Crayfish are lovely creatures that make good pets. Follow these steps to be able to take care of a crayfish. 

Step 1

Get your crayfish from a pet store, fish store or a river/pond (if you are lucky). You can get red crayfish for 1~3 dollars, but other crayfish like blue crayfish are about 20 dollars.

Your crayfish may not get used to it at first.

Step 2

Get a tank or tub for your crayfish. The temperature for the water should be 70~75 Fahrenheit (21~24 Celsius.) Do not use heated aquarium for these critters. Additionally, the aquarium should have proper aeration and filtration. One crayfish needs a lot of room for himself, especially if there is another crayfish in the tank, or it will cause a fight.

*If the crayfish stays in the water for 3~6 hours in water well above their heads, they may drown.*

Step 3

Make the tank comfortable for your loving crayfish. Crayfish love to hide, burrow, and to generally be in the darkness, so you  have to create an environment that is conducive to this. Get some plants (real ones are best), gravel and sand, stones and fake logs or anything that is three-sided to make the crayfish feel safe.

Step 4

Crayfish need to have a sinking pellet food as a staple. Sinking shrimp pellets are perfect. They also like to eat vegetables as well as any decaying matter. Since fish eat shrimp pellets too, make sure you drop enough of the pellets around the crayfish's hiding place that he can get to them. He may also eat some regular fish food flakes if they make it his way, but this is not enough for him.

Step 5

Crayfish will molt their protective shell from time to time, which will make them feel more vulnerable to other crayfish or fish, so you have to take extra care with them. When they shed their shell, do not remove it, because they will actually need to eat it, or some of it, to help strengthen the new shell they are going to grow. Do not feed your crayfish when it molts, because it will only be eating its shell.

Tips

• If you want to breed crayfish, be very careful. You will have to find one that does not fight with other one and interacts well.
• Crayfish will walk backwards and raise their claws if threatened.
• Crayfish are territorial. Keeping multiple crayfish in one tank is not recommended. Do not keep them with fish small enough for them to eat or fish big enough to eat them.
• AVOID using cat food or any canned fish products. Canned fish is high in salt and preservatives and is actually MORE expensive than a three dollar container of shrimp pellets that would last a single crayfish more than a year. (If you are going to get a pet, take the effort to take care of it properly by feeding it what it needs, not cat food)
• Crayfish that are old will feed at night and the younger ones feed during the day.
• Crayfish in captivity typically live only about 2-3 years, but with proper treatment they can live to 7-8 years.
• Leave the crayfish in a dark shady space.
• Crayfish outgrow their exoskeleton from time to time and shed it in a process called molting. The hard protective shell will split down the back and the crayfish will emerge. When crayfish shed their exoskeleton, they are extremely vulnerable and will look for a place to hide. Provide plenty of cover and remove all predatory creatures (including large snails and aggressive fish). Do not handle your crayfish until a new exoskeleton is fully developed (about one week).
• Crayfish also like caves, if you can, get a small cave for your aquarium.
• Crayfish love the dark so put them in the dark whenever you can.
• They like to jump back when you touch them, so try a gentle approach, and make sure they can't leap backwards.
• They will pinch with their pincers if you don't handle them carefully.
• Crayfish love to dig, so be sure to provide sand in the tank.
• Try not to get pinched because they will pinch you whenever they want.
• The best food is fish food, but cat food and algae works,too! Canned tuna, canned sardines, or canned anchovies also work for food.