Calling all crab experts; question here?

Question

i went fishing in fairfield CT shores and i got no fish. i was hopin for some bluefish but oh well.... anyways, i got a few crabs and i wanted to raise them as pets (stupid i know but small animals are the only pets i can have and these crabs are FREE :D hurray....). some guy told me to feed them meat, like pieces of raw chicken. they looked too small to eat meat. they're like 5 cm, exept for this abnormally large one that reaches over 7 cm. their shells (i only have five, dont worry i didnt take the whole beach full of them) are kind of soft, even the big guy's shell was soft. they bend a bit when you press them (didnt squeeze their guts out, and i wont). i have no clue of what they're supposed to eat. they're really small and is a dark seeweed green with specks on them. i got a few picks but they keep running so it might be blurry.

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Answer 1

I know you are young and don't really understand but taking any animal from it's habitat and keeping it as a pet is wrong.  Not only that but illegal.  You have broken the law.  Like most wild animals people take the ones you have stolen will probably die.  Please return them to the sea.

Leave the wild to the wild.

Answer 2

try feeding them shirmp or some sort of meat or even some sea weed

Answer 3

These crabs wont survive unless they are in proper tanks. they need the fresh sea water or they will die within two days.

The reason the shells are soft is they have shed their old shell to grow into a bigger one. the shell goes hard after a short while.

Answer 4

i believ they would eat sea weed if you are close to the shores then drop a little in there or break pieces of the raw chicken off to where they can eat it