crayfish down to one leg :-(

My poor little dwarf crayfish got in a fight with another dwarf crayfish. It was a female that attacked him, but he was much smaller than her.

He now has just one leg and a body. Nothing else. It is so heartbreaking. Does anyone know, can they feel pain???

I put up a breeder box and he is going to have to live in there for a while. It is looking like I will have to help him eat for a while. He can bounce around a little bit. I assume that is thanks to his one remaining leg. So he can move. But he can't walk or hold any food, so I have to help him. And if he falls onto his side, he has trouble getting upright again.

I know that his legs and pinchers can grow back over time, I wonder how long it will take! Am I doing the right thing? Or should I just put him out of his misery and let him be food for my big fish? I want to nurse him back to health though! But I don't want him to be miserable.

 

Oh dear, sorry to here that. Since he can regenerate his lost limbs I would give him every chance that I could. Alison

 

This is my attempt at saving him...

 

Oh dear, sorry to here that. Since he can regenerate his lost limbs I would give him every chance that I could. Alison

ya, that is what I am thinking too. I just feel so bad for him. This was the same guy who pinned the female twice his size and mated with her when he only had one arm. At that point he was only missing an arm. nothing else. Well....if you want to give them any human qualities, here is my theory, I am thinking possibly she was bitter at him for taking advantage of her after she molted, so when she got strong again, she attacked him. Because now he has one leg and nothing else. And she was the only other one in there with him. Poor guy. I thought it was the other male that hurt him, so I had moved the male.

And for the record, she never dropped any eggs, so he was not successful even though he had her pinned pretty well for a nice chunk of time.

 

Sounds like a rocky road so far in the crayfish world. Alison

 

Sounds like a rocky road so far in the crayfish world. Alison

The breeding stuff has calmed down now. Everything is going smoothly. My CPO just had her babies friday. The first batch of cajuns is almost 2 weeks old and doing great. The other batch is a week old and doing great.

I made a mistake putting such a small guy in with a full sized female. Dumb move on my part. But there was plenty of room for him to hide and be safe. So....Maybe he was making stupid choices. I don't know.

I got that breeder box for the babies, but discovered that I don't need it. The parents have not eaten their babies and the filters have not been an issue. But I am glad I have it because it is needed now in order to help this guy recover!!

 

Should I do bare bottom or sand for him? I got a little 1.5 gallon set up for him to live in. Instead of the breeder box. He is only a half inch, so he will have plenty of space. And I need to be able to help him eat and stuff, so I have to be able to find him!

So I am wondering...might he get better traction with his one leg if there were sand instead of a bare bottom? Not gravel, just sand. Or would he do best with a bare bottom? Any opinions would be very helpful, thanks!!

 

Look at that! He molted one time and look at how long his new legs are!

 

Yay! He's gorgeous.

 

Yay! He's gorgeous.

I know! I am so impressed that he was able to grow his limbs back that much after just one molt! What a stud!! I might not have to give him special care as long as I thought I would have to!

 

Wow! Looks like he will recover nicely!

 

Wow! Looks like he will recover nicely!

I caught him climbing already! I am so proud of him!

 

Fantastic news. Glad you gave him a chance. amazing little critters. Alison

 

Here he is after his second molt that is amazing! 2 molts ago he had no pinchers!

 

That's amazing!! Resilient little goober

 

He's looking great! I'm glad he made it!

 

That is awesome. I have read about their ability to regenerate but that is amazing. Sounds like he molted quick also. I guess they know that when they need to molt and how it will benefit them.