Cambarellus patzcuarensis -- why so expensive?

[eraserbones]

I've been thinking about getting some orange crayfish for my (fish-free) planted tank. At the moment I'm feeling flush enough to buy a pair or two, but the price gives me pause nonetheless. Are they so expensive only because they're new to the US? Or is it because they're extremely fragile and/or hard to raise? Has anyone here bought some and gone on to regret it?

[CanadianCray]

The one & only reason they are expensive is supply & demand.

[eraserbones]

Of which half is 'supply'. Why is the supply limited? For instance, Mustafa seems to be cranking out an abundance of shufeldtii crays, and they're widely available in other locations as well. Not so with patzcuarensis -- there must be a reason. Less prolific?

[Mustafa]

Of which half is 'supply'. Why is the supply limited? For instance, Mustafa seems to be cranking out an abundance of shufeldtii crays, and they're widely available in other locations as well. Not so with patzcuarensis -- there must be a reason. Less prolific?

It's really just a supply problem. I just don't have any orange crays to crank out right now. In other words, if I don't have any adults I can't produce any young. I lost my population last year due to some very unfortunate circumstances and I am waiting for a chance to acquire more of these crays. As this species is not wild-caught/imported the whole supply has to come from breeders. There is not a single serious breeder of these crays in the US. Yes, there are some hobbyists who had success here and there, but they are just hubbyists and cannot supply the whole US invertebrate market. In Germany, in contrast, there are tons of breeders of these crays. But even there you won't usually see them in pet stores but need to order them online from various breeders or purchase them at aquarium club meetings.

Trust me, once I have a breeding population of these crays again and enough offspring I will offer them to the public and the price *will* go down over time at that point. Until then prices won't budge....limited supply. That's really it.

By the way, even with the C. shufeldtii's I am the only breeder out there that actually offers *captive bred* animals for sale to the general public. *Every* other person you see, be it on auction websites or other sites is either from the south and catches the crays from the wild, or is a person who purchases these crays from those people in the south that catch them. So, even the C. shufeldtii are not established in our still young hobby in the US. So, the situation is really not all that different for these two species, it's just that the orange crays cannot be caught in the wild.

[DanHagan]

I am working on cranking them out! I have a breeding colony slowly growing! The key word is slowly. These crays are in no hurry when it comes to breeding. The females, after breeding, can hold onto the sperm packet for how ever long they want. I have had the females produce eggs two days after breeding, and 4 months. So yes, the supply is limited. To have the ability to handle demand, one would need 10-20 babies a month, and right now I am not there!