Fiddler Crabs

[Puffer_holic]

I'm looking for varieties of food to feed my GSP to help keep his beak small. He's around 1-1.5" will he eat a really small, live, fiddler crab?
Thanks

[puffertt77]

My puffers love Red Claw Crabs

They're pretty small and inexpensive

[Puffer_holic]

Would a red claw crab be small enough?
Thanks

[puffertt77]

I'm pretty sure that even if the crab is the same size or bigger than the puffer they usually just bite the crabs legs off and slowly pick it apart

[Dadof4]

I feed my 1.5 inch GSP declawed fiddler crabs that are the same size as him and he just takes them apart little by little....Don't do it too often because it's a bit disturbing, you can hear him across the room and he leaves the head for last....Thing is moving until the last bite.

[Iliveinazoo]

Please keep in mind that fiddler crabs have a very complex breeding cycle and there aren't any fiddler crab breeders. All species that are available in LFS's are wild caught.

[Puffer_holic]

Good to keep in mind....hehe thank you, I never thought about declawing the crab...It seems rather cruel though. If my LFS doesn't sell them would a fish market have them?

[marksrush]

No, I don't think a fish market would have them as they're not used (as far as I know) for human food.

[puffertt77]

Hey Puffer_holic

Have you got a coast/beach near you, when we were kids we used to smash limpits off the rocks, tie a piece of string round it and hang it in the water on the sand bed. We used to catch loads of crabs like that. Why not take a trip to the beach with a plastic container, catch a load of crabs and bring them back in the tub with some water and just use them when and when ever. I want to go and do this my self but I'm miles from any coast/beach!

[pufferfreak]

fiddler crabs have a very complex breeding cycle and there aren't any fiddler crab breeders

I might by some and breed them so you always have them.

catch a load of crabs and bring them back in the tube with some water and just use them when and when eve

Shore crabs are very easy to breed, just make sure that they don't get to big, one of mine killed my royal gramma .

[Montag]

fiddler crabs have a very complex breeding cycle and there aren't any fiddler crab breeders

I might by some and breed them so you always have them.

catch a load of crabs and bring them back in the tube with some water and just use them when and when eve

Shore crabs are very easy to breed, just make sure that they don't get to big, one of mine killed my royal gramma .

I know, old topic, but I believe that they start there breeding cycle as planktonic young, and would therefore be nearly impossible to breed in aquaria. So your best best for breeding anything is going to be snails, although shrimp are a little bit more pleasing to look at and breed like crazy. You could gut load them and feed them to your puffer with occassional ram's horns or oyster for the added crunching and scraping.

[luvmyfatfish]

I have a fiddler crab in with my two gsps and an f8 and none of the puffers mess with him, but my fish store gave me some larger crayfish the other day and they got ripped apart in a few hours so you mite try that

[ryverrat]

In PA you can catch crayfish and keep them if you have a fishing license. I catch them for my puffers, quarantine for 2 weeks then they become dinner (de-clawed of course). Try any clear, cool stream- if it has trout in it and a rocky bottom it will have crayfish. Check the PA Fish and Boat website for any that are endangered (don't keep them).

[Puffer_holic]

I've caught crayfish before, but never for puffers. My puffers are only around an inch to an inch and a half in size. Would the crayfish be too big?

[luvmyfatfish]

the last one my guys ate was three times there size!! and the smallest one (bout an inch) was the one that killed it