crawdad, crayfish...

[maroun.c]

can anyone please post a pic of them, i read that many feed them to their octopus and couldn't find them here most probably because of name difference can you please tell me what they are and where should i look for them?

 

[Dr. Idso]

Hi,

I feed crawdads or crayfish to my octopuses. I catch them by netting them out of a creek in Arizona. They are considered an introduced "exotic pest" in Arizona's lakes, streams, rivers, etc., and our state wildlife management division has an open bounty on them because their feeding habits reduce aquatic habitat quality causing demise to our popular sport fish populations. Anyways, they live in fresh and brackish water and look almost exactly like clawed lobsters. They have a hard exoskeleton, which they molt as they grow. I do remove their pinchers before feeding them to my octopuses, but I'm sure my octopuses could handle themselves if I left them on.

Here is what one looks like. I'll put up a better picture tomorrow of my "feeding tank" for you.

Regards,

Dr. Idso

 

[Dr. Idso]

Hi,

Here is another picture of a crawdad showing its lobster-like claws. My octopuses just love to eat these critters up!

Dr. Idso

 

[maroun.c]

thanks for the help, i'll try to find out if i can get any.

 

[forrest2906]

If you live in an area with creeks and such, you can get a crawdad trap and catch them yourself. it is fairly easy. Cabelas has crawdad traps for about $10, or go to a lsgs ( local sporting goods store ) you can use a piece of chicken for bait, or better yet use a can of catfood and just pierce the can a couple of times so the smell gets out. Catch them here in Idaho in local ponds and ditches al the time, usually in the evening or at night. Hope this helps.