Cousin brought me 2 lobsters .. need help

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owl

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Jul 8, 2008
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Hi , today my cousin brought me two 2" freshwater crayfishes as gift ! ( i think they r red lobsters as liveaquaria.com said !(but they r brown !) )
i read they r peaceful so i can keepem in my community tank yeah ?
one of them s abit bigger than the other one but unfortunately he lost one of his claws :( ( i donno how ) is he goin to survive ?
i put them'm in qt and add some antiseptic for a while , as soon as i put them in the tank they start explorin around , i tried to feed them with small dried shrimp attached to a giant nail i have , one of them at first afraid of that but after a few secs he catch it and start to eat it ! but the other one ( the one with one claw ) didn t eat it , he just push over the nail when i was tryin to put the shrimp near him so he can see it !
so what do u think ? what should i feed them ?
any special care should i do for the one claw one ?
 
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If they are "red lobsters" they're Procambarus clarkii (which can come in an array of colors), which can be kept in small groups together provided you give them lots of space, hiding spots and food. They will occasionally fight over territory and food (especially if they're both males, but you'd need to sex your crays first before you worry about that), but it shouldn't be anything too serious. In my experience, I wouldn't put P. clarkii with any fish you don't want eaten... they are very good at catching fish and enjoy it as a meal often (mine demolish any fish I put in their tanks, but I do it intentionally - feeders).

As for the claws, as long as a lot of tissue wasn't removed when the claw was lost it'll be fine. If it was a clean break he should have a new claw in 2-3 molts. If it wasn't a clean break, he'll need to throw up the remaining injured claw in the next molt before it'll start to regenerate.

Crayfish are opportunistic scavengers and will eat just about anything in your tank that you feed them. If you want to be nice you can try experimenting with different veggies to see what they like and different kinds of pellet foods. My crays eat shrimp tails (don't feed shrimp raw to your crayfish ever), assorted veggies, hikari sinking pellets, Spirulina pellets (or anything with Spirulina in it) are excellent for them.

If you want good information (or an ID on your crayfish) for crayfish care you should check out crayfishmates.com & bluecrayfish.com in addition to what the crayfish owners here have to offer. Between the three forums, you'll be set. ^_^
 
I took care of the crayfish in my old college bio lab for a while. I'm not sure what the exact species was, but they were not something I would ever want near my fish. absolutely vicious.
 
They are pretty cool to have but they can go after your fish so its better to keep them by themselves. Also make sure you keep plenty of space for them if you have more than 1. Also make sure you cover the top of you tank cause they will climb out. You can feed them shrimp pellets but they will eat just about anything. Good luck!
 
If a cray can catch it, he will eat it.
I wouldnt put them in a community tank. One of the LFS here put some crays i their feeder tank, and they killed most of the feeders.

I'd melt some butter...
 
Not Mr. Pinchy! :'(
 
thnkx for replies , so far i didn t notice any attack from them , one of them is so peaceful and stays one side of the tank , the other one (the one clawny !) always movin , climbin and explore everything and everyone with his antennas ! i once saw him eating the roots of my plants that came out of gravel ...
i took out the rocks last time i evacuated the tank , i ll putem back , cuz i think they r both male , they both have big claws ...
 
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