The 'feeder cray' miscalculation.

A couple of weekends ago we re-visited our favourite pet store to top up our supply of frozen turtle food. While we were there having a bit of a look around (it's just like going to a zoo, minus the admission fee, so we always make the most of our visits!), we decided that it might be a good idea to buy some live food too, so off we went to the aquarium section. Figuring that our two turtles would really like munching on small crayfish ('feeder crays'), we bought 10 of them and headed home.

Now this calculation of mine turned out to be wrong, for a couple of reasons. First, the feeder crays really liked their new lodgings and after looking around for a little while, they started making themselves at home by hiding in the nooks and crannies around the logs we have in the tank and by excavating small burrows in the gravel. Here are some shots of the feeder crays becoming familiar with their new surroundings...



Second, although it is true that our turtles were interested in the new arrivals, it was soon clear that they didn't quite know what to do with them, which leads me to reason number three - it turns out that live food with claws are quite good at defending themselves, so our turtles soon learnt that the feeder crays did not represent an easy meal. These shots show what a typical early interaction between the crays and the turtles looked like - the turtle approaches carefully, often from behind, before retreating hastily after being nipped!



Fast forward a few more weeks and we now have turtles and feeder crays as pets. Although our turtles have grown, so too have the feeder crays, and, coupled with their feisty personalities I think it is now pretty clear that they're not going to get munched anytime soon.



The outcome of this miscalculation of mine isn't so bad though, because feeding times are now even more exciting to watch. Not only are the turtles desperate to get as much food as possible before it is intercepted by the feeder crays at the bottom of the tank, but they also have to watch out for the occasional nip!



I'm still hoping that the turtles will eventually get the idea and maybe even team up to 'take care' of the feeder cray problem, but for the moment (and while they're still small enough to hide out in the tank) the feeder crays seem to be content in making a home for themselves in our tank. Stay tuned...