Mice for arowana - who regularly does this?

[henward]

we dont get bullfrog in our country... but to beef up arowanas,
i was thinking of feeding pinkie mice or very young mice, just when it starts to get some tiny hairs, helping to pump the arowana and getting good size

who here feeds mice to their arowanas?
lets forget the morality or if its neccesary, i know there are some opposed to it

i guess im after people who regularly feed this to aros

 

[Gshock]

Stick with shrimp or scallops. Theres probably more protein in there anyways. You're going to mess up your own arowana with long term feedings on mammalian meat, especially with the bones.

 

[henward]

anyone here actually tired it

i feed beef heart to bichirs and they are huge, thcik and fat!

jsut wondering if anyone does it regularly

 

[livelymc]

always used to think it looked kinda cool on youtube. but i wouldnt do it its a bit cruel and not to great for the aro either from what i hear.

 

[frnchjeep]

You guys realize that the wild diet of an arowana consists largely of non aquatic prey, right? While they do eat some fish, they eat mostly mice, birds, bats, bugs, reptiles, insects, etc. Basically, they will eat anything that they can snatch off a tree branch or the water's surface. Aros can jump 2 to 3x their body length, so anything within 10 feet of the water's surface is fair game. While I wouldn't recommend a diet of exclusively mice, feeding some would more match the diet that is growing these fish to their monstrous size in the wild.

 

[spotted-elk]

my dad had a real bid one an use to feed him mice soimetimes and he was fine

 

[Gshock]

You guys realize that the wild diet of an arowana consists largely of non aquatic prey, right? While they do eat some fish, they eat mostly mice, birds, bats, bugs, reptiles, insects, etc. Basically, they will eat anything that they can snatch off a tree branch or the water's surface. Aros can jump 2 to 3x their body length, so anything within 10 feet of the water's surface is fair game. While I wouldn't recommend a diet of exclusively mice, feeding some would more match the diet that is growing these fish to their monstrous size in the wild.

They do in the wild, but this isn't the wild. Why feed something that is potentially harmful when there are better alternatives. Replicating their natural diet is good, but only to a certain point. Even zoos don't completely follow an animal's natural diet, but rather use it as a guideline to create a better diet with better alternatives.

 

[jeep13820]

i recommend sticking wit h frozen food or pellets

 

[Andyroo]

Variety is good. Pellets are balanced nutrition, so there's your start. Pinkies might be low in some nutrients and you can't gut-load them, but the bones aren't fully formed so that's not a worry. If you're interested in growing your own food think also about breeding & feeding crickets- very very easy, and easy to gut-load.

 

[frnchjeep]

They do in the wild, but this isn't the wild. Why feed something that is potentially harmful when there are better alternatives. Replicating their natural diet is good, but only to a certain point. Even zoos don't completely follow an animal's natural diet, but rather use it as a guideline to create a better diet with better alternatives.

There's no arguing with that. Pellets are by far the best food to feed a fish. They are basically the equivalent of a one-a-day multivitamin (or something of the such). But, keeping in mind that fish are abundant throughout the amazon, why are aros jumping for terrestrial prey? Natural instincts can't be that far off, can they?

Also, don't forget that zoos can be budget motivated, too. They could be searching for alternatives for a number of reasons... possibly not always because it is what is the best. I would love for zoodiver, or someone in his profession, to chime in on this because I would really like to see what he has to say about it.

One last point I would like to make. He asked how to beef up an aro. Your suggestion of shrimp and scallops is a good one because of the protein. I think a diet of mostly pellets would be healthiest, but wont beef him up. I guess a good comparison would be a body builder that consumes thousands of calories a day to put on mass compared to a mountain biker who drinks an ensure to stay slim.

All this taken into consideration, I'm maintaining my opinion (which is just an opinion, so take it how you want) that aro's bodies are equipped and capable of processing some mammal fat and meat (differently than, say, a cichlid's), and that some would be acceptable as part of a varied diet.

Heres an interesting twist on this which slightly pertains to this discussion. In the payara forums there are discussions of the possibility of sudden death in payara being associated with our captives not eating live foods. I know this isn't the wild, but they are wild animals. With a few exceptions, most of our fish are within just a few generations of swimming in the river.

Edit: I know I said one last point halfway through, but things kept popping into my head. hahaha