Blue escaped!!!!!!!!!!

[bigcol]

Hi guys, My Blue cray fish done the great escape on me, i dont know how long he was out of the water but i found him upside down underneath the cupboard which is in my garage as thats where my tanks are, anyway i got him back into the tank and he looked a little worse for ware, he seems to be ok now but i was wondering how long can they stay out of water before they croak it?

Just curious guys incase he attempts this again and he is out alot longer as im hardly ever in most days, like i said i dont really know how long he was out but he was really dry and the only think that was slightly wet was the spot where i found him lying. I think i was really lucky to find him there to be honest as i thought my RTC had ate him for supper.

I really dont know what made me look under that damn cupboard lol

 

[Yanbbrox]

What covers are on the tank Col?

Nice save BTW

 

[black_sun]

Depending on the crayfish, they can last any where from a few hours to upwards of a day (though I've only seen a few successfully make it back from 12+ hour point). But the longer they are out of the water, the less likely they are to bounce back.

It's also good to not just dump the crayfish back into the tank, as this can trap air over their gills causing them to drown in the tank. It's best to place them in a tupperware with the water about half way covering them, and then slowly adding more over them for the next hour or two. And then once fully submerged you can add them back to the tank without much fear of there being air trapped in their shell. Now, air doesn't always get trapped so don't worry about it too much (I used to just dump mine back in before someone passed that along to me, never had an issue luckily). It's just one of those "For future reference/better safe than sorry" things, you know?

You might want to consider cray-proofing your tank for future use. Tight fitting lids, moving filters, air lines, etc out of the cray's reach so it can't climb up them and out of the tank, etc. I've given up with my tanks and put custom made chicken-wire tops over them, haha. ^_^

 

[Bottomfeeder]

black_sun seriously you should mod this forum

 

[Pyramid_Party]

When I was like 9/10 yrs old I had 2 crays. And one day I came home form school and found one of them in the bathroom and he was all dirty. It really suprised me cause I had no idea why and how he got out. I put him back in, but he kept trying to get out. Something must have worked because after a few tries he didnt do it anymore.

I dont know how long he was out but he was still a little wet but he was all dirty.

 

[kog]

why do they want to get out?

 

[Finalfire9]

They always escape just get used to it.

 

[black_sun]

why do they want to get out?

Different reasons.

You can use them as an indicator species in your tanks. When something starts to go wrong with the water, they're usually the first to start behaving abnormally (trying to escape being one of the behaviors).

Sometimes the tanks aren't large enough for the number of crays or the species (some don't socialize well, some have larger natural terfs, etc). And they're trying to get away from tankmates or find new territories.

Sometimes they're searching for mates or different food.

It's an ongoing list of reason and possible reasons. Finalfire9's got the right statement for them... "just get used to it" lol

 

[black_sun]

black_sun seriously you should mod this forum

What? And usurp Lupin? That's blasphemy, I say!
(...if anyone's going to usurp Lupin it should be Yabbadoo lol )

 

[Yabbadoo]

What? And usurp Lupin? That's blasphemy, I say!
(...if anyone's going to usurp Lupin it should be Yabbadoo lol )

LOL.....
Somehow, I'd end up deleting everything & causing an outrage!
Anyways......I call on Lupin for help most of the time.

One of my crays escaped & I didn't find for about 24hrs. She was tucked up inside an exercise machine cover.
Only movement was a slight opening & closing of her nippers,very dried out. Tail was tightly curled & all ceased up.

So much so that when I put her into a bucket of water she floated like a cork!!! Full of air she just bobbed up n down...
The only way I could get her to fill up & sink was to turn her upside down. All the bubbles came out & down she went...

She was pretty crook for another day or 2 but going good now.
In with Big Daddy breeding.....lol

If it's raining or you have high humidity, they'll last a lot longer out of water.
High temps are bad & if you have carpet or they find their way into a pile of your dirty clothes, that'll suck the water out of them quickly aswell.