Picky Fahaka

[tanharold]

Hi guys!

I am having quite a hard time feeding my puffer. So far ive tried a whole lot of selections which include snails, worms and seafood. So far he loves his shrimp and apple snails but they are pretty hard to come by. He wouldn't accept frozen apple snails because its easier to find and neither would accept clams which I find odd. Already tried giving him the cold turkey but he would just peck and leave it alone.

Is there anything i could do for his teeth lol. Snails are pretty hard to find in my country and I dont think garden snails are hard enough to trim them.

Thank you so much!

 

[rich the fishkeeper]

if u must u can trim it manually but i don't suggest it. Fat Homer

 

[tanharold]

if u must u can trim it manually but i don't suggest it. Fat Homer

Well so far its teeth are short but i wouldn't wanna wait either till they get to that point hehe

 

[Fat Homer]

I take it you’ve tried starving your puffer for a few days to a week before giving him other crunchy foods?

as for the clams, did you feed them whole without cracking open the shell first? Coz if you did, then try cracking them open a bit to make sure that your puffer can smell the food inside to hopefully entice him to eat...

if that still doesnt work, you can always try soaking the food items in the juices of your puffers fav. food or try soaking it in Ken’s garlic juice or something similar to again try and entice the puffer to eat something new...

finally, if snails are that hard to find, i would also consider trying to breed some in a separate tank, as its not that hard to do and at least once they get going you will have a supply on hand to feed when you need them...

Or depending on the country you live in and whether its legal or not, i would try and breed maraokreeb crayfish, as they are self cloning and would make an excellent food source for a puffer...

 

[tanharold]

I take it you’ve tried starving your puffer for a few days to a week before giving him other crunchy foods?

as for the clams, did you feed them whole without cracking open the shell first? Coz if you did, then try cracking them open a bit to make sure that your puffer can smell the food inside to hopefully entice him to eat...

if that still doesnt work, you can always try soaking the food items in the juices of your puffers fav. food or try soaking it in Ken’s garlic juice or something similar to again try and entice the puffer to eat something new...

finally, if snails are that hard to find, i would also consider trying to breed some in a separate tank, as its not that hard to do and at least once they get going you will have a supply on hand to feed when you need them...

Or depending on the country you live in and whether its legal or not, i would try and breed maraokreeb crayfish, as they are self cloning and would make an excellent food source for a puffer...

I tried to breed the apple snails I had but within 3 months still no eggs ? i always give the clams on a half shell. He would pick on it but spit it out. Also tried the garlic juice method but it didnt work out well either

 

[Fat Homer]

I tried to breed the apple snails I had but within 3 months still no eggs ? i always give the clams on a half shell. He would pick on it but spit it out. Also tried the garlic juice method but it didnt work out well either

you could also try other types of snails? As for the apple snails, did you leave the water line about 2-3” from the of the tank? Coz they normally lay their eggs above the water line...

for feeding, if your puffer is reluctant to eat other foods then you may need to starve him a few days and try again... if you give in he’ll never accept other foods...

otherwise the other option would be to try and breed some type of crayfish but that would require a larger tank than what the snails would and could take a bit longer for them to get to size...

in the past i’ve also fed my old fahaka mussels as well which she was very fond of which you could always try if all else fails?