The Puffer Forum

im not sure if he pinched all the way through, but is there anything i can do about it? it just happened like 5 seconds ago, i had to get a pair of scissors and cut the claws off the crayfish's body so the claws would release... usually kukah goes for the tail first to avoid the pinchers, but this time he went for the side of the body for some reason... should i be worried? he has wounds on him now. i feel bad, but he needs them for his teeth

I have seen some really nasty scars on fish and others that are fed crayfish and red clawed crabs as part of there diet. Thats why I allways declaw them first (better safe then sorry.) IMO as long as he in good shape and your water condition as good aswell he should be ok.

Clean water and maybe some Melafix (if you can get that) but as long as it doesn't start to look red and infected or fungused it will probably heal just fine.

don't some people remove the claws for just that reason?

wow removing the claws, what a novel idea! lol i honestly never thought about doing that ugh, dummy me... ok, well ill keep an eye on it, hopefully he will be okay, and ill at least injure the claws from now on, so he can still eat the claws but they wont be able to pinch him...... OH, hey, by the way, has anyone ever seen little white things comming out from the side of a crayfish's face? its almost like wisker nubs maybe like 1/4 the legnth of a piece of rice, and skinnier than a grain of rice, but thats the only way i could explain it... its definately not ich... im keeping him quarantined until i find out the answer, or at least for a few weeks so i know its not going to kill him...

I'n not saying DO it! just asking if that's the reason why some people remove the claws

It could posibly the little things it uses to eat with some shrimp have fan like things next to there mouth and some more mechanical little leg looking things does it look like its moveing them itself like its part of it or does it look like its just swaying with the current.

pics please! you know we all love them

Yes, that is why many people remove the claws before feeding them.

I have no idea what the white things could be, but then again, I've never looked THAT close at a crayfish's face either!!!

haha now the secret question is to snip at the shoulder , elbow or claw?

BTY if cray fish are similar to their lobster cousins .. they are canibals. Those claws are defensive / offensive that is why they rubber band them .. they will tear eachother apart ... Without the claws, and with proper food they can still live a relitively happy life

I think most people just break off the pincher part.

hers those pix of the things on the crayfish's face... they arent fluffy... they dont move, or seem to serve a perpose, they are on the sides of its face, so it doesnt help him eat... it almost looks like stubble on a mans face... actually thats almost ecactly what it looks like, or like its sprouting wiskers... but i know thats not logical cause crayfish dont have wiskers lol. at first i thought they were eggs or something haha until i found out their eggs are round, not slightly elongated and not stored on their face i didnt notice the things until i got home from the LFS which is about 30 min away, so i didnt feel like driving all the way back for a 2 dollar cray fish... but now im just not sure if its safe to feed... i dont really know what to do with it if its not because by time i get back to the LFS it will be past 7days, so they wont return it any more, but i cant just let him free in my tanks cause the DPs wouldnt be safe with him, cant put it with the fahaka, and the red devil wont eat him but he will kill him, which is basically the same thing as eating him...

sorry about the picture quality, the white things are really small and hard to photograph... also my camera phone sux

while live foods is entertaining its really putting your Kukah at risk for ips etc, better off buying frozen lobster parts and giving to him.

but arent lobster shells too thick? and btw i dont want kukah eating better than me!!! lol, he gets lobster while i sit there eating top ramen lol anyway... i dont really do it because its entertaining, i actually find it sad... i feed crayfish sometimes because they are cheaper than snails... and for some reason, they are more readily available than snails in my town... but either way, i suppose feeding snails and feeding crayfish is probably pretty much the same risk... but even frozen lobster can still have parasites if uncooked right? we are talking about the human grade, sold in grocery stores kind right?

yeah stuff ya get in grocery stores i think i was paying 10$ a bag for claws, alternatively you can just get crab meat scallops mussels prawns etc for alot cheaper. seen a few people that feed cooked foods to there puffs not sure what deal is on that but as far as i know when its frozen no parasite can live.