Lobster/Crayfish 20th Edition

Originally Posted by slowhand35

For P. clarkii, slowly cool them down to 16 or 17 C. that's about low 60's F. keep them there a couple weeks seperated. After a couple weeks start putting them together. It may take a time or two but they will lock up.
I have had them lock up in a bucket while moving them to a small breeding tank.
Good luck.
Always watch them when putting them together for signs of damage.
Also, be sure you have an adult male in breeding form.

is there any way to have the female have a higher chance of berrying? such as removing male and placing it in sep tank..
anything of that sort?

do your females berry inside the bottle?!

well i personally havent yet have any hands on epxerience...but i read from

crayfishmates that moulting does play a part in whether they're in breeding form

or none breeding form.

Originally Posted by fannn

is there any way to have the female have a higher chance of berrying? such as removing male and placing it in sep tank..
anything of that sort?

do your females berry inside the bottle?!

to fannn;
I think there's not much effects for rate of berrying when u remove the male

and place it in a sep.tank. because this is all about whether your tank

conditions are optimum for the female to extract to sperms left by the male to

fertilize her eggs. as to females berrying in the bottle that would be imho very

hard. They have to mate before she can get berried.

This will cover a couple things.
Form I and II are breeding and non breeding they change after molting it can get confusing when dealing with different types of crays, eg. Cherax, Procambarus, etc. Learn the forms for each type, using a jewelers eyepiece works very well, you can use both hands and magnify an area, I have also seen forehead mounted swivel magnifying lenses.
Bottom line, if you can't see it clearly, you can't make the call.
The soft gonopods thing may be a bit dangerous, being soft they can be easily damaged from touching.

After you witness breeding always remove the male, if not he will continue to mate with the female. Every time he mates with her he removes the previous sperm plug and places a new one resulting in an unfertilized female.
After several matings, you will start to notice missing legs etc. When a pair has been together a while and the female starts looking beat up, it is usually from several breeding attempts at night.

The female will have a higher chance of berrying if you remove the male and do not induce molting with water changes, temp. changes, etc.
If she molts after mating see will lose the sperm plug, if she molts after berrying, see will lose the eggs and possibly die, I have seen them die from berry molts several times. Once see berrys, leave her alone, no decorating, cleaning etc.
She will release the young soon enough.
I know some of you just use an air stone in your tanks. The breeding and berry tank needs a decent air driven sponge filter because you will not be changing water until the young are released.

The females will berry in the bottles.
The bottles are mainly for damage control to stop them from getting damaged or killed by another cray while raising or breeding. The female has to be released with the male and allowed to mate first, then she is placed back in the bottle. Then she can berry in the bottle, the young will hatch are crawl out the holes and sink to the tank floor. See berried females in pics.




These are things that I do and work for me, I hope some of this is useful.

[Gus]

Wa lau the male Kill my female but is a good learning lesson.

Will look out for another female and condition her for 3 weeks befre intro her to the male.

I believe i will breed the white cray

Originally Posted by dnsfpl

good luck...mate ah

[Gus]

Good information. this is what we call Condition them

Originally Posted by slowhand35

For P. clarkii, slowly cool them down to 16 or 17 C. that's about low 60's F. keep them there a couple weeks seperated. After a couple weeks start putting them together. It may take a time or two but they will lock up.
I have had them lock up in a bucket while moving them to a small breeding tank.
Good luck.
Always watch them when putting them together for signs of damage.
Also, be sure you have an adult male in breeding form.

[dnsfpl]

Originally Posted by Gus

Wa lau the male Kill my female but is a good learning lesson.

Will look out for another female and condition her for 3 weeks befre intro her to the male.

I believe i will breed the white cray

my female killed my female
then the same female killed my male
now that same female lost 3 legs...but not sure if the new male is the culprit

good luck to us bwhaha

Originally Posted by Gus

Good information. this is what we call Condition them

but 16-17 degree in sg...quite difficult to achieve unless air con room + ice bottles

[Gus]

Ya thats why i'm planing to bring it back to my office temp there 16/17

Originally Posted by dnsfpl

my female killed my female
then the same female killed my male
now that same female lost 3 legs...but not sure if the new male is the culprit

good luck to us bwhaha



but 16-17 degree in sg...quite difficult to achieve unless air con room + ice bottles

Originally Posted by Gus

Wa lau the male Kill my female but is a good learning lesson.

Will look out for another female and condition her for 3 weeks befre intro her to the male.

I believe i will breed the white cray

hey if your breeds are nice...pm me k? hehehe

I realize alot of people have cooling problems, winter is the best time to do this in areas of high temps.
If you can find a small used apt. size refrigerator you can make a cheap chiller with a power head and some 1/2 inch tubing.
Used 2 feet tall apt. refrigerators sell here in the news paper for $50.00 to $75.00 usd.
They make great budget chillers.

well you cant exactly apply that in singapore...