I caught a few in a wire crab trap and want to keep them until I can have enough for a meal for several people. I don't know how long they will stay alive in this wire holding pot. And, do I need to feed them?
2007-06-25 16:15:17 · 0 answers · asked by pupmom 1 in Sports ➔ Outdoor Recreation ➔ Fishing
I've run into this myself.Keep them in a holding cage,and if you can put them in the water with a chicken neck or two in the pen with the crabs. The chicken will last a long time so food isn't an issue.IMPORTANT.Keep your keeper cage deep enough that the crabs are not constantly in direct sunlight. I have mine submerged under my boat slip pier, and weight it down with some small lead fishing weights to keep it submerged about 3 feet and in the "shade" underneath the slip/pier. The crabs will live at least several weeks this way... I have been doing it this way for over 15+ years....Happy crabbing!
2007-06-26 09:34:06 · answer #1 · answered by JD 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Throw the crabs some fish heads or scraps and they will live until winter gets here where as they would need to hibernate. We kept blue crabs we caught throughout the Summer months in a trap tied to our dock in Southeast TX. We just added a fish head or two once or twice a week to keep em fat.
2007-06-25 17:46:07 · answer #2 · answered by steve s 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If the holding pot is submerged in saltwater, they could stay there a few days without feeding them. Outside of water, they will live for about a day. In fresh water, the crabs died within an hour. If you are planning to keep them in the pot for more than a few days, throw in chicken legs.
2007-06-26 01:33:23 · answer #3 · answered by mac 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Generally, unfed; they have a few days. The prob w/ keeping blues in a closed pen is usually water contamination, etc... but if they have lots of good food and they're in a pen (out in the water), they should be good for a while.
BTW, a pen is flat and rectangular. If they're on top of one another, they dont care for that.
2007-06-27 17:19:12 · answer #4 · answered by Oprah's Minge 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are circulating in new water, they will be fine. Otherwise, just dump in a new batch of water (5 gallons) every 8 hours. Otherwise they will use up all the oxygen in the water and die.
you can give them little scraps of chicken or turkey, but they can go for days without food.
2007-06-25 19:15:08 · answer #5 · answered by Greg L 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋