Breeding Instructions/Tips/Info

I've found very little reliable or consistent information on the internet, and what I have found is (for me at least) not enough to rely on before attempting to breed these crays. However, my friend Mike who has had several batches of beautiful crays (some of which I am in possession of now) helped me out:

First, you'll need to have 2 sexually mature adults. Breeding can start at as early as 2", but it'd be safer to wait until your crays were at least 3-3.5" in length. Additionally, you will need a male that is in Form I and not Form II to breed, you can tell what Form your male is in by looking at the sex organs. See picture below:


Form I on the left
Form II on the right
Close-ups in the middle

If you don't feel like being a pervert and looking at crayfish sex organs you can use the trial and error method:

Take a female that's ready to mate (discussed later on) and introduce her to the male. If the male is in Form I, they should mate within the first half hour of introduction (often within the first 10 minutes). However, you'll need to stay close with a net or something similar because if the male is in Form II they will likely begin to fight with each other. If they fight or show disinterest in each other for an extended period of time, remove the male (or if you have a tank divider, divide the tank) from the presence of the female. They male should molt shortly (within a few days or weeks) after getting a whiff of the female, and then he'll be in Form I.

Now, how to tell when your female is ready to mate. If a female is interested in mating her glair glands will start to show up on her tail. These are little white markings that show up on the last segments of the tail, there are 5 of these. Now, these markings aren't always very pronounced and the female can mate when her glair glands aren't showing. It's just more likely that she will pursue the male rather than avoid him if her glair glands are showing.

Now, if mating is occurring you should let them continue to do so for several times (leave them alone for about an hour at max). After that you'll need to separate them again, otherwise the male is just constantly replacing his own sperm plug and the female will never have a chance to produce a berry. After you've separated them you should have a berry within a few days, but it can take longer. If you haven't seen a berry for about a month you'll need to re-introduce them and start the process all over again. But hopefully, you'll have a nice brood coming along by the end of this process!

Information & Pics From: bluecrayfish.com