[Sylverclaws]

I got a marbled blue self-cloning crayfish about two weeks ago or so. She's cute. Real sweet critter.

I never see her. LOL She comes out to get food, obviously, I often see something sticking out from her spot under the orange pot in the morning. She drags java moss and plants under there too. I tried to put it back after a clean, but I failed. Hope she isn't too mad, it was dirty under there. She seems to eat, sleep and poop there. x.x She hasn't shed yet, to my knowledge.
I was worried about her so I moved her hiding place when I cleaned, needed to anyways, and she came out to say hello. Grabbed photos while I could. You can see she does that thing with her tail, it's worrying me.

The blue...she looks like she may be getting some, but from what I read it depends more on feeding than genes. Guess we'll see, I don't really care since I like her fine as she is.

She is, however, holding her tail under her a bit, and that worries me...usually means some kind of issue. Anyone know what may be the problem? I've had the occasional ghost shrimp do that and die later. x.x She otherwise looks ok though. She's only about 3 inches long now, still a baby.

Isn't she pretty? I haven't named her yet, any suggestions? =)

 

[henningc]

Those are eggs under her tail and she will be like that for a few weeks. When they hatch they will sworm her. Good luck and congrats

 

[Sylverclaws]

Wait...WHAT? She is a baby!!! I wasn't expecting babies for like...several more months, I just got her. o.o; I mean I had the thought cross my mind because I could see her under legs fanning...but it was a drift I ignored since she's young. Really?! Ouhhh, not prepared for that yet, that's why I got a baby. LOL Could that possibly be why she never comes out? If so I feel REALLY bad I messed up her comfy nest when I cleaned, but I had to since I skipped the week before so as not to disturb her. I'm gonna give her a second cave and see if she likes it better like baby blue did, it's roomy but covers out the light good....


Babies...already? Huh! Imagine that! I have space, I just wasn't thinking I'd have any for a while. lol

 

[Sylverclaws]

o-o You know I must be tired today, I just took a good look at that photo and it's very obvious she has eggs....why I didn't notice it before is beyond me, it's totally visible and beyond obvious, you can SEE them and all without looking too hard. x.x

That was shock and excitement, by the way, not fury. Bit of worry, young mothers...doesn't always go well. Nothing to be done for it since they clone though. lol

Didn't you have trouble getting yours to clone, Henningc? What do you think got her going right off in my tank? And...want one if she really is? lol She's got the blue gene. Her ma was VERY blue, and she's visibly getting some blue herself. I haven't fed her any fish. Mostly flakes, algae wafers and brine shrimp and mysis shrimp, as well as the more often veggies like zucchini, she seems ok with zucchini and cucumber, oh and steamed broccoli stems here and there, not as often as I probably should.

 

[Flint]

Babies?

Ooohhhhh Sylverrrrrr....! :brow: ;-)

 

[Sylverclaws]

lol Funny, Flint.

I wonder how many she will have, she looked pretty piled, but she is small herself. ;D I gotta get some catappa leaves. As in right immediately now so they have time to grow their food. -scoots-

 

[Flint]

I'm squirming with excitement over here!! Scoot!! Scoot!!

 

[Sylverclaws]

I am as well. Henningc pointed it out and I noticed, I think I squee'd. LOL
Let's see how I do. I'm thinking of popping many into my 73 gallon pool, I haven't made a cover for it yet though. c.c It'll be muuuch more ideal to raise so many babies in versus my 20 gal. I'll have to wait until they can handle being moved of course, I'm always scared to mess with babies.

 

[Flint]

Won't they eat your fry? :shock:

 

[Sylverclaws]

They're more peaceful crayfish. However there's always the risk...I haven't had any issues, my fry and adult endlers SLEEP with the mother in her nest right now, she doesn't even bother with them at all, though occasionally if one gets near her eyes she'll swat at them and then go about her business. c.c;

 

[Sylverclaws]

Baby crayfish finally! :3 Yay. I saw mom today too, didn't see any hanging on her and was like "Oh no!" But then I saw little babies zooming around. I counted at least twelve, but those were just the ones I could see if my overly planted tank. I caught five to put in the breeder in case the others don't make it. Got java moss in there, gonna move a moss ball over there soon too. I had ordered catappa leaves the moment you guys told me she had eggs, but they are late and have not arrived! Well, I have plenty they can eat though, it's just nice to have some natural growing mini-critters for them to eat. lol I wonder how many there really are, they're so tiny and she was so full of eggs...but then she is also young. I'm gonna guess at least 20, but considering how many I saw with allll that hiding, I'm thinking and hoping more. They're so cute.

I got some photos, not very good, sorry. x.x The ones of the five in the breeder idn't come out at all, so I just have a photo of one(of all the photos I took, only ONE came out good, BLAH!), cropped it so you could see the baby better, but it did smear. lol

 

[Flint]

OMG I wantttt!!!!!

 

[Sylverclaws]

lol They're too tiny. I don't know how fast they grow either. They're only about...I don't know, half an inch, not even sure they're that big, and just look so small framed. You have to look REALLY hard and carefully to even see them. But they're perfect shaped, MINI crayfish and that's so awesome.
I doubt I'll be selling them until they're an inch or more if they survive. Might be waiting until they're 2+ inches, I'll have to wait and see, they are my first crayfish babies ever. ^_~

 

[Sylverclaws]

My endlers are leaving them alone for the most part, they do take a look sometimes. I don't think they could eat them, but I was worried about damage. All the plants keep them safe though. I see some come out here and there, especially right about lights on, mom too! I've seen mom every morning since I found babies, she's coming out more to eat...she is so unbelievably shy though, the lights come on(Usually I do it slow by uncovering the tank and slowly opening my drapes to let lower light in), she freaks out. c.c The babies? They don't seem to care much about anything, they love to eat too! :3

 

[Flint]

You think they would bother snails?

 

[Sylverclaws]

Snails are supposedly one of their favorite foods. These guys DO lean more towards vegetation, but like all crayfish need meat proteins too, and they will eat snails. They haven't bothered mine much that I can see, but I have kept some in for them anyways and it's not like I'd really know if they ate them, though I have found a few very cleaned out shells. ^_~ Most of my snails are thriving though, I have pink/mixed ramshorns and trumpets.

 

[Flint]

Interesting

 

[Sylverclaws]

Got a photo with some of my baby crayfish and also my black bar endlers who are now gorgeous. Still hard to get good photos of the baby crayfish though, but they're much bigger already and more active. Some have pretty much doubled in size, I think a couple of them did more than that! lol But some don't seem to be growing very much at all...I'm worried about those. They seem to be getting plenty to eat, I break an algae wafer up and pop that in, also put in emerald entree, mysis shrimp and brine shrimp, but mainly it's veggies stuff. Oh and flakes, they love the veggie flakes. Mysis is a nice source of calcium for them.
I've counted more than twenty of them, but it's impossible to know how many right now, there are so many plants and hiding places thick as an untouched forest in there. =)

 

[Sylverclaws]

Some of those crayfish babies are really getting big. =) A few of them are actually looking a bit blue...I wonder if my adult will ever get blue, she's got some lighter coloring on her but that's it, whereas some of the babies are actually becoming a pale blue color. Of course, they could go either way I'm sure, they're shedding often at this point and that can make them paler...however one in particular is definitely blue, and if she stays that way I'll be keeping her. Some others are getting that color in too. Their grandma was a lovely dark blue color. So here's to hoping the genes stick to some. =) Don't have any photo of the one who was going the most blue though, but I do have a photo of my resident big girl, she got herself a pea and ran up the side of the cave with it. lol She's much darker in color than the others. Well, there's two or three like her.


Oh yes, last count on them was 48(not counting two who became lunch for my betta, which was unexpected for a two inch betta to kill and eat a pair of one and a half inch crayfish! She just latched onto their heads and chewed, poor things, I didn't know she'd do that, she gets along fine with my shrimp and other fish), and I'm still sure there are more. I've moved about a dozen or close to the 73 gal pool, two to the 55 and both ten gallons, and a pair to the five gal, but only for a short time since they grow fast. The rest are all over the place in the twenty, I'm trying to move the majority to the 73 gal pool though, they are harder to catch than you think.



Here's mama with a few. She's completely shut herself in the cave again. lol I hope she isn't planning to pop again for a few months, I'm still growing and selling her current kiddies! The only blue she has is around the spots on her limbs...I don't think she's gonna go blue like her mother. This photo was taken about a week and a half ago, so a lot of the babies are bigger already. You can see one of them is munching on a snail, they've gotten quite happy doing that too, and the ones who do enjoy snails are more than twice the size of the other babies. c.c



Oh piffle. I was going to show you guys her cave...She's really dressed it up. Unfortunately that's on my other camera and it wont upload. >< She's moved a bunch of gravel into the openings and threaded java moss and other plants through it like a professional builder. LOL It's pretty neat. I do have a video, may have to pop it up next. It shows it, but was mainly focused on a couple fighting over a pea. Haha. Since it takes a bit to upload, may be a double post. ^_~
I can't keep any darn java moss! She keeps using it for building material. Heh, well, my baby endlers can hide elsewhere, but it's REALLY handy to have java moss for them, they practically go invisible in that when near the cave, and though endlers rarely eat their young, they still will sometimes. Of course being so small, they can rally only eat one or two before trouble with their tummies. Still, it's a good hiding place and food for them. I wish she'd let at least some of it be. lol I had a HUGE pile in there she used up, tightened up into a golfball, and another about the size of a baseball if tightened up, she used it all. And they eat it too, which is what it was there for anyways....not building, but whatever floats her little boat. lol
Here's the video, seems I had time afterall. ;D
Bear with me, I was tired, mumbly and all that fun crazy stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rno2YAuT4-I

 

[Sylverclaws]

I would love to update photos, unfortunately my camera has vanished yet again, and this time I can't find it after several days of searching and nobody has seen it. My other camera wont connect to upload. Darn.

You guys should see these babies. Most are still small, one and a half to two inches, but I have three or four monsters in there nearing the three inch mark, one I'm thinking hit it. o-o; I do my best to make sure everyone gets something to eat daily, but I think my big ones are the pigs. lol I wonder why some are so much bigger if not food hogging, I'm starting to be more careful about it. But the ones I put in duos in other tanks are the ones making the best progress, same with the 15-20 or so I popped into the pool(I have a 73 gal kiddie pool I turned into a tank). So obviously they're having less competition, and more room for each of them. I'm working on it, I go snag five or six for the pools, and they all disappear. I think "Oh, I've finally thinned the herd in the tank." Nope. LOL Got some good photos of mom too. And little ******. I had forgotten there was a second crayfish with her....and I was like "WHAT? It turned back normal marble color!" And then I noticed her, she's still white though her marble coloring is coming in. I hope she stays white, I really do. That's so cool. =)

I DO have one of little ****** I put up before...the day I lost my camera. I think someone stole it. My bet is my two year old nephew found it on the table and took it. It's not a very good photo, the tank she's in was set up for a fairy shrimp project(I left lights around the glass to make algae, but not a bloom, succeeded with that perfectly!), which failed...I think, after day four they just vanished so I have no idea, it's been more than a week since they disappeared and -nothing- was in there at the time but them. So there's a lot of algae, which is mostly gone now thanks to my two crayfish and a couple molly and swordtail fry.