Ok, my mum has obtained a lobster from Sharon as it kept eating all her fish! My mum had a spare tank so we arranged for her to have it. Mum's never had a lobster before and chatted to Sharon about what it eats etc and she was quite happy with it.

She rung me at work yesterday to say it has escaped We didnt know this at the time but apparently they are escape artists and this one has proven just that. The thing is she daren't sit down incase it nips her bum! Ive been told they can only live 11 hours out of water, but then I was also told 5 days and 7 days so now Im not sure! Anyone else got a lobster or know much about them. Mums had the house upside down looking for it, I said it would probably crawl up her bed in the night if it got cold!

Omg LMAO :D

I said if she finds it to keep it frozen and Ill cook it - lobster is soooo expensive!! Grow yer own - thats what I say!!

LOL :D Eeeeew them tenticle thingys freak me out!

I'll never forget seeing a David Attenborough programme on them, it was totally amazing. They really are incredible creatures - hope your mum manages to avoid the nipped bum though!! ;)

"LOL  Eeeeew them tenticle thingys freak me out! "

I keep forgetting what they are called and calling them testicles!!

I've seen them live for days when kept in the fridge. I know how to catch them, cook them and eat them :-D.

Theres a way to catch them? Yikes...better warn mum!!

Lobsters are so yummy, you must hold firmly over their backs so the tails dont flap at you and the claws cant get you.
Yep, I have handled plenty and crabs too.

Can I book you round at me mams??

Well at least on dry land you have the advantage! LOL Some of the lobsters I used to catch while diving were so big all you could do was hang on while they walked off with you in tow. Thankfully, California Spiny's don't have claws.

How big are these things? and more importantly - when's dinner!!

Its about 8 inches long....do you really think I could cook it?

I've never met one that I wouldn't eat but then I've never had one as a pet. Different lobsters are better for eating than others. I'd check on what kind you have first. I found this site which tells you about a species importance to fisheries. You could look yours up and see what they say about it providing you know what they are. 8" doesn't sound like a very big feast though if that's the entire length.

Did I read somewhere that they should be put into the freezer for a few hours before they're put into the boiling water, so that they die quicker?

Yes, you put them into the freezer first, to put them into a coma, before putting them into the boiling water.

So explained my bro-in-law when he was cooking lobster for the fathers day barbecue this year...

I've got my plate, knife and fork ready, just give me a call when you have caught it!

Perhaps he's gone to commit harry carry after being seperated from his dinner in the fish tanks...Boil a big pot of water and see if he jumps in!!! LOL :P :P :P

I remember once, we had a lobster in the tank :-D It escaped and we couldn't find it, i searched everywhere :-D It had climbed out of the tank and was hiding behind the cabinet :-) It was always escaping LOL :-D

Mmmmmm....Lobster! *drools*

That lobster would have a short shelf life in my house, i can tell you :D :D

And here as it is my top three of all time favourite foods :D

I have never tried lobster, would love to though.  So whos going to cook it for me :D :D :D

It is such a delicate flavour and texture

It is really easy to do ! The best Lobster I have ever had was in NZ. So simply cooked in butter and garlic but it was so fresh that I am droolng just thinking about it :rolleyes: I was speechless through out the course :D

The cheats way is next time you are in Tescos or Sainsburys they do prepared lobsters ;) Expensive but sssoooo good ;) 

Go on treat yourself :)

Lucy
xx

Sorry to put a damper on things, but if it's in a freshwater tank it'll be a crayfish.  Hopefully a legal one ;) 

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=106  scroll down the page to find info on crayfish and a link to identify it

I wouldn't ever recommend eating a fish that has been kept in an aquarium as you really don't know whether it has been treated with something poisonous to humans.  Add to that the recent research revealing SALMONELLA and other bugs in many home tropical aquariums and it doesn't bear thinking about

Again SORRY to be a killjoy but I'd hate to logon and find that any of you were in hospital with food poisoning and I could have said something ;)

I really fancy eating Lobster, (Lucy I'm drooling here :) )but can't really justify the expense just for me, the family really don't fancy it at all.  Anyone want to come for dinner? :)

Ah now, having been brought up with these things. A father who brought home the less saleable ones etc....A crayfish to any true local fishing community islander is something else. A grey coloured huge great lobster like creature that is so delicious and rare that you really do have to be be in 'the know'...Lobsters are known as 'blueys' as they are a rich indigo colour when fresh out of the water and not red until they have been cooked.
Karen

I love the taste of lobster but ever since i saw that programme i wouldn't eat one. They are amazing creatures. Guess that makes me in the minority but there we go! :D

I believe now it's meant to be cruel to kill them in boiling water, a friend's mother had one years ago and had to keep poking the lobster back in as it was trying to climb out - I see that as being cruel.  Most  chefs seem to kill it with a knife in a particular place. If lobster meat wasn't from an animal I'd be eating it most of the time though :P

Lindsay
x

OOOh yes we have a couple of places around here that do fresh Lobster

We also have a plentiful supply of fresh water crayfish as well from the local brook :)

I will be a willing dinner member if you fancy it :D

Lucy
xx

Still no sign of the lobster! I think mum is just waiting for a smell now! :rolleyes:

What do you mean a legal one? It was bought from a local aquarium...surely its legal from there?

I suspect by now it is as us aquatic fans who have a 'thing' for creatures who escape  (ive got shrimp and eels) say,  'at one with the dust bunnies'....

Its not a lobster, for a start. Its either a crayfish or a type of shrimp, more n likely a crayfish if its been eating other fish.

In the uk there are very VERY few species of crayfish that are legal to keep and sell in the pet trade, because most crayfish come from temperate waters and can easily survive in our own river and stream systems.

Where sadly they wreak havoc, spreading disease our own native crays are not capable of surviving, whilst taking over the habitat and reproducing like mad.

And nope just because something is bought in a local fish shop does not mean its necessarily legal, these things slip thruogh the net (lol.... sorry), ESPECIALLY when small time pet shops with a fish section (and even much bigger stores who should know better) frequently DONT know exactly what they are selling and thus wouldnt know if its illegal or not.

Em

So it could still be alive????????????? OMG!!!

thanks Theemx :D

You saved me typing all that :D :D

The link I gave gives information on the legality of owning these things and also a really good link to identifying what you have.  Strangely, it may not be illegal to import it but illegal to stock, sell, buy or own it :rolleyes:  all of which make it very confusing for the poor innocent who sees one in an aquarium shop and decides to buy it :(  shop owners may or may not know whether it's legal but OMHO they have no excuse for not knowing, the information is out there and it's their business after all, and they will take the money for these critters ;)   (and don't get me started on selling tankbusters to innocent people! )
The ways of DEFRA are mysterious indeed :rolleyes:

Hasnt it been found yet??

Erm.... No! Fraid not! lol:rolleyes:

ARRRRRRRRRRRGH tankbusters.....

sorry but... my nearest shop are AWFUL, above adn beyond the selling of goldfish along with tiny bowls, selling brackish water puffers as fresh water AND keeping them in a tank with a male betta (which, by the time i got hacked off waiting for the woman to move, i moved mySELF to a safer tank, resembled a blue and red carrot with no fins at all()...

They sell piranhas... baby piranhas. They keep them in the front of the shop in a display tank with NO cover at all, nothing to hide behind except the filter cables. Sell them to anyone, never point out how shy they are, how stressed they can get kept like this...how BIG they actually grow and that they are a schooling fish and need to be kept in fairly large groups..... and....

feed them live goldfish... during the day.... when the shop is filled with people.

End result that day was a goldfish with lumps missing from it but still alive, highly stressed and five baby p's hungry and excitable but too nervous to actually eat. Asides from the fact that i believe live feeding is illegal (not sure), to do it in such a way taht increases the stress for both species and do it as a public spectacle, it is a really BAD way to feed p's goldfish are full of disease and not particularly nutritious either..... it beggars beliefe, but when i report them, no one wants to know, fish apparently Dont Count (although the tortoises and birds being sold without correct licences also dont appear to count).

Grr! and the apparently accepted practice of people buying fish (arrowanas, RTC's, pacus, gars etc) that they cannot only not house at adult size but in fact have no INTENTION of attemptin to either, just getting rid whent hey get too big appalls me. I made a mistake, i bought a gibbiceps plec.... and when i discovered he could make between 12" - 24".... i bought a bigger tank!

Em

My friend has a huge tank as part of her living room wall.  They had some lovely big fish (Cyclids) but despite taking a lot of care lost them all over time, in the end they were left with 3 huge Plecs :D  When these died after many years, they restocked the tank with little neons.

I just assumed salt water tank. Are they really uncommon over here? I had a friend with a couple of pet lobsters and they did a pretty good job on his fish. I can't remember but I think he did eat them in the end.

Now at Scripps we had a real escape artist; an octopus. He used to sneak out during the night and help himself to the lobsters. Of course the students got blamed for a long time until we figured out what was happening. :-D piggy cephalopod

>piggy cephalopod

:D :D :D

All the chefs I work with are particularly squeamish about killing lobsters. Thank goodness I'm not a chef cos I wouldnt do it. Yes there is a correct (humane) way of despatching them. Gross Have you found it yet by the way?? I remember when my terrapin escaped, we found her days later under the bed, rather dried up!!!! My mum asked if I wanted her to make it into a brooch! Mothers hey?

Erm.... nope not found it yet! Do they smell once they have died?

Er... I would say thats a YES:rolleyes: Poor you!

lol, at least Ill know that its actually dead and not waiting to nip my bum when Im on the loo or climbing into mum and dads bed!!

ROFL @ >Piggy cephalopod< :D :D

Has it been found yet? Dead or alive?

Not yet!!

Good grief! You must be able to smell it by now unless it's done a runner into the great outdoors. Any of the dogs been burping fishy burps lately?? :-D

aaww are you sure they can live out of the water this length of time?

Has it been found yet?
My dad had 1 wen we was younger called robbie as my sis was a huge fan of takethat at the time,ars kept escaping and eating our fish so my dad took it back the petshop and swapped it for some fish.I was gutted 1 loved our lobster lol
wouldnt like to be bitten by 1 tho :)

Maybe mistaken it for a SCORPION in this weather??? RFLAO!!!:P :P :P

The dog always has bad breath! Still no sign. I think its legged it outside! I must admit though when I go to their house I always keep an eye out for it!!

ITS BEEN FOUND

It was found this morning under the dining room radiator! All dry and crispy - poor thing! At least we know it hasnt gone into a stream! :rolleyes: Phew!