Freshwater Yabbies care sheet
HISTORY: (Cherax Destructor) The Australian Freshwater Yabby ranges through parts of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and even the Northern Territory. More commonly called the blue claw, we have recently started to supply electric blue yabbies. They have a superb bright blue colour very similar in colour to the electric blue marrons. The electric blue yabby can be treated in the same manner as the blue claw yabby and are an excellent pet.
Yabbies are Crustacean, which means they have a hard exoskeleton, shell; periodically this shell will be shed to allow the yabbies to grow. Yabbies are freshwater crayfish and hey can grow up to 20cm.
DIET & WATER: Being great scavengers they will generally accept most foods they come across.
Yabbies love to eat meat; therefore sinking protein pellets are essential, to their diet and nutrition.
Vegetable matter is also important for yabbies; don’t be surprised to see your aquarium plants being minced up with their pincers.
Being great scavengers, yabbies are also very effective predators, it is best to be careful about what fish you put into the tank with the Yabby.
Like fish yabbies breathe using gills, the water must be of good quality and well aerated. Being messy eaters, good filtration and regular water changes are important.
Although yabbies can tolerate a wide range of pH, like most aquatics they will not tolerate sudden fluctuations or extremes this can lead to deaths.
Recommended water conditions: Yabbies will do best at temperatures between 12-20C, pH 7.0-8.0, General Hardness 50-300ppm
Make sure you have plenty of rocks, logs and ornaments, because yabbies love to hide. Gravel is the best substrate as yabbies love to dig. Yabbies also love to renovate their environment it is advisable not stack rocks etc. too high.
Probably the most import thing about the yabby tank is to make sure it is secure, as these little creatures are the best ESCAPE ARTISTS.
Yabbies will happily breed in captivity, and often make good parents with many offspring surviving. Consider this when buying 2 or more yabbies for a small tank. Will you have adequate room for this growing family?