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Misc Lizards 10


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Prologue:  Way last century I was touring a series of Florida fish farms along with several dozen other fish retailers.  A fun trip, if I may say so myself.  One of the farms we toured had at least one rearing pond filled with bright, shiny blue crayfish -- very impressive when seined out in the warm Florida sun.  Later, on the way to another fish farm, some of us debated whether blue crayfish eat fish or not.  We disagreed.  We compromised and decided there are some strains that eat fish and some that don't.  I've taken a new tack and decided there are some that eat fish and some that eat a lot of fish.  Even the little guys will eat fish.  And they all eat plants.  They are crayfish -- even the ones called blue lobsters.   

LALA
Blue crayfish cost way more than plain ol' crayfish.  Why?  They're prettier.

LA
10 legs (counting pincers) just like any other crayfish..

LA
Male.  A blue male would have the same graspers there below his feet.  Same on all colors.

LA
Blue crayfish are a rich blue -- especially right after molting.

LA
Sold to us as a blue lobster.  Sometimes they're one and the same thing.

LA
Also sold to us as a blue lobster.  Later on I'll tell you how to make a blue crayfish.

LA
Iowa crayfish captured in a pond six  blocks down the hill from Aqualand. 

LA 
Here's another bluish-looking regular ol' Iowa crawdaddy looking like a blue crayfish.

LA 
Australian blue yabbie -- formidable pincers.  Absolutely a fish eater.

LA 
Tell me those pincers don't catch fish.

LA 
Don't try this unless your blue lobster has just shed his carapace. Still a bit squishy on the side.

Typical Crustacean:  Like any other crustacean, blue crayfish have an external "shell" or exoskeleton or carapace.  As they grow, they grow out of  their outside shell.  At this stage blue crayfish are soft, helpless, and apparently tasty.  Predators and other crayfish find them quite easy to overpower and eat.  They scuttle into their holes or caves at this stage.  They harden up again in a few days.

LA
Just shed his carapace on the truck in transit to Des Moines.  Carelessly lost one arm.

LA
Smaller blue lobster with his shed carapace.

Hard Shells:  Your blue crayfish and other crayfish will sometimes consume their recently shed shells (carapace) -- no point in wasting all that concentrated calcium.  You should leave it in their "cage" for a few days.

LA
Quite a bit of variation in the color of blue crayfish.

LA 
Of course blue lobsters eat fish -- even the little guys.

LA
These are actually two Iowa crayfish breeding.

LA
Another Iowa "blue" crayfish.  He was disarmed by his tank mates.

LA
We can tell fe's a male.

LA
Nearly two-inch long "blue crayfish."

LA
Still big enough to drag a deceased feeder goldfish home for dinner.

LA
This one's called a blue lobster -- very similar (but cheaper).  Not really the same species?

LA
Blue crayfish seined out of an Iowa creek.  Not the same species.

LA
Got some good pincers on this Iowa "blue crayfish."

LA
Nasty underbelly -- just yanked out of the Iowa mud.

LA
Getting back to the real (P. alleni) blue crayfish.  I can't tell them apart.

LA
Good looking varmint.

LA
Formidable armaments when backed into a hiding spot.

LA
Different blue crayfish.

LA
Traded in April 16, 2012.

LA
Solded the same day.

LA

LA
Fine looking specimen.

LA

Last Words:  I've seen quite a few different blue crayfish and blue lobsters in my day.  I like them all.  I've even made some.  Here's how -- If you soak a recently molted (soft shelled) crayfish in a small container of water with several drops of methylene blue, it will turn blue as its shell hardens.  It loses the blue when it molts, of course, but what the heck.  Still, I wouldn't mix them with any fish I wanted to keep.  Blue crayfish (and any other crayfish) are very adept at catching fish when the lights are off and the fish hit the bottom.  Have fun.  LA

© 2010, © 2011, © 2012  LA Productions
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Pond Info 
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