My female blue cray escaped last night, I found her on her side approx. two/three feet from the tank in the closet on her side moving claws slowly. Estimated to be outside the tank a max of three hours or less. We put her in shallow water w/ a rock allowing it to submerse herself at will. It was responsive only in moving it's claws/legs and "feelers" sluggishly and in an uncoordinated fashion. She will at times have various legs curled inward (like an expired insect) and has spent most of the time on it's side or back but moving positions slightly. She was moved to a hospital tank eight hours later, her coloring is still vibrant with only slight browning. Approx. four hours later we added "stresscoat" and "stresszyme" to the tank. She appeared to have some improvement in motorfunctions and has since righted itself and eaten a few bites of a shrimp pellet before accidently dropping it, then displaying much energy in an attempt to retrieve it by moving mostly all of her legs and turning in a circle. We had sprayed the perimeter of the room with Suspend SC, a Deltamethrin pesticide that is of pyrethoid compounds, about a month prior to introducing the tank. It is residual and I found the lobster in a location of where we had sprayed which leads me to believe she has been poisoned by it. It is toxic to aquatic lifeforms and may attack the central nervous system. Is it possible she will be capable of recovering from this or is her fate ultimately sealed and therefore unnecessarily cruel to continue our attempt at saving her? Please, any feedback or knowledge of this would be helpful. Thank you kindly.

thats a 50/50 and your ultimate decision, if its residual and it got into it then it got infected to some extent. if it attacks the CNS then what you are observing is probably the most you will ever see, its in a semi paralized state for now and as it gets deeper into the CNS you will see all motor functions cease, it sounds like she got a small amount.

I am not sure on this but this is what I think.

also crays can be out of water for alot longer then that and be fine. I use them as bait and keep them in a cooler with a little mud on the bottom but have had some escape to greet me at the bathroom door at 430am with claws held high like its his house or something. 3-4 hours would not cause what you are witnessing.

You see it in other bugs that are inverts, an aquatic invert is no different less it lives mainly in water and will react the same way.