Crayfish, crawdads, whatever you want to call them...... First would it be a bad idea to feed live, wild caught crawdads to rays? Second if it's not is there a means of QTing them so it would be OK? Or should this idea in whole be avoided like the plague cause the crawdads may be carrying the plague? I have fed these to my other fish with no ill results but I want your guys' opinions.........
Wild caught crays OK for rays?
- Thread starter DB junkie
- Start date
In my opinion, it depends....
Sometimes the live crayfish that one tends to find are not in the best condition and I think there is lots of evidence that points towards stress having an effect on the immune response- so maybe more risky to feed out if they are in bad shape. Often times, one worries most about parasites crossing over to animals that are closely related. In other words might be more risky to feed a live cray to another crustatean than it is to a fish. They could carry other 'problems' besides parasites though. You could quarantine the crayfish before you feed them out- month would be good, but even a week or two would be better than nothing. The really stressed or sick ones would probably die during that time. Crayfish males don't tend to be overly fond of each other though so that might present a challenge if you have limited space.
You could freeze the crayfish first, which will kill a lot of 'bugs', which brings me back to 'it depends'. What's your goal? If you just want to add another food item for variety perhaps you'd be better off buying frozen crayfish in the grocery store. On the other hand, if you want to give your ray the chance to 'hunt' and get some intellectual stimulation (which I think we tend to overlook for the most part but should probably consider more) the benefit of the live food might outweigh the potential risk... Of course, there are other things that you could do to make it more challenging for them to get their food, and perhaps cut down on boredom, but the more 'weapons in your arsenal' the easier it will be if 'enrichment' is your goal.
You could also culture the crayfish yourself if you have the space....
Sorry for the long answer!
Sometimes the live crayfish that one tends to find are not in the best condition and I think there is lots of evidence that points towards stress having an effect on the immune response- so maybe more risky to feed out if they are in bad shape. Often times, one worries most about parasites crossing over to animals that are closely related. In other words might be more risky to feed a live cray to another crustatean than it is to a fish. They could carry other 'problems' besides parasites though. You could quarantine the crayfish before you feed them out- month would be good, but even a week or two would be better than nothing. The really stressed or sick ones would probably die during that time. Crayfish males don't tend to be overly fond of each other though so that might present a challenge if you have limited space.
You could freeze the crayfish first, which will kill a lot of 'bugs', which brings me back to 'it depends'. What's your goal? If you just want to add another food item for variety perhaps you'd be better off buying frozen crayfish in the grocery store. On the other hand, if you want to give your ray the chance to 'hunt' and get some intellectual stimulation (which I think we tend to overlook for the most part but should probably consider more) the benefit of the live food might outweigh the potential risk... Of course, there are other things that you could do to make it more challenging for them to get their food, and perhaps cut down on boredom, but the more 'weapons in your arsenal' the easier it will be if 'enrichment' is your goal.
You could also culture the crayfish yourself if you have the space....
Sorry for the long answer!
epicentyr;2094062; said:I wonder who declaws them in the wild?
The declaw fairy?
Obviously they arent declawed in the wild but hey why risk injury?
Zoodiver;2094153; said:
Nowadays, ...that could happen. The northern hemisphere doesn't have a monopoly on invasive species.
A normal quarantine period would show you if the crays are safe. In any event, where would anyone find market/bait crays that are free from parasites? Even the crays we eat predominantly in the US (P. clarki, P. alleni, etc) are raised by flooding swamp tracts during the growth season. Indoor cultured crays can be cost prohibitive for feeding to fish and are usually species that are too large for most home aquarium fish to safely consume.