Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Pics will follow when I get home later... figured I'd try to explain this first:

My crayfish lost both of his large claws! At first, i thought he had moulted... but after a close look at him last nite, it's definitely not a moult. I can't imagine why this occured. He has no competitors in the tank.
Has anyone ever heard of this happening? Also, he has been munching on his detached claws for the past couple of days. I've left them in there on the same logic it's supposed to be ok to keep moulted shell in there for them to eat for the calcium.

Here's the background info:
I've had my crayfish for over a year and it's in a 10 gallon tank with feeder guppies, 2 ottos and SAE. He's prolly stopped moulting about 6 months ago, so I think it may be fully grown. Diet wise, he scavenges for whatever the fish dont' eat... I drop in some of those so called specially made crab pellets a couple of times a week.
The tank has driftwoord, 2 rock decorations (places for him to hide), stuck in a bunch of Anacharis which he just happened to uproot most of it after this de-clawing incident.

Anyone have any clue on this? Thanks.

Yes I have seen this before. It is usually caused by a dietary issue. You say you are feeding it a couple times per week. This may not be enough. I usually recommend for a full grown cray 4-5"+ 2 shrimp pellets per day & then every other day or so give them some veggies. All crays are primarily plant eaters & with diets of strictly meat based foods they get sick. I found most of the commercial crab & "lobster" foods to be lacking in many ways & to be high in ash which fouls your tank.

Stick with the simple cheap foods. Shrimp pellets, veggies. They LOVE frozen peas, potatoes, beans.

Glad I read this. I keep forgetting to feed mine peas.

Peas are great. They are cheap & your crays will love you for it.

Thx for the info Canadian! What u said makes a lot of sense cause it seems my crayfish has been on a tear... eating my anacharis plants and I think he totally ate all of the snails I had too! So I would guess his natural instincts are kicking in for him to "fatten" up and really eat so he can grow back those large claws soon. For this past year as long as I've had him, he's been more passive than aggresive.

Anyway, as promised.... here's a pic of our "Crabby" as he lost his large claws a couple of weeks ago.... perhaps some1 can identify what type of crayfish he is:

Looks like a procambarus species. I would need a picture from the top to get a better idea. There is no way to ID it for sure without looking at a Form 1 males gonopods.