Crayfish as food

[Maharg]

Has anybody tried feeding a Crayfish to a Pacman? Is it safe? Should I de-claw it first?
I purchased a feeder crayfish cause I heard they are an excellent source of calcium but the thing.seems vicious and strong as hell.

[KingCam]

Has anybody tried feeding a Crayfish to a Pacman? Is it safe? Should I de-claw it first?
I purchased a feeder crayfish cause I heard they are an excellent source of calcium but the thing.seems vicious and strong as hell.

I would not feed a hard crawdad to them. Keep the crawdads in an aquarium and keep an eye on them. When they shed they are soft and mushy, this would be the ideal time to offer them to your frogs because they can't pinch and there is no shell on them that could otherwise cause impaction (constipation).

[Maharg]

I would not feed a hard crawdad to them. Keep the crawdads in an aquarium and keep an eye on them. When they shed they are soft and mushy, this would be the ideal time to offer them to your frogs because they can't pinch and there is no shell on them that could otherwise cause impaction (constipation).

Yea good idea. I might end up just keeping it as a pet lol. The thing is mad strong and id be pretty nervous feeding it to the frog, even tho ive heard people say its fine. When I poke the bag its in the thing goes savage.

[ejh805]

Personally, I would fear for my frogs life trying to feed it one of those things.
They ARE fierce! Like little tanks with big claws. I' probably only ever attempt using one as a feeder if it had just gotten through molting, like Cam said. Otherwise I'd think the shell would be too much, even if the claws were removed.

[KingCam]

Yea good idea. I might end up just keeping it as a pet lol. The thing is mad strong and id be pretty nervous feeding it to the frog, even tho ive heard people say its fine. When I poke the bag its in the thing goes savage.

Oh yeah, IF you fed it to your frog hard-shelled (which I would advise against), you DEFINITELY would need to remove the claws, and perhaps even pinch off the sharp points on each foot. Again, not advised. I would go soft-shelled crawdads or none at all.

They make fun pets, they eat EVERYTHING. Including live fish. Just be aware, they can and will escape if there is even a single hole in your lid big enough for them to fit. Every crawdad I have ever kept in a poorly secured tank has escaped. Every single one.

[GrifTheGreat]

I would stay away from Crayfish. Like most store bought feeder fish the risks outweigh the benefits. Size also comes into play. If the Crayfish is too large even feeding it after it molts may still cause an impaction.

[Ra]

Im curious how difficult or easy the shell would be for their digestive systems to handle and what kind of minerals make up the shell.

[GrifTheGreat]

Im curious how difficult or easy the shell would be for their digestive systems to handle and what kind of minerals make up the shell.

It is similar to the exoskeleton of other arthropods and insects. Its a form of chitin and unlike other small inverts is too well developed for the frog to digest. It would not break down. This is a much thicker stronger armor than that of say roaches and far more developed than that of the Mealworm and even they can cause a serious impaction if Fed too often, but it would only take one Crayfish to do the job.

[Ra]

Crustaceans are not the same thing as anthropods and their shells generally do not contain the same chitins. Isopods for instance, are land dwelling crustaceans the exoskeleton of which consists mostly of calcium. I have seen video of a Horned Fropg eating a crayfish and I have heard of them being fed as part of a varied diet to Horned frogs, Budgetts Frogs and Pyxie Frogs alike without any mention of a problem.

[Maharg]

That would be excellent cause my crayfish isnt looking well and I dont want it to suffer any more haha

[KingCam]

I know american bullfrogs eat crawdad frequently in nature, so it could work I suppose.

I have never owned a pacman, but from everything I've heard they are a very sensistive species. I personally would just be scared to try it unless the crawdad was freshly molted and still squishy. They should still have lots of calcium in them, it just hasn't hardened into a shell at that point.

...you could always drop the crawdad in a pot of boiling water and eat it with butter That sounds like a joke, but it's actually not LOL! Many a pet crawdad has turned into food in my house.

[MatthewM1]

...you could always drop the crawdad in a pot of boiling water and eat it with butter That sounds like a joke, but it's actually not LOL! Many a pet crawdad has turned into food in my house.

Deep fried crawfish bites are also pretty darn tastey