Feeding live freshwater crayfish, bad, good? Really bad?

[juicy_squid]

Greetings oh respected scholars of Teuthology,

I come before you humbly today to ask thee of a question.

I know this probably a big no no, but just for sure I wanted to know. Can I feed the octopus a crayfish that I caught from a local river? And how about crayfish from the L.F.S.? I would also like to hear your opinion on salt water crabs, for example, emerald crabs, wild caught small seashore crabs. (to tell you the truth I sort of want to see some action, and the other students are pressuring me to do so, but I still stand true to the fact that the octo's health and well being comes fist and foremost) I used the very convenient search, but could not find anything.

Thank you very much

 

[monty]

the "standard response" is that freshwater animals are like candy: the octo will enjoy them, but they don't have the proper nutrition for a long-term healthy diet.

 

[Shkuey]

Standard response #2: Freshwater fish from a fish store may have been medicated with copper, which is fatal to an octopus.

 

[juicy_squid]

What about small salt water crabs?

 

[sedna]

That would be their standard diet. There's nothing wrong about enjoying watching natural feeding behaviors- especially when you go to the trouble to feed them a natural diet!

 

[cuttlegirl]

You could also try raw (uncooked - gray) shrimp from the seafood section of your grocery store.

 

[forever27]

I fed my aculeatus live freshwater crayfish every 3 days and he lived (with me) for 9 or 10 months. It's the only thing I fed him. I work at the LFS around here, and I know we don't put copper in our freshwater tanks...so I guess that knowledge is to my advantage. Ask if your LFS uses copper with the feeder tanks.

 

[bluespotocto]

I heard if you really want to see some action, try some salt water shrimp. Some octos will eat them and some wont, but they are fast and there pretty cool to watch if your octo will catch them in the daylight.

 

[Thales]

Freshwater crustaceans seem to be fine while freshwater fish are not. Its got to do with the fatty acid content. There is a link to a study in the last thread this was discussed.

The problem with LFS fish, mostly feeders, is not that the LFS treats them with copper (some do, some don't) its that they are treated with copper/other bad things for cephs at the breeder/wholesaler almost universally.

 

[DWhatley]

Of your list of choices, by all means feed the local crabs and suggest to your over enthusiastic classmates that if they bring in a few live crabs, they can feed one to the octo

If fiddler crabs are in good supply, they are probably the most universally accepted, most dietary suitable and most action for the money food you can provide.

 

[forever27]

Do they treat freshwater crustaceans and snails with copper? Wouldn't it kill them with high enough levels?

 

[k0mpresd]

ive been feeding freshwater ghost shrimp from a local store and my merc still seems plenty healthy.

 

[Nancy]

We've had big discussions before on these forums about crawfish and whether feeding only freshwater food will harm your octopus. The conclusion was that you could feed crawfish, but more as a treat and feed saltwater food such as crabs as the main food.

Crawfish are essentially freshwater lobsters, so they have a lot in common with the saltwater crustaceans we feed our octopuses.

Interesting that your aculeatus survived so long on only freshwater food, forever27. Were there amphipods and other things he could eat in the tank?

I also mentioned at the time that some of the crawfish are as large as small lobsters (at least they are in Texas!). Choose females and smaller crawfish so your octopus doesn't risk damage from the claws.

Nancy

 

[gholland]

We've had big discussions before on these forums about crawfish and whether feeding only freshwater food will harm your octopus. The conclusion was that you could feed crawfish, but more as a treat and feed saltwater food such as crabs as the main food.

This "conclusion" still seems odd to me considering the number of ceph hatchlings raised on PE Mysis.

 

[forever27]

Actually, come to think of it, that's a real possibility. When he was in the tank I never saw amphipods, but now that Lennon's in the tank I see them. I still think that crayfish aren't a bad staple diet. The downside with them is that they die quickly in saltwater, so if your octo isn't already eating aggressively and its waiting until the night to eat...they may not be worth it. And with the males, I just pulled off the claws before I fed them to him.