So its been about a week now without feeders and ive had him strike at cut tilapia twice but spit it out and freaked out once he knew it was alive. I know fish can go awhile without food but am i waiting too long? Also once he does decided to eat the tilapia will he continue to eat it or will it take another few days to be starving again to want it?
How long should i starve my African pike?
- Thread starter D12DetroitD12
- Start date
Fish can go a really long time without eating. I got a gar who wasn't taken care of that well previously and he just stops eating on occasion for months on end. I still offer him food daily and he'll just start eating when he feels like it. He's active and color looks great and he doesn't look underweight. As far as switching to non-live foods I would start with frozen silversides. Most fish in the wild do not only eat chunks of meat, they eat whole fish. Silversides would be more nutritious and be more realistic than a piece of tilapia. Just keep trying he should come around. I converted knifefish, a gar, and other large predatory species to eating non-live with great success. Feeding frozen is much more safe then feeding live. Freezing fish kills many parasites and bacteria. I've lost a few fish from ich and other disease when I used to feed live. Now that I only feed frozen, I've eliminated that problem. If you still insist on feeding live stay away from goldfish, they carry the most disease.
Well when i got my pike he was only eating live foods and i never really like using feeders so thats why im switching. I was going to get some silver sides when i get the chance so ill have to see how he likes that.
I've always founds that piscivores switch to krill much more readily than silversides.
A good strategy, is to get the fish to snap at the surface as soon as it hears a splash as well. I would starve the fish for a week, feed it a small feeder, then a freshly killed feeder the next day if the Odoe pike is snapping at the food without chasing it. Once you do this a couple of times, he may start going for krill.
At work, most freshwater fish will not eat silversides. The ones that do, quickly spit it back out. However, we get piscivores that adapt to frozen krill quickly in the store.
A good strategy, is to get the fish to snap at the surface as soon as it hears a splash as well. I would starve the fish for a week, feed it a small feeder, then a freshly killed feeder the next day if the Odoe pike is snapping at the food without chasing it. Once you do this a couple of times, he may start going for krill.
At work, most freshwater fish will not eat silversides. The ones that do, quickly spit it back out. However, we get piscivores that adapt to frozen krill quickly in the store.
Just my opinion
Since we (maybe I) don't know the back ground of the fish, I would make sure he is healthy and parasite free. Feed him whatever he eats.
Once he is ready...
The biggest key for me is "feeding between starvation". During this feeding, feed him minimal so he gets something in his stomach but ready to eat if interested. The more he stuffs his face, the longer he can wait for his foods (makes sense?).
The bigger he is the longer he will likely go w/out food. I would start off with 5-7 days depending on his size. Feed 1-2 small feeders and let the starving begin
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I found shrimp to be the easiest to get Pike Odoe off live and useful to soak with other foods (ie: pellets) once eating it
G/L bud
Since we (maybe I) don't know the back ground of the fish, I would make sure he is healthy and parasite free. Feed him whatever he eats.
Once he is ready...
The biggest key for me is "feeding between starvation". During this feeding, feed him minimal so he gets something in his stomach but ready to eat if interested. The more he stuffs his face, the longer he can wait for his foods (makes sense?).
The bigger he is the longer he will likely go w/out food. I would start off with 5-7 days depending on his size. Feed 1-2 small feeders and let the starving begin
.I found shrimp to be the easiest to get Pike Odoe off live and useful to soak with other foods (ie: pellets) once eating it
G/L bud
I have a group of 6 Odoes and they are all on shrimp, I got them from DB Junkie....I believe all he did was starve for a few days and they took turns hitting the shrimp as they fell to the bottom. Quite a sight to see
My two ATF's won't eat live any more. I threw in some goldfish the other day and they just stared at them.
Mine weened reather quickly, he was eating Hikari floating sticks within 2 weeks.
Started with a couple guppies on the weekend and offered stix and silverslide chunks thru-out the week - he ate everything.
Started with a couple guppies on the weekend and offered stix and silverslide chunks thru-out the week - he ate everything.
I have had luck with odoes and silver sides. Just make sure to thaw them real well and it seems to help if they float so you may want to shove a few floating pellets in them if they want to sink
