One of the most popular searches that brings people to Naturally Crabby is a variation on "how do I take care of my crab that I brought home from the beach." Now there are two possibilities here. 1. Someone purchased a hermit crab at a boardwalk tourist trap and is looking for basic care information (believe it or not this is the better option of the two). or 2. Someone picked a hermit crab up off of the beach and took it home.

I can completely understand how tempting it might be to take that little fellow who you've been interacting with all afternoon home to live with you. He is cute, quirky, and very very active. There are a couple of major problems though. The first problem is that harvesting hermit crabs (even one) is illegal. You must have a special permit to harvest them. This allows the USDA to keep track of their numbers so that the ecosystem does not become unbalanced. You might say that one crab doesn't make a difference, but imagine 1000 more people thinking the same way that you do. Put that crab back!

The other reason that bringing home that beach crab is a problem is because the odds are overwhelmingly against that crab being a Land Hermit Crab. In North America, Land Hermit Crabs are confined to a very few specific locations. So what are you finding out walking about on the beach during your vacation? Why Marine Hermit Crabs of course! They are notorious for scurrying around in the tide pools looking for food.

Below is a picture of a marine hermit crab, look at the differences between this one and the land hermit crab at the top of the page. The eyes are a big give away, as are the lack of a big pincher!

Here's why bringing home marine hermit crabs is a huge problem. Marine Hermit Crabs MUST live completely underwater in a fully cycled salter water aquarium complete with live rock. They will absolutely die if they do not have this setup. What's worse is that they will die a slow suffocating death as their gills will allow them to live for several days but they just aren't efficient enough at processing air to work much longer than a few days.

So let's say, hypothetically, that you already brought one home. What do you do? First choice is to take it back to the beach ASAP. And by beach I mean the ocean beach where you found it, a body of fresh water won't work. If you are too far from the beach you only have a few other options. You must work fast, because time is running out.

First determine whether or not you are willing to fork over the money required to set up a salt water system for these little guys. If not move on to step two.

Step two, get on the phone, start calling mom and pop, locally owned pet stores that have salt water fish tanks. Explain that you accidentally brought a marine hermit crab home from the beach and have nowhere for it to go. Large pet chains rarely will agree to take them because technically it is illegal, although you can try. The smaller stores are more likely to take pity on the poor thing.

If everyone says no, start calling schools and universities and ask if they have a biology department, talk to anyone that might know if they keep tanks and what kind. You must not wait to do this. You can prolong his life a little by offering dechlorinated salt water with a bubbler in it. But it is not a permanent solution.

In the end, the best thing you can do is just to leave the hermit crab on the beach where you found him. Take some good pictures to remember your trip and if you really want a new hermit crab, adopt one when you get home.