yes all of these ideas are great! i had the same problem with my it dat he is about 3 in and he eats pellets now. i just stuff new life spectrum 3mm sinking pellets into market shrimp and i add more pellets into the shrimp maybe 2 days after. i have tested him and i threw in some pellets its self and he ate it! right now im still stuffing pellets into the shrimp just to make sure. haha ohh yea and my dat use to put the pellets into his mouth and spits it out after. just keep on stuffing pellets and just some patience 