The crayfish is one of the hardiest and most Territorial aquarium animals. This means they could withstand so many conditions and situations, and they are also aggressive to many animals and also to themselves sometimes. Although they are kept alone in a tank sometimes, sometimes they tend to display some behaviours that could be interpreted as them feeling lonely and many people have concluded that these animals could feel bored and lonely when they are alone. So in this article, I will enlighten you on the possibility of a crayfish being lonely.
Do Crayfish get lonely? Crayfish are not social animals and do not tolerate each other very much because they are territorial. There is no way they could feel lonely.
Crayfish are the most territorial and aggressive crustacean, and they could hardly tolerate any animal, even themselves, that’s why they don’t have many suitable tank mates.
Because of their level of aggression, aquarists shy away from keeping many of them together in a tank, unless the tank is very large and could contain all of them having their territory.
Again, crayfish could hardly be seen with each other relating, unless when they want to mate, etc.
So, crayfish don’t relate much with other animals, for instance, you might see a group of fish together, but you can only see a group of crayfish together only when they are fighting or when they are mating or preparing to lay eggs.
The only ones that relate a little are the opposite sex, like the male and the female mating, or the male guarding the entrance of their burrow, while the female lay her eggs, etc.
Apart from these, they don’t relate much.
The gap is wider between male and male crayfish than male and female etc, so the male could easily become aggressive among themselves and the females among themselves too.
So, from every indication, they don’t feel lonely without their fellow crayfish nor fish, or other animals because they could comfortably live in a tank all alone.
But sometimes it looks as if they are lonely after their tank mate is removed.
Well, this could be from our imagination.
The fact is, they like to explore things and could act as if they are social by engaging any tank mate they might have by pinching them, etc.
All these are just out of curiosity, so they should have many things to explore in their tank Which could keep them busy while all alone, such as caves, substrates to burrow, gravels, pipes, etc.
With all these above, your crayfish will be very active all alone because it will always be busy exploring and moving from one cave or pipe, etc to another, and won’t have the time to be dull, unless it’s about to Molt or sick, So Crayfish don’t feel lonely.
Can Crayfish Live Alone?
Crayfish are very territorial and aggressive to all animals and even to themselves too, so they prefer to live alone than be with themselves and other animals too.
They are lone animals and do better when alone.
The fact is, you can keep a single crayfish, and you can also keep as many as you like in the tank, but for the fact that the tank will have enough space to occupy them all and have them establish their territories, they will be fine.
With a large tank, they will be fine, but they are likely to fight because they might likely invade each other’s territory or grab food, etc.
So, if you ask me, I will recommend keeping not more than 10 in a 20 Gallon tank because of aggression.
Can Crayfish Get Bored?
No, crayfish don’t get bored. They are active fish and could only become dull and sluggish when they are sick or are about to Molt.
Crayfish don’t get bored, that’s why they could easily live alone without having any issues.
They are very active and love exploring, so, they only need certain things such as caves, gravel, etc that they could be exploring and which will be keeping them engaged.
Although with or without hiding places and other things that could keep them engaged, they won’t still get bored, with those things in place, your crayfish will become far more active than when it had nothing to explore.
Conclusion
Crayfish are alone creatures, they neither feel lonely nor bored, so, you can comfortably keep a single crayfish if you want and it will still be alright.
