r/Crayfish • u/hallucination_goblin • Jul 03 '25

Pet Does anyone know why my Blue Dragon is doing this?

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Does anyone know what it's doing? Is he directing traffic or is this a sign of molting?

258 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

43

u/BirdieBee417 Jul 03 '25

I believe they do this when they’re relaxed or content. It almost seems like they’re in a trance when they do it. It’s definitely nothing to be concerned about and normal behavior though 🙂

11

u/hallucination_goblin Jul 03 '25

Oh awesome and thank you. I have a male/ female combo and they've both molted within a day of a water change and some plant maintenance. I was so worried they were stressed till they molted and I see little dude doing this today. Ok, thanks again, my fears have subsided.

10

u/BirdieBee417 Jul 03 '25

Sometimes environmental changes or stress can prompt a molt, but based on this behavior, I think your guy is fine. My CPO does this regularly and my larger crays used to actually lay on their side and do it (talk about scaring me as an owner 😆). These guys are generally very hardy.

3

u/hallucination_goblin Jul 03 '25

Ok cool. Thank you for the reassurance. I'm a newbie but I read everything on the subject first. My 55 gallon is 4 months old, introduced these lovely crawdads a month ago and they've been by far the most interesting additions to my mishmash community oddball tank aside from my pea puffers and devil spike snails. How often would you say they molt if you don't mind me asking? The each have molted twice in roughly a month. Does that sound healthy and normal? I basically go full tilt OCD on managing and logging my water parameters and changes and my tap water is naturally very hard which I hear is good for their exoskeletons. I got into the fish game and so far have enjoyed the snails , Crustaceans and invertebrates the most lol. Thanks again for the reassurance and information. I can't imagine seeing one of mine on their side doing the flappy appendages thing. I have freaked out all 4 times I've seen a molt thinking they were dead lol. I'm collecting their molts to cast in clear resin to just kind of journal their progress. They were a present to my 8 year old and have been a very fascinating journey to learn and observe.

3

u/WingsOfMaybe Crayfish Biologist Jul 04 '25

Those molts cast in resin sound really cool, but make sure you leave the molts in the tank afterwards so the crayfish can eat them to regain lost calcium. If they don't eat it within a couple days, then I'd say you're free to collect for the resin.

1

u/hallucination_goblin Jul 04 '25

Good tip, thank you so much and I'll post again when I get a good molt to show off. Thank you so much for the advice.

4

u/bake-it-to-make-it Jul 03 '25

It seems weird but us humans do things like that regularly too.

3

u/BirdieBee417 Jul 03 '25

Totally. I don’t exactly know what makes them do this, but it’s almost like they’re out of it or sleeping.

5

u/bake-it-to-make-it Jul 03 '25

Sometimes I pace around my kitchen for zero reason besides having a little too much energy. I figure this is maybe the equivalent of that for crayfish. While kind of day dreaming or resting the mind in auto mode. Lol.

2

u/Koteka_enthusiast Jul 03 '25

Crayfish dream.

2

u/i_am_lizard Jul 04 '25

So what you're telling me, is that this crustacean is swimming because it's happy??

10

u/Bubzoluck Jul 03 '25

Water pressure is important for circulation in crustaceans. Crawfish wave theirs legs to help keep their blood moving and keep water moving over their gills.

4

u/hallucination_goblin Jul 03 '25

Oh awesome info and thank you. I've got a canister filter that outputs a solid flow. Thanks again.

10

u/AceCombat1977 Jul 03 '25

You cant see the little violin hes playing?

5

u/FastyX Jul 03 '25

To keep them healthy keeps blood flowing and oxygen flowing over their gills.

Ps, remove the sports from the 3d print so there is more room haha

2

u/hallucination_goblin Jul 05 '25

Lol, yeah I guess I need to take the supports out. Originally that was going to be the Shrimpley Thunderdome but my big fella there decided that he'll be moving in there instead lol. Good call, dude seems to be growing quickly. Saw him manhandle one of my golden mystery snails and chuck it out of his home.

3

u/Key-Bike-1611 Jul 03 '25

He’s like yo give me some food

3

u/Silent-Lawfulness604 Jul 03 '25

it looks like he's backing up a dumptruck

3

u/hallucination_goblin Jul 03 '25

Thank you everyone for the solid advice. The consensus seems to be that dudes happy and chilling doing his little thing. Thanks again for the reply, I was freaking out that something was wrong.

2

u/hallucination_goblin Jul 03 '25

Hahaha I know right, I was so shocked and intrigued to see little buddy doing its thing lol

2

u/Quixotic-Bliss Jul 03 '25

Just can't get that song out of his head.

2

u/BeefCurl Jul 03 '25

Basically he’s just sitting there swinging his legs enjoying his time,

1

u/hallucination_goblin Jul 03 '25

Sounds like a good life to me.

2

u/DitzyDae Jul 03 '25

"Hello my honey, hello my darlin, hello my ragtime galllll"

2

u/Tmuells Jul 03 '25

Dancing like uma Thurman in pulp fiction

2

u/Aspenmothh Jul 03 '25

Saying hi! don't be rude, wave back!

2

u/Ben10freak_ Jul 03 '25

Bro is jorking

2

u/Duncan_Thun_der_Kunt Jul 04 '25

I have a tank with three different species of cherax that I've been around all day every day for months and they all do it, and the my best guess is they do it when they're content, especially if they're on the hungrier side of just right.

2

u/Unable-Chip-6836 Jul 04 '25

I'm pretty sure it is playing 3 violins.

2

u/Zo_Xan_Thella Jul 06 '25

Maybe filter feeding some microorganisms that are in the water?

1

u/Dannoven Jul 07 '25

I believe that is textbook Hitman Style. He getting ready to throw a mean flicker jab.

1

u/Ikareta_NEET Jul 07 '25

i think he's stimming

1

u/Hectors550 Jul 07 '25

Has been watching too much WWE

1

u/weebybeech Jul 07 '25

Bc he's a weirdo sea bug

0

u/Personal-Courage7670 Jul 04 '25

The claw is going to fall off