What do I do??!

I recently bought a new sea urchin and he appears to have gotten himself wedged in a hole in my live rock...I dont believe he is able to back back out because his spines are preventing that...and the hole doesnt go all the way through the rock...he has been there for 2 days now...i tried to pull him out but that was unsuccessful..What do I do?? Should I pull the rock out and break it at the hole to free him? Please let me know I dont want it to die in the hole..

 

i'm sure if he got in he can get out when he's ready.

 

i think that he got in by his spined bending with his momentum into the hole...but once he got into the actual crevice he was able to expand again...but now he is like wedged..the opening is smaller than the crevice but the crevice is not large enough to let him move..

 

Unless the rocks shifted after he got in there I wouldn't worry about it. They can manipulate their spines so if it got in there it can probably got out. They do tend to hide in rocks. I would wait and see.

 

Never had one in a tank, but seen them in the ocean many times like that. It's what they do for defense. If they have to they can drop spines to get out. The whole idea is that they can get wedged in and nothing can pull them out unless they're good and ready to do it themselves.

 

first of all- what type of sea urchin? different types have different maneuvering capabilities when it comes to their spines. I've had my pincushion for several months and never hides away for more than a couple hours- it loves to be in full sight.