How to Care for Pet Crawdads

Crawdads, which resemble tiny, freshwater lobsters, are available at relatively low prices through pet stores and even through online mail-order catalogues. These animals can live many years and exhibit a variety of fascinating behaviors. Because crawdads can eat almost any food (living or dead), they remain surprisingly easy to keep.

Things You'll Need

  • Two-gallon (at least) aquarium habitat or tank with lid
  • Special crawdad diet, shrimp pellets, tropical fish food and/or algae wafers
  • Live or plastic plants
  • Driftwood, ceramic or rock hiding places
  • Freshwater treatment solution (available at pet stores)
  • Small fishnet
  • Critter carrier or other small temporary environment, like a bowl
  • Measuring pitcher
  • Colander
  • Scrubbrush
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Instructions

  1. Habitat Set-Up

    • 1

      Rinse out an aquarium or tank with tap water.

    • 2

      Line the tank-bottom with at least 1/2 in. of aquarium gravel. Root and position plants and rock hiding places in and around the gravel.

    • 3

      Fill the tank with at least 1/2 gallon of water. You need not fill the tank all the way to the top.

    • 4

      Add freshwater treatment solution, measured according to bottle instructions. Allow water to rest for at least two hours or as prescribed by bottle instructions.

    • 5

      Add a crawdad. Be aware that you will likely have trouble finding your crawdad for a while, as these animals prefer to spend much of their time (especially in new or foreign places) in hiding. Crawdads are also most active at night, which might also cause you to miss them during daylight hours. Remember to keep the tank's lid on at all times, as a crawdad could crawl up and out of the tank.

    Feeding

    • 6

      Drop one pellet/disc/pinch of food into the tank each day. Crawdads prefer to eat at night, but once the food enters the water, the animal will be able to smell that it's there. Your crawdad will eat when it's ready.

    • 7

      Increase the amount of food you offer as your crawdad grows. Proceed slowly. Do not overfeed.

    • 8

      Replace live plants if and when they are eaten by the crawdad.

    • 9

      Remain calm if your crawdad doesn't seem to be eating for several days. That just means it is not hungry. Keep an eye on its feeding habits through trial and error and see what kind of feeding schedule your pet prefers.

    Habitat Cleaning

    • 10

      Wash and rinse your hands thoroughly.

    • 11

      Remove your crawdad with a small fishnet, placing it in a critter carrier or other small temporary environment (like a bowl) filled with pretreated water. If possible, find something heavy to cover most of the container's open surface in order to prevent the crawdad from crawling out.

    • 12

      Pour half of the water in the tank into a sink or toilet. Remove plants and rock hiding places and set them aside. Pour remaining water into a sink colander, allowing gravel to fall into the colander's basin. You may also remove gravel with a fishnet and pour remaining water into a toilet.

    • 13

      Rinse the tank, gravel, rock and plants with warm tapwater. Scrub the surfaces. Do not use soap or any other cleaners on any items.

    • 14

      Repeat steps from "Habitat Set-Up" section.

    • 15

      Clean the habitat at least twice a month, or whenever the water seems cloudy or dirty.