Congratulations, so you have finally decided to get a crayfish as a pet! This is really great! They are definitely one of the most lovable pets and fun to watch, but you need to know more about it than just propelling it in the tank. They make excellent pets, also known as – crawdads, mud bags and craw fish. Taking care of them is quite easy and this is the reason which makes them one of the most prominent pets. Read further in order to know how to take care of them.
1. GET YOUR CRAYFISH :-
You can easily buy a crayfish from any pet store or a tropical fish store. If you want to buy a red – crayfish then it can cost you one to three dollars while a blue colored crayfish can even cost more than twenty dollars as they’re more high – end crayfish. If you want to have more options then you can also go through some websites in order to find more exotic and exceptional species, although they can cost you a 100 dollars.
2. HOUSING :-
They are considered as one of the least demanding pets which makes them convenient for adults as well as children. They need only easy and simple living conditions with air plumps and filters as compared to other semi – aquatic and aquatic or marine pets. However, if you want, then you can add extra elements in the tank. Generally, they require a tank which has a temperature of 21 -24 ° Celsius with a pH level of 7.0, which is neutral. A crayfish, usually, crave for at least six to eleven Gallons of water.
Also, it is not advisable to keep more than one crayfish in the same tank but if you do this, then you have to make sure there is sufficient place for both the craw-fishes in the tank. Also, you have to be sure that both of the crayfishes are of same variety or breed, else ways, they could kill each other. You should change water regularly, you should do this at least twice a week as they have lots of bio loads. So, you will have to make sure to have a dechlorinator when changing water.
3. MAKE TANK COMFORTABLE FOR YOUR CRAYFISH :-
You should create a good environment in the tank as they love to go into hiding, playing and hovel, and in order to make them comfortable. You can add things like plants, rocks, tipped over castle and PVC pipes. They love to crawl on the plants so you could buy fake plants, else ways, they will eat the real plants sooner. In order to make them feel truly safe, you can get gerbil pipes, any three – side containers or hollowed out rocks. Also, you need to know that they are more comfortable when its dark so you can minimize the light -exposure which the tank gets.
4. KEEP YOUR CRAYFISH FROM ESCAPING THEIR TANK :-
They love to examine new region and are absolutely good at running away. So you will have to make sure to have protected openings in the filter. You can use rubber bands, aluminium foil and tape in order to confine the opening of the filter from outside. If your crayfish escapes then, without water, it will dehydrate and thus, die, in just a couple of hours. So it is very important to be careful about this. So, if you’ve captured an escaping crayfish then you should make sure not to put them back directly into water as its gills need some time to get acclimated with water again, and you really do not want it to drown. You should just place it into a bucket which should have enough water in order to cover it fully. Now, you can add a rock in bucket in order to make it feel less assailable. After a full day, you can take the crayfish and hold it onto the surface of water, if he do well then you can put them back in the tank.
5. FEEDING :-
Crayfishes are omnivorous scroungers which feeds primarily on organic detritus, algae and plants. They eat shrimp pellets too, so you can plunk down some of them to its hiding place so that they can eat them. In vegetables, they can eat shelled peas, cabbage leaves, romaine lettuce etc. You can also fill them in with frosted foods like brine shrimp, blood worms, daphnia and frozen fishes. You can feed them cooked chicken as a treat, sometimes but not regularly.
You should fed them a small amount of foods daily, if you throw an excessive amount of food, erringly, then you must abolish the excess food, right away. If your water living friend stays soft for a longer period of time, that is, more than a day after decorticating then this could mean that the hardness or pH level of water in the tank is too low or your pet is not getting sufficient amount of calcium in its diet.
6. DISEASES :-
It is not a good idea to keep crayfishes from the different continents as there is a higher risk of spreading disease if they are kept in the same tank. Particularly, one disease poses a quite threat which is known as Crayfish Plaque and this carried by the North -American species of craw fish. Allegedly, American crayfishes have derived to indulge this fungus without any difficulty. But, it is still baleful to other types of crayfish which include crayfishes from Eurasia and Australia. White Spot disease is another one which can admonish other crayfishes. It affects the shrimps but it might be transferable to other crayfish if you fed them with the raw food made from the effected shrimp. If you determine to keep more than one species of crayfish in the same tank then you should make sure to keep them separate for at least one month before putting them in one aquarium. Crayfish diseases are very difficult to identify and also even more difficult to cure the disease.
