Crayfish questions, Australian Red Claw

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AggDoll591

Feeder Fish
Jun 26, 2013
2
0
0
Ontario, California
Hi! I'm new to this forum and I decided to sign up because I found it is difficult to find any information pertaining to crayfish as pets. Other then the basics, ie: they're escape artists, they eat anything, they like to hide...blah blah blah. I have some more in depth questions. Let me start with a few months ago a purchased a "blue lobster" from to LFS, I soon discovered that, what I thought was a typical blue crayfish for 8 bucks, was actually a female australian red claw cray. I know, she's going to grow to be quite the monster. Anyway, she SEEMS very healthy, she eats, she just molted about 2 weeks ago, she is very docile. She is in a 20 gallon tank with a few tetras, a dwarf gourami, and a few platys, and a small red crayfish. I know people say you shouldn't have 2 crayfish in such a small tank but they typically stay away from eachother. She is currently about 6-8 inches long... Now to my questions: She has this "white fuzz" on her claws and a little on her face, is this normal? A few people have said they've seen this on crays and it doesnt seem to bother them but I want to know what it is. Also, she has this strange habit of laying on her side, or even flat on her back. She looks dead but if you flash a light on her or tap the glass she gets right up as if she was sleeping? Is this normal? I really don't think she's ill because shes been doing it for a long time and is otherwise very healthy. She will also occasionally clamp her tail shut, is this a sign of illness? She only does it sometimes, so I'm not sure what to think.

Also, the other cray I have, he/she is maybe 3-4 inches long and I noticed it "scratching" itself, its whole body including its eyes. What does this mean??

Any thing will help, Thank you!
 
pics would certainly help id the white fuzz, id be nervous it could be a fungal infection especially if the other one is scratching. never seen a cray not sitting like normal, could be something wrong.
 
Hey AggDoll591,
I myself was worried when i first saw this white fuzz on the claws and face of my Australian Red claw male crayfish, i raised him from 2.5inches from the store and when he was full grown i started to notice this fuzz more and more, he actually seems to shed the stuff and grow it again, perhaps its a mating habbit? I'm not to sure myself, i do know however that its not unusual for your other crayfish to "scratch" itself. This is just the same of a cat cleaning itself, without cleaning their shell it can decay and even get infested with parasites! Your little girl looks healthy from your pics so try not to worry yourself, just keep an eye on her because i haven't heard of crayfish sleeping on their sides, i have noticed this behavior only when they are trying to molt. Hope i could be of some help. -Sean
 
Weird, looks like some type of fungus.
 
But since they seem to all have it and not be affected by it, i guess its normal.
 
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