Many crayfish and dwarf crayfish are omnivorous. They consume food of plant and animal origin. First of all, all species of dwarf crayfish from the genus Cambarellus belong to this group. Well-known and popular representatives here are the orange dwarf crayfish Cambarellus patzcuarensis "orange", also known as CPO, and Cambarellus shufeldtii, Cambarellus diminutus, Cambarellus texanus and so on. While these dwarf crayfish always need brown fall foliage and they also eat plant debris and algae, they are also very fond of protein foods such as freeze-dried water fleas, special foods for Cambarellus, crayfish sticks, and of course general protein foods such as wafers and tabs. The same applies to North American crayfish such as Procambarus alleni, the Florida swamp crayfish, the now unfortunately banned in the EU Procambarus clarkii, to Cambarus c rayfish and also to the European noble crayfish Astacus astacus and the stone crayfish. So they all need a balanced mixed diet. Australian Cherax species, for example Cherax destructor, the Yabby, and Cherax quadricarinatus, also known as Quadri, also prefer a varied mix of plant and animal foods. They are not harmed by a certain amount of protein in their diet.
However, it should always be noted that the proteins should be as close as possible to the natural diet of the animals, i.e., from aquatic animals such as fish, water fleas and other small crustaceans, and from insects and insect larvae rather than from cow and pig. Water snails fit perfectly into the natural food spectrum of the crayfish and are also a popular snack for crayfish and dwarf crayfish in the wild.
The situation is completely different with the beautiful Cherax crayfish species from Papua and Papua New Guinea. Animals like the Irian Jaya crayfish, i.e. the Cherax pulcher and the Cherax warsamsonicus, the Blue Moon or the Red Brick should receive protein from suitable sources like insects and aquatic animals as juveniles in order to grow up healthy, but with the adult crayfish the situation is quite different. A diet too high in protein can have very negative consequences for the crayfish and lead to molting problems, which would ultimately end in the premature death of the Papuan Cherax. So they should be fed clearly vegetarian and only very rarely get some frozen food for example. A good way to solve this dilemma is to keep food snails in the crayfish aquarium with the Cherax from Papua. This way the animals can easily help themselves to the protein-rich snails and cover their needs to the point.
Also important for crayfish: mineral food helps to build up the carapace . In addition to chitin (which is supplied by insects and small crustaceans such as water fleas), the shell also contains calcium. Crayfish need to meet their calcium requirements from food, so a suitable mineral food is really important, especially when approaching molting. If there is a mineral deficiency, the crayfish's shell will remain soft and they will not survive molting.