Crayfish - Eggs

[sky-raptor]

just got an Australian Crayfish today and found out it had eggs. I did some research and it is about 2-20 weeks before the eggs hatch. Is there a way to find out how long the crayfish has had the eggs? Once the eggs are hatched and the babies can live on their own, I am going to remove the female crayfish and put it in a different tank. How long would the female crayfish live after all the eggs have been hatched?

 

[TCTFish]

It'd be best to take the adult out and leave the hatchlings by themselves once they do hatch. She might eat them otherwise.

I had an experience quite a few years ago with hatchling crayfish and let me tell ya...they do have a high mortality rate...and they are habitual in eating far too much...their bellies pop open, so keep feeds to an absolute minimum. The female crayfish will continue to live out her life span...what ever that happens to be. Good luck. I couldn't get even one to grow up. I kept finding their bellies popped open. Perhaps someone else here has had better luck....

 

[BrianNY]

IME I left the adult with the fry. They are cannibals and will eat each other. So, you would need alot of tanks to raise they hatchlings. If you get a few consider yourself lucky. The adult female will store sperm and have many broods.

 

[sky-raptor]

It'd be best to take the adult out and leave the hatchlings by themselves once they do hatch. She might eat them otherwise.

I had an experience quite a few years ago with hatchling crayfish and let me tell ya...they do have a high mortality rate...and they are habitual in eating far too much...their bellies pop open, so keep feeds to an absolute minimum. The female crayfish will continue to live out her life span...what ever that happens to be. Good luck. I couldn't get even one to grow up. I kept finding their bellies popped open. Perhaps someone else here has had better luck....

What is the normal life span? The one I got is pretty big and the LFS said that they will last forever.... How many more months or years should I expect to see the female crayfish to live?

 

[DeFeKt]

lol dunno where you got 2-20 weeks from
typically speaking, more like 21-40 days till hatching, you will see when and if they hatch, as they will stay connected under her tail until they are ready to let go. Remember that the eggs are sensative on these and a slight shock in location,temperature and water conditions and they may never hatch. you may need to remove them so she can breed again.
The female will continue to breed for the rest of her life much like a rabbit.
the aussie "crays" can live up to a human beings average lifespan.
depending which one you have, some get to over 18" long. some are also coldwater and some are tropical.
I have never heard of or seen their bellies pop open and have not seen them eating there young. admittedly I wasn't paying to much attention.
Is it black, brown or blue?
It will also have ridges running down it's head, how many are there??
Does it have fat and short claws, or long and skinny ones?
you do realised there are hundreds of different types ?
http://www.rbmaqua.com.au/afcp-list.shtml
hth

Matthew

 

[sky-raptor]

Is there a way to tell when the eggs are going to hatch, or if some of the eggs already hatched? There are about 10-20 small black lines/specs underneath the belly of the crayfish. Are those baby crayfish?

The crayfish is curling up her tail to protect the eggs and the eggs appear to be orange. She is also moving/shaking the eggs as well.

 

[DeFeKt]

sounds like they've started hatching. they will hatch and grow as just miniture crays but will still be attached under her tail for a few days to weeks.
They also have fins under the tail that they fan the eggs with much like a substrate spawner fans her eggs.
did you get a male and a female, or just one?
do you know how to sex them?

 

[sky-raptor]

Should I put some tiny flake food in the tank for the baby crays to eat, or would sinking pellets be ok?

I got a female from a LFS and found out later that it had eggs...

 

[DeFeKt]

pretty sure they feed off the eggs sacks for the first few days,
once they are free swimming they are probly one of the best scavengers you will find. So sinking pellets should be fine, as they soften they will find them no probs.

 

[sky-raptor]

Any pics of what the baby crayfish look like?

 

[DeFeKt]

not that I know of.
They just look like crayfish
but tiny.

 

[sky-raptor]

Last question, any tips / methods of what to do during the process of the egg hatching?

 

[DeFeKt]

not really,
she'll look after em till she's ready to let them go.
Then if you want to keep them, i'd seperate the mother incase she does decide to munch them.
I never really watched them closely, they were originally feed for my oscars but they missed a couple and the higher temperatures that entice them to breed did exactly that.
Bam, fry everywhere.

 

[sky-raptor]

Update, eggs are still attached to the crayfish. However, I noticed a slimy/blackish brownish "gel" coating surround the eggs. What is the "gel" for? Before, the eggs were just loosely hanging from the crayfish.

 

[DeFeKt]

probly gone bad. had a few like that, and they didn't hatch. not sure what to do about it though.

 

[sky-raptor]

Update ... looks like some of the eggs hatched. I think I am seeing a bunch of small white/clear baby crayfish hanging upside down on the body of the crayfish. I can see their tiny little black eyes on them.

 

[sky-raptor]

Another update ... the baby crayfish are on their own now!!! I decided to leave the mother in the same tank and will just wait and see if she decides to eat the babies. So far I have fed the babies shrimp pellets, is there any special care I should do?