TSK TSK TSK

[Fishnut]

Normally I like going into the Innis location, but I was heart broken on Saturday to see that one tank had a group of crayfish in it of various sizes and there was a freshly molted crayfish that was literally being eaten alive!  The poor thing was happy and healthy, molted it's shell and because there were so many other crayfish in the tank with little to no hiding spots, the others started to eat it.  The legs had been ripped off and were being eaten, so were the claws.  The poor legless, clawless crayfish was just laying there upside down, alive and unable to even turn over.  Since it was still soft from shedding, another crayfish came along, grabbed it and started to eat it's body as the poor thing jerked its tail trying to get away from being eaten alive.

I convinced one of the staff to scoop it out and put it in a bag for me.  Maybe it would survive long enough to grow it's limbs back if I was careful, but since it had shed so recently, it was too soft and didn't survive the trip home.

All that has to be done is to separate the crayfish, or to make sure that a lot of rocks are used to provide hiding spots so they can shed safely.  If you can't house so many, why order so many?  You'll loose money in the canibalism and in the fact that you'll have a supply of legless or clawless crayfish that are so ugly nobody wants them.

[KLKelly]

Good for you trying to save him   Poor thing.

I rescue fish too.  Honestly its to the point where I can't even go in the fish section.  Way too sad for me.

[mikcha]

Good for you guys for trying to save these poor fishes. My wife and I rescued a tomato clown there about 6 months ago. He was being bullied by a much larger clown. He was so scared he could only stay in the top corner of the tan. His fins were nipped to the point that he couldn't even stay upright. We took him home and now he has all his fins back and growing nicely in a 40 gallon.

[KLKelly]

I love hearing rescue stories that have happy endings.

[bergenm]

I just think it is sad that they happen in the first place...

[drboeing]

Ill send good wishes your way to help this guy recover, our CF molted and we never knew a thing about it till we found a second CF had appeard in the tank and of course figured out it was the empty shell.  I would have loved to observed our guy (Crimpers) go through the process.  Please keep us posted on how your guy fares.  Crossing my fingers.

Sorry, just re-read your post.  Still glad you tried.

[married2OVASmember]

The poor thing was happy and healthy, molted it's shell and because there were so many other crayfish in the tank with little to no hiding spots, the others started to eat it.

That sort of thing happens in the wild all of the time.  Perish the thought: some animals actually need to eat other animals to survive. 

The legs had been ripped off and were being eaten, so were the claws.  The poor legless, clawless crayfish was just laying there upside down, alive and unable to even turn over.  Since it was still soft from shedding, another crayfish came along, grabbed it and started to eat it's body as the poor thing jerked its tail trying to get away from being eaten alive.

You think that is bad?  You should research a peculiar creature called homo sapiens and find out what they do to eachother! 

[KLKelly]

They at least have a shot in the wild. 

Humans suck.

[bergenm]

That sort of thing happens in the wild all of the time.  Perish the thought: some animals actually need to eat other animals to survive.

I think the point of the post was that it was unnecessary - Had the CF been housed properly then it would have been left alone or at least able to defend itself.

Thanks for stating the obvious though, I am sure it will come as quite a surprise to many of the members that some animals eat other animals in order to survive...

And I have to agree with KLKelly... Humans suck