De-clawing Crays: Tank Management or Plain Ole' Torture?

[Manny Stiles]

Crayfish are an invasive species and have been the primary cause to the extinction to dozens of native species throughout North America.

Crayfish are also illegal to keep alive in my current state of residence for that very reason.



Sorry that I am intelligent enough to separate my emotions from logic. The creature was destined for execution one way or another - read the whole thread. Forgive me for being selfish enough to not waste "food".

I happen to LOVE shellfish and we're talking about an inch of tailmeat here. Even the leftover parts were ground up and went into my compost pile. I look forward to the next time I eat crayfish and I also look forward to moving and getting my tank set up so I can enjoy maintaining a healthy aquarium based on common sense, education and applicable knowledge and not emotional desires and needs.


To compare this example to other animals such as dogs or any other non-crustacean is irresponsible - and a leap of failed comprehension of this situation.



Besides, Pinchy would have wanted it this way.

 

[Manny Stiles]

Thanks to everyone who read and understood, pondered, wondered or just scratched their head at my "experiment" and didn't feel the need to condemn me.

Perhaps the title was wrong from the beginning, but I really did learn a lot. This is one kick-ass forum for any conversation of the aquarian realm not just Pro-Monsterfish and Megatank Enthusiasts, that's for sure. Thanks for those who PM'd me with suppodrt for my freedom of expression and to the rest of you who appreciate free expression even if you don't agree with my motives or methods.

It simply came down to one simple thing - I questioned what would happen and couldn't find any answers anywhere on the 'net. Now the next person who wonders and finds this can proceed with caution of the backlash...

SPECIAL THANKS to the people who PM'd me with recipes and cooking tips!!! I will use most of what I learned here in the future, for sure!

To anyone who thinks I am some kind of cray-hating monster - I am not. I have raised several varieties of Cherax and a wide variety of North American crays. I donated a huge 9 inch Blue Yabbie that I absolutely loved to a man whose son was left essentially brain dead after a car accident but during his recovery he was responding slightly to blue colored fish in the hospital's aquarium. A group of people donated funding to get a 300 gallon acryllic tank set up in his bedroom and after hearing the story I gave him my big beautiful blue Yabbie and a couple blue African cichlids.






I won't respond to this particular thread anymore but I will answer private messages as always.

 

[deadrockstars]

this post has bothered me for awhile. he said he did this for a simply lack of knowledge (i'm sure he encounters this quite a bit) and he was doing this in preparation for a future crawfish breeding/aquaculture project. he claimed he needed to know what to do, couldnt find the info and did his own experiment and promptly promoted cruelty to animals.
So I was at the grocery store the other day, in the seafood section. They had fresh crawfish. WITH ALL THE CLAWS INTACT. Somehow professional crawfish farms have been doing this highly successfully for years, and there was proof. Hundreds of specimens, all with claws.
This has nothing to do with bleeding heart sentiments of a rainbow filled world of rose smelling farts. It's about upholding the responsible we have to these animals that are in our care. If you have head of cattle that are a day away from slaughter, that doesnt mean you can rip off their ears. A touch of common sense could have answered SFB's question, but instead he harmed an animal in his care. I dont care if he was eventually going to eat it. So what? It's about responsiblity, plain and simple.

 

[le patron]

it should be fine to remove its claws. thats what i did with mine when it killed 3 of my serpae tetras and he was fine. few months later he was eaten by the bass

 

[Acer]

The fact that the crayfish is an invasive species doesn't justify torturing it.

Obviously you knew that what you were doing would be tantamount to torture (see title of thread), but you wanted to see what people thought about it. It is a fish website, what did you expect?

I think it is sick to do something like that and try to justify it to yourself, but there are plenty of people that do things like that (and far worse), so no point in getting too upset.

It doesn't matter that it was a crustacean or not. You caused completely unnecessary pain and then killed it afterward. Congrats.

 

[Oddball]

time for this repetitive round-robin to close.