 gallon aquarium, sand and aquarium sea salt. Make the sand higher on one side of the tank than the other then pour water in the low side and add salt. OR get 10 gallon and make yourself a salt water aquarium with fish and corals
March 7th, 2010 at 10:22 pm
It is in the fish section because ” marine Hermits ” are kept in aquariums and fish is the best place since there is not a “Hermit crab”, “Invertabrate” or ” Arthropod” section .
Take them to a store that specializes in marine aquariums.
You need a proper salt water aquarium that has cycled at least a month and tested with in acceptable water conditions before it can host sealife, until them the high amonia levels will kill all animals but the hardy damsel fish.It will need a proper filtration system, temprature, and the right salt content.
the hermit crabs that You found were trapped by the tide going out, they can only be out of water a short time, which is the time it takes for the tide to go out then come back in to cover them once again.
Hermits are scavengers that eat waste, dead sea animals, organic plant matter and things like that. They need to go back where they came from or they will soon die.
Some areas the harvesting of sea life from tide pools is illegal or you will need a general shell fish harvesting permit , but that is only good for certian shell fish, know your regulations before taking sea life from the comfort of their enviroments.
They cannot due to the differience in their bodily functions live in fresh water, they will swell up by the intake of fresh water through osmosis, because their are no salt particles in fresh water
March 7th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
If they are indeed marine hermits you need to give them to a pet store that has a marine aquarium set up. Marine hermits are very hard to take care of, they need a established saltwater aquarium to live in. Established means it’s been up for a while and I assume you haven’t got one of those in your house. Their ONLY chance of survival is in a pet store aquarium. They will die soon if they aren’t got to one.