My Crayfish Molted Yesterday

[Prairie Mom]

Crayfish make awesome pets! Kids love them. Their appearance changes with each molt. They're super hardy and surprisingly interactive. It's great fun to watch them scurry, dig, build gravel hills, and rearrange their tank to their own preference.

His molting has slowed down a bit. The first year, he molted every month. The beginning of the second year, he was molting every other month. Now, here we are nearing the end of his second year/beginning of the third and he just went over three months between molts.

close up of his empty shell


Love how big his claws are getting and the red accents are getting even brighter. He is also getting a bit spikier the older he gets.


I pulled out his intact empty exoskeleton, so the kids could check it out. They are such fun pets! One of his antenna had broken a tiny bit at the end, but has grown complete and is back to normal with his latest molt.


The empty eye-holes are always a bit weird, creepy, and fun


His escape hatch! He begins the molting process days before he escapes from the back of his shell. He will not eat for several days and can regularly be seen doing extra grooming and strange wiggly and stretching movements like someone who's stuck in a sweater that's too tight.


The under side of his empty exoskeleton. The claw came off when I turned it over and one of my kids SCREAMED and they all laughed together at the weird creature.

*After checking out his "shell," I put it right back in his tank. Right now, his new exoskeleton is still soft and will harden over the next few days. I have stopped feeding him, because over the next 4-7 days he will eat his old shell as a way of replacing his lost calcium. It's pretty demented and fun seeing him gnaw on his old body.

 

[Yvonne G]

What a great learning experience for your kids. Thanks for sharing those pictures.

Years ago my husband used to do a lot of fishing. I had three young kids, so I was relegated to sitting on the bank and bait fishing for cat fish, while he walked and waded around the pond casting his lures for bass. I almost always was able to catch a 'crawdad' or two. I brought one home and put it in our tropical fish aquarium once and she had babies. It was amazing how they all hung out under her tail. She died soon after that, and the babies, one by one, ate each other. Not a fun experience.

 

[bouaboua]

Very interesting post. I never know that they molt that way. How big they will get? How long can they live?

 

[Heather H]

ok i want one. what do they eat? please don't tell me they have to eat live things I can't do that. What temps does the tank need to be? how big. Ok tell me all thanks

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

cool.

 

[ascott]

ok i want one. what do they eat? please don't tell me they have to eat live things I can't do that. What temps does the tank need to be? how big. Ok tell me all thanks

Ok...won't tell then....

 

[Heather H]

Ok...won't tell then....

Dang .... I cant do live feeds. thought this would be a great Easter gift for my son

 

[ascott]

Dang .... I cant do live feeds. thought this would be a great Easter gift for my son

Just drop and run....let the critter do what it does and you do not have to watch it?????

 

[dmmj]

I had one as a kid, lived 10 years, ate goldfish. Make a great starter pet to start teaching some responsibility, and they don't die in 2 years like hamsters.

 

[dmmj]

I don"t know, if you can't do live feeds, finding floating fish heads, could be unsettling. Mine never ate the heads for some reason.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

They are opportunistic feeders. They will grab live guppies, but they will also eat food dropped into the tank like shrimp and beef heart. I've got some in my fish ponds that hang out by the filters. I feed them shrimp pellets.
What do you feed your guy, Prairie Mom? I've also never seen the red patches on the side of the claw. (I'm only familiar with our South Eastern variety) That's a nice looking "Crawdad".
Do yours ever climb out of the tank? That was always an issue when I kept them in fish tanks.

 

[stojanovski92113]

I don"t know, if you can't do live feeds, finding floating fish heads, could be unsettling. Mine never ate the heads for some reason.

Haha you guys are cracking me up this morning!!!

 

[stojanovski92113]

Thanks for sharing! Molting is cool!! I loved when my tarantulas would molt, they were so vibrant and beautiful! What a good pet to have!! My mother in law brought home a huge crayfish from Lake Huron (Boy did my husband get on her about that) and she put him in our tank with the pirahna (I was upset) but anyways.....that crayfish was GONE!!! But there were no aftermath pieces of the crayfish being eaten, he was big! Seriously....about a year later, my mother in law found that crayfish in our pantry dead!!!!!! There was never a smell or anything. He was behind boxes and old pots and pans on the floor. He probably escaped from the opening on top of the tank and climbed town the wires of the tank as soon as he went in the tank. Her intention was to never kill the crayfish, but merely have him. Well my husband and I had to have the talk with her about leaving animals in there environment & to never do that again!! Poor fella!

 

[Heather H]

I can't do live feed because one of my kids is a super sensitive like his mommy. He loves to buy feeder fish.
But to keep as a pet. He had one for 8 years . The thing got so huge. If I found a fish head in the enclosure I would cry. @Prairie Mom what do you feed him?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Thanks for sharing! Molting is cool!! I loved when my tarantulas would molt, they were so vibrant and beautiful! What a good pet to have!! My mother in law brought home a huge crayfish from Lake Huron (Boy did my husband get on her about that) and she put him in our tank with the pirahna (I was upset) but anyways.....that crayfish was GONE!!! But there were no aftermath pieces of the crayfish being eaten, he was big! Seriously....about a year later, my mother in law found that crayfish in our pantry dead!!!!!! There was never a smell or anything. He was behind boxes and old pots and pans on the floor. He probably escaped from the opening on top of the tank and climbed town the wires of the tank as soon as he went in the tank. Her intention was to never kill the crayfish, but merely have him. Well my husband and I had to have the talk with her about leaving animals in there environment & to never do that again!! Poor fella!

Yep. Mine crawled out too. It will scare the crap out of you at 3 A.M.

 

[Jacqui]

Very interesting. I have never had one. The crawling out reminds me of my newt when I was a kid. Search every where for the darn thing. Finally found it months later on top of an abandoned mitten near the tank.

 

[Prairie Mom]

What a great learning experience for your kids. Thanks for sharing those pictures.

Years ago my husband used to do a lot of fishing. I had three young kids, so I was relegated to sitting on the bank and bait fishing for cat fish, while he walked and waded around the pond casting his lures for bass. I almost always was able to catch a 'crawdad' or two. I brought one home and put it in our tropical fish aquarium once and she had babies. It was amazing how they all hung out under her tail. She died soon after that, and the babies, one by one, ate each other. Not a fun experience.

I love hearing your stories, Yvonne---even if they end in tragedy!!!

 

[Prairie Mom]

I can't do live feed because one of my kids is a super sensitive like his mommy. He loves to buy feeder fish.
But to keep as a pet. He had one for 8 years . The thing got so huge. If I found a fish head in the enclosure I would cry. @Prairie Mom what do you feed him?

My kids are ULTRA sensitive as well. My understanding is that they do best on a diet of vegetables (my guy likes defrosted frozen peas & broccoli quite a bit), occasional sinking pellet fish food, and algae wafers. My guy is really really healthy and growing great. So, this diet works great for him. I keep him in his own tank, because it's true that they will try to nab fish. ALSO--these guys have soft shells when they first come out of a molt and other fish will think they are a delicious meal during that time.

 

[Heather H]

My kids are ULTRA sensitive as well. My understanding is that they do best on a diet of vegetables (my guy likes defrosted frozen peas & broccoli quite a bit), occasional sinking pellet fish food, and algae wafers. My guy is really really healthy and growing great. So, this diet works great for him. I keep him in his own tank, because it's true that they will try to nab fish. ALSO--these guys have soft shells when they first come out of a molt and other fish will think they are a delicious meal during that time.

Thank you

 

[Prairie Mom]

Very interesting post. I never know that they molt that way. How big they will get? How long can they live?

Hi Steven There are several kinds of crayfish. I'm not an expert, so please second guess me... My understanding is that there are North American crayfish and Australian Yabbies. Australian Yabbies are the huge kind of crayfish that restaurants will sometimes serve instead of lobster. -These guys can live ages and get over a foot long.

I have a fancy bred variety of a North American Crayfish. Pet stores now sell all kinds of interesting colored breeds of these guys. Have a look at this page: http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/misc_critters/crayfish.htm Mine is the Coral Pink variety and he was purchased at the WALMART FISH DEPARTMENT I have not found clear answers on their lifespan. A few places said 1 or 2 years, but I think they assume people will not take care of them. My guy is approaching three with no sign of illness or slowing down. I expect him to live a lot longer. They live in unheated freshwater tanks and I recommend housing them alone. They are "dirty" just like goldfish, so you'll need regular water changes. I highly recommend them. They're a lot of fun and really tolerant.