QuestionWe live in Hawaii and we found a dwarf zebra hermit crab and brought it home. We looked it up online and found out what it was and what it needs. we had it overnight in a container (uncovered) and some sand and water (spring water). it was fine this morning and we gave it more spring water and some nori ans dulse and we went down to the ocean to get sea water for it. I had to run several errands and when we came back with the sea water he was upside down and dead. Did the spring water kill it ? lack of salt water for too long ? got stuck upside down ? the temp and humidity here is already what it needs... though we did put it in a cooler spot earlier in the day and moved it out to warm up while we were gone. The temp was fine in the container when we returned home... We are very sad and never meant to kill anything and would like to understand what went wrong
Answera Zebra hermit crab is a marine hermit crab and while they can live for short periods of time out of the water they need a salt water aquarium setup with proper calcium, pH and oxygen. Not to mention salinity. They do not have the same care requirements as a land hermit crab. You should not bring home crabs from the beach because it is illegal as well.
