Blue dwarf crayfish (cambarellus Diminutus)

Ok guys!!! I am super DUPER pumped. I have been wishing I could have some of those blue dwarf crayfish, the cambarellus Diminutus....but they are so rare that even the online sites that sell them are often out of stock. They are very expensive, and everything I have read about them indicates they are incredibly rare.

I went to a fish place I had never been to before on a whim. I asked the guy if he had heard of them and if he had any. It turns out he actually got a shipment of them THAT DAY and they weren't even out of their bags yet. He said he only gets them a few times a year at the most. I confirmed that they were in fact the Diminutus kind. At least that is what the person THEY got the crayfish from wrote on the bags. So I was feeling pretty confident about it. The bag said "blue dwarf crayfish-cambarellus diminutus"

Here is my issue...I couldn't help myself, it seemed way too good to be true...like it was meant to be! BUT I am concerned that they are not blue AT ALL. They are very little and could just still be developing their color...but I paid more than I would usually pay in the expectation that they will be blue adults. So I REALLY REALLY hope they develope the blue coloring they are supposed to.

Has anyone here had experience with them? How long does it usually take for them to start showing that blue coloring? when they were in a clear dish at the store with good lighting, I was able to see a small glimpse of blue on the edges of their tails and stuff. But that blue is totally unnoticable unless they are on something clear or white and have super bright lighting. I am hoping that is just the START to their blue coloring and they will get bluer over time? Because if that is the extent of the blue they will be getting, then I am pretty disappointed! They really don't look much different than my cajun ones (shufeldtii). Maybe a little grayer than brown, but that's about it. Photos online show them to be much bluer than that.

Anyone have experience with these guys?

 

I will be following as I know nothing about them. I did see an add on Ebay for a dwarf self cloning blue crayfish. Is that the same thing? They looked really blue in the picture. Alison

 

I will be following as I know nothing about them. I did see an add on Ebay for a dwarf self cloning blue crayfish. Is that the same thing? They looked really blue in the picture. Alison

When I look on ebay and google all I am finding is blue self cloning, but not dwarf.....

I have spent hours reading up on these guys (even though there is hardly ANY info on them, several sites were in other languages, so I had to translate it) I am finding more and more that the Diminutus isn't necessarily blue. They are often brown or gray. Hobbiest made the blue morph using the diminutus, but the diminutus is not specifically blue. But like I said, the person that the fish place got them from specificially wrote BLUE cambarellus diminutus on the shipment. So maybe the fish place got scammed too. They are young, but they do seem mature enough that they would be bluer. I have seen many pics of the blue diminutus online and the ones that are actually blue look way different than mine even when they are still developing their color.

I am so one track minded it is pathetic! Now I am thinking about using my lunch break to drive back to the store and see the rest of them. I never got to see any of them outside of their bags because they hadn't even had a chance to put them on display yet. SO...I am assuming that by today they have them in the tanks for sale. And I want to go and see how the others look. I can't even wait until after work, I am pathetic!!

 

You do realize that you are becoming a crayfish addict? HeHe. However I understand that one mindedness obsession only too well. That is how I ended up with the three pleccos, Three small parrots, 2 dogs and a cat. and three tanks of fish. Willpower has never been one of my strong points. Let me know how you make out. Alison

 

You do realize that you are becoming a crayfish addict? HeHe. However I understand that one mindedness obsession only too well. That is how I ended up with the three pleccos, Three small parrots, 2 dogs and a cat. and three tanks of fish. Willpower has never been one of my strong points. Let me know how you make out. Alison

Well I did it....I took a long lunch break and drove to the store to check them out. It was a VERY worthwhile trip. Here is what discovered: Several of the ones they still have are much lighter than mine. This makes the blue more noticable. Others are darker and browner so the blue is very minimal. In order to get that vibrant blue that I am looking for, they have to be carefully selectively bred. There is guy in town who has a very brilliant line of blue ones that he has selectively bred. I stumbled accross him through craigslist (long story) But he has a long waiting list. But the crazy coincidence is that the fish place I was at knew exactly who that person was, they knew his name and everything. Turns out the guy actually began his breeding process using two crays from that very same store! He started with some pretty blah ones like mine (that have the blue strain but aren't very vibrant) and selectively bred them until he got really pretty blues.

SO with that being said, I would really love to exchange one of the ones I got yesterday for a much lighter and more pale one and then start selectively breeding them until I get the nice pretty blue I am looking for! I wish all of this would have happened before I ordered the cajun ones! The GREAT news is that I have a good friend with lots of experience who is going to take the cajun ones for me so I can focus on my CPOs and my newest upcoming challenge of SELECTIVE breeding with the cambarellus diminutus! I better set up a few more nursery tanks!!! LOL

I would really like a fun challenge in my life right now and as silly as this sounds, I am really pumped about the challenge of not only breeding my crayfish, but selectively breeding them for the best results! So the final decision before I dive in, do I exchange one for a much more pale one? OR keep the two I got yesterday and add a pale colored female and begin the process with three? HELP ME DECIDE ALISON! And yes, I am officially a crayfish addict.

 

First thing is have you sexed them yet? Maybe end up with 2 females and one male. That would give you a little diversity in the line when you start breeding them back. I would go for the bluest ones you can get to start, even exchanging both if some show more blue. Glad you found a solution for the orange ones. Thanks for taking the long lunch break so that I wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat till this evening. I really appreciate it.x Alison

 

First thing is have you sexed them yet? Maybe end up with 2 females and one male. That would give you a little diversity in the line when you start breeding them back. I would go for the bluest ones you can get to start, even exchanging both if some show more blue. Glad you found a solution for the orange ones. Thanks for taking the long lunch break so that I wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat till this evening. I really appreciate it.x Alison

Oh my orange ones aren't going anywhere! Those are the mexican CPOs. Its the cajun ones (shufeldtii) that I am going to part with. I might keep one of the berried female cajuns, just so I can have as much experience as possible. But I have 3 males cajuns and another berried female cajun. So I will keep one berried female cajun and my friend will take the others. And my orange mommy and daddy are still in their very own 10 gallon. And as you know, mom is pregnant again.

And I have sexed the "blue ones". They are most definitely male and female. I think I will get another female and be more selective about which female I choose. Looks like I might be going back again tonight!! LOL

And I won't mess things up by cross breeding. I want my orange ones to be vibrant orange and my blue ones to be vibrant blue. So no one is getting it on with the brown cajuns!! LOL

 

Now I got it. Sorry I am a little slow on the uptake sometimes. I was getting my crayfish mixed up. I was wondering how she was doing because I remember you saying that she was berried again. Alison

 

Now I got it. Sorry I am a little slow on the uptake sometimes. I was getting my crayfish mixed up. I was wondering how she was doing because I remember you saying that she was berried again. Alison

She seems to be doing really well so far. But she seemed to be doing well last time too! I am hoping she has better luck this time around. I will keep you updated!

 

He is my favorite

 

Is this the new one you picked out? you can see the blue, and he is very cute. Alison

 

Is this the new one you picked out? you can see the blue, and he is very cute. Alison

Ya, I went back to the store. I felt they should let me do an exchange under the unique circumstances. Since they were still in bags the day I got them, I didn't get to really see them and I just had to take the male and female they gave me. But they weren't willing to do it.

Either way, I went back after work on friday and picked out the bluest female I could find. I planned, like you said, to just have two females and one male. But after picking out the female, I was still really torn. Because the most gorgeous one in the tank (in my opinion) is the one I posted here. But of course, he was a he. I debated and debated and finally gave in. I was too in love with his gorgeous coloring that I had to have him. My eyes just kept getting drawn back to him. So now I have two males and two females.

Right now my gorgeous blue male is in with the blah hardly blue female (since she at least has the blue gene) and the newer female that is a little bluer, but nothing like him. I seperated the other blue male. I plan to give him to my neice as a birthday gift. She is so pumped. I just figured it was safest to have one male with the two females.

 

Congrats on the both of them. Couldn't you just have 2 tanks with a pair in each? and then breed the bluest babies form each line back to the parents or siblings or to some from the other line? Don't mind me I know nothing about the genetics of crayfish and their breeding. I am learning from you. HeHe. Alison

 

Congrats on the both of them. Couldn't you just have 2 tanks with a pair in each? and then breed the bluest babies form each line back to the parents or siblings or to some from the other line? Don't mind me I know nothing about the genetics of crayfish and their breeding. I am learning from you. HeHe. Alison

I am still learning as well. There is only so much you can learn online, a lot of it must be learned through experience. I LOVE that you are following my threads and are interested because it is fun to have someone to share it with who actually cares.

I thought about doing two tanks just for the blue ones, and I most likely will as time goes on and I have more. But for now I have one tank for the orange, one tank for the blues and one tank for the cajuns. I am keeping both pregnant cajuns so that I can have as much practice raising the babies as possible and like I said, the fish store I go to is going to buy the babies from me for decent store credit so I can get the things I need for ALL of my tanks, not just my little crayfish tanks. So that will be really nice. I may not make any profit, but I will be able to sustain my fish hobby, so that will be nice.

I also have a tank for babies that is currently usable, but as you know, that is the tank I wanted to move my LARGE blue crayfish into. But that may have to wait for a while!

 

You got me to reading about them on line and one of the sites on breeding said that they shake the babies off the mom a couple of days after they hatch, and raise them in a separate tank? Alison

 

You got me to reading about them on line and one of the sites on breeding said that they shake the babies off the mom a couple of days after they hatch, and raise them in a separate tank? Alison

I remember reading something like that too. I feel like it's a little extreme and unnecessary. But who knows, maybe I'll end up eating my words. Most sites didn't imply that you needed to do that though.

 

I read a few pages back on google by typing in info on dwarf blue crayfish. Interesting reading. Thankfully I don't have an empty tank or any more space thanks to all those ghost shrimp, which by the way all seem to be thriving. You will have a good time experimenting, and I get to see pictures. Have you ever read the thread on Seymores Antics. He has a pet golfball and the pictures are really funny. He is the larger size Blue Lobster in the crayfish forums. Alison

 

Here's one of the females eating lunch



I like this shot

 

Pretty cray!

 

Just a reply to be part of this thread, really want to stay up to date on these fellows....


Beautiful crays!!!

 

I just ordered 2 from elite invertes online. I really hopeful they are as blue as promised. Just starting out keeping Dwarf crays. I got my first cpo the other day and fell in love!

 

I just ordered 2 from elite invertes online. I really hopeful they are as blue as promised. Just starting out keeping Dwarf crays. I got my first cpo the other day and fell in love!

If they are still babies, there will be a possibility of them not being that blue! But as the molt and grow, the colour will become bluer....

Are you planning on keeping them togehter?

Congrats on you CPO!

 

Yes I am going to keep them together




Got my blue crays today! They are super tiny and clear but I'm excited to have them either way!

 

Got my blue crays today! They are super tiny and clear but I'm excited to have them either way!

Let's see pictures!

 

If I can ever find them again I will post some! They are super small and not blue yet







One of my cpo's and one of the blues


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They're beautiful! How many of each do you have now?

 

I have 2 of each and thankyou! I love them


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My blue dwarf daddy!

 

My blue dwarf daddy!

Simply beautiful!! )

 

I can't wait till mine look like that! Amazing


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I can't wait till mine look like that! Amazing


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I REALLY hope it happens for you!! I have found that many of the blue ones do not get as blue as you would hope. This guy was an impulse purchase after I was disappointed at how NOT blue the other two were that I took home. I went back to the store and picked out the bluest one in the tank. He has molted a couple times and gotten even bluer. And I think adding a ton of blue decorations also helps the blue shine through!

My point is...dont expect yours to get as blue as this guy. My other blue ones are much browner like yours. At the size yours is right now I would expect to see a little more blue coloring and I don't see any at all. It looks more like my cajun dwarfs. I REALLY REALLY hope for your sake that it starts to get some blue coloring for you!!

Do you know if it is male or female? If not, you can send me a picture of the underbelly and I can tell you very quickly!

This is the home I put together for my blue dwarfs

 

They are really small like 3 cm. I just have a good camera zoom. I bought them from elite inverts online so I'm hopeful they are good quality. Either way I still love them


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Do you keep the two colors together? If they interbreed, will the babies return to the natural brown tone?

 

I do keep them together and yes it will creat the wild variety if they breed but I didn't get them for that purpose


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My blue dwarf daddy!

He really has gotten more blue. Great picture. Alison

 

I do keep them together and yes it will creat the wild variety if they breed but I didn't get them for that purpose


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I am having an interesting experience with my dwarfs and the cross breeding concept. I am not TRYING to cross breed. That isn't a goal of mine. I have my blues together and my oranges together and my cajuns together. But I have a female cajun that lived with a blue male temporarily....they mated and she never got pregnant. Then she was living with the orange CPO daddy because I had to separate him from the orange mommy (orange mommy was missing two legs and a pincher, so he must have hurt her) ANYWAY, so I put orange daddy in with the cajun female and within 10 seconds they were mating. And they mated for 40 minutes!! Now 5 days later...no eggs.

When that same cajun female mates with cajun males, she is pregnant the next day!! I know that the females can hold the sperm for a while....so it isn't a lost cause yet. But I am beginning to wonder if they can't mix???? Because every other pregnant female I have had has gotten pregnant within 2 days of mating.

Its just interesting. That's all. Have you had any successfully interbreed before? Again, I am not TRYING to interbreed....I am just surprised that the two breeds getting together hasn't resulted in any eggs. But every other mating session I have seen (when it is the same kind) has resulted in eggs right away.

He really has gotten more blue. Great picture. Alison

The blue male that lost all his appendages molted again....he has all his limbs back and they look great....but the reason I say that is because he has really gotten bluer as well!! A very pretty pale blue

Here is the injured one after his 2nd molt

 

I haven't ever own crays before so I really have no experience with their breeding. I know my blues have no interest in the cpo they stay away from eachother as far as I can tell. Haven't seen anyone breeding. But good luck with yours I love seeing you pics and the cross breeding thing is interesting keep me posted


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Very nice I will have to start looking for a pair of these guys also.

 

I breed several different types of dwarf shrimp and just got a group of blue diminutus a couple of months ago to add something different to the lineup. Had 2 berried female's rather quickly. One actually started releasing the brood this morning. Have really enjoyed this species So far.

 

I breed several different types of dwarf shrimp and just got a group of blue diminutus a couple of months ago to add something different to the lineup. Had 2 berried female's rather quickly. One actually started releasing the brood this morning. Have really enjoyed this species So far.

I'd love to see some pics! My blue babies are a week or two old now. They are doing wonderfully!! But both moms ended up with unfertilized white eggs after that litter was born. Very strange. I haven't had that happen with any of my other species. And the male is still in there with them....One of my blue moms has failed both times she released eggs. Weird.

I am finding that the blue diminutus are the most peaceful of the three species I am keeping. I hope I don't eat my words on that one!! Because it has been refreshing! LOL