found a crayfish on street

E

emmaS

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Nov 6, 2006
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Hi. I found a crayfish last night on the street in front of my home. I live in a developed area so I haven't a clue how it ended up on my street (in the street not sidewalk). I was planning on letting it back into the "wild" but not sure where. I also thought about buying a tank and setting it up. Maybe a ten gallon.

The crayfish looks a lot like a mini lobster--reddish with speckles of brown. It's about 5-6 inches in length.

If I put an aquarium together for it--what do I need? Also what type of food is best?

P.S. I found a tortoise in my front lawn last summer--I let it go but a week later it came back injured so I decided to keep it.
 
I feed crayfish to my SA Redtail in the warmer months. I decided to keep a few in the African cichlid tank to see what they would do. They've done an amazing job at keeping it clean. They are opportunistic scavengers and will eat anything they can find. The coolest thing, they will actually pick pieces of gravel up and clean them off individually. Personally, the crayfish are one of my favourite features in our tanks, very entertaining when they aren't hiding. They add a very natural flair to the tank too - having dug out under the rocks and slates, creating a very believably natural looking relief in the gravel.

As for setting one up in it's own tank, you need food and if you want to be nice, some shelter. You don't even need to keep the water level high - crayfish can live outside of water and need only moisture within their airways to facilitate the metabolization of oxygen.

On a side note, I'm hoping to find an Austrailian Murray Crayfish for sale at some point to add to my livestock - they are a freshwater crayfish that grows to a size comparable to a lobster!
 
Well I picked up a ten gallon this afternoon. I set up it up w/ rocks and gravel, put the filter on (with used insert). I let it run for a bit but then put the crayfish in--maybe I should've waited to cycle but since the other option was leave it in the tupperware, I decided the tank might be better for it. I bought some dried krill but it's floating at the top so I don't know if the crayfish will eat it.

Not sure if crayfish can swim. I put it in and it seemed to float to the bottom. The water level is high because the filter is a bio-wheel and it's loud if the tank isn't filled. I don't want to buy another filter. Can I not use a filter? That way I can lower the water level and set up some rocks so the crayfish can get out of the water (but not out of the tank).
 
Honestly, I think they prefer an aquatic environment, but can and will leave the water in search of food so setting up something where they can leave the water isn't important. As far as cycling the tank, I think they are pretty robust and can thrive in just about any livable environment.

Oh yeah - they don't "swim" perse, they do the defensive backpaddle with their tail. Just wait for the krill to become saturated and sink to the bottom. They'll eat it in any state. In the meantime, throw in anything edible that will sink and they'll eat it - and that's not an exaggeration - anything!
 
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be careful
keep the tank covered they can and will escape
i heared my dog barking and what was he barking at?... MY CRAYFISH, it got out of its tank, out of my room, and into the hallway.
 
5-6 inches is one huge crayfish. Are you sure it's not a lobster? Got away from someone's Sunday dinner?

I used to enjoy keeping crayfish in my native tanks. But one warning, they will eat anything. And that includes sleeping fish that it can catch. If it's small enough and slow enough to grab, the crayfish will eat it.
 
Would love to see photo. Can you take a picture?
 
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