Extremely picky Fire Eel
- Thread starter KHarris
- Start date
He will immediately suck them in as soon as I give it to him, but then he spits them back out and ignores it. If I try to offer a second worm, he will just smell it, ignore it and keep begging. The earthworms I was feeding him were a little bigger than the red wigglers and he took those no problem, so he should be able to down these like nothing. I've tried cutting them in half to see if the smell would entice him, but nope. My mother's Fire Eel will take them, but mine just refuses.
I got a Fire Eel that is about 8" that I have had for about three weeks and he is the same. I would suggest that if you cut up the worms that are too large maybe he/she will be able to eat them without problems or stress. I also have Peacocks and they eat eagerly so I put the Fire Eel in with them hoping the Fire Eel might become less picky during feeding time while watching them eat. Hope that helps
hmm, im not sure about the legal issues, but Im also not sure about how they would fare with the shipping. I dont typically buy bloodworms over the internet. Another option I did see on aquabid were other types of worms but I have never used them myself. I did see scuds for sale. They might be tempting but they can be quick and I dont know how well he will feed. Live shrimps, ghost and cherry could be a relished food. At that size he can probably eat them. If you had baby shrimp they would most likely dissapear. Before actually spending money, I would still try cutting up the worms if he seemed to like them.
Also, he might eat when lights are off. I would still offer frozen bloodworms at night. My guess is he will probably suck up a few in the comfort of darkness. Only problem is you will never really know how well he is feeding
Also, he might eat when lights are off. I would still offer frozen bloodworms at night. My guess is he will probably suck up a few in the comfort of darkness. Only problem is you will never really know how well he is feeding
I agree with shenanigans try feeder/ghost/cherry/amano/etc shrimp. Should be pretty cheap. Like 10¢/pc. Find em at petco, petsmart, most lfs.
You know a good idea for you would be to start you're own colony of red wigglers so you have a constant supply of food for him
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?235-Eels
Will have alot of help in reguards too keeping spiney eels in general. sadly the sticky section could use an updateing.. (hint!) But what your experianceing isn't uncommon or abnormal.. many fire eels will not eat anything but live earthworms. I would suggest going to your local sporting good store.. our Caebelas carrys nightcrawlers year round and at decent prices. bass pro may also.. and if all else fails Walmart usually carrys them/ otherwise they may be able to order them for you year round if need be. Trying pellets like massivore are deffinately good to try.. but starveing them to attempt to get them to eat other foods can be quite dangerous as they will often starve to death or get starved to the point ever if offered nightcrawlers again to weak to recover.
and for all my smaller eels I cut up nightcrawlers.. it can be messey but at 9" 3rds or quarters should be small enough.. eels in the 6" range and smaller are best off with live blackworms.. you may try reaching out to a local fish club as they will often do group buys for them.. We do have a vendor threw the market place that I know a few of the stingray guys use that sell blackworms in bulk. ATM my 6" fire goes threw 1/8lb a week. i just dump them in at the beginning of the week. Good or bad these guys will grow 1"+ a month when fed properly so your shoudl be able to take nightcrawlers easier and easier. If you plan on keeping him/her for life 30"+ I would consider cultivateing your own worms... hoping in the meantime you can expand its food acceptability. My old group did not take frozen krill and fish peices until they where well over a foot.
Will have alot of help in reguards too keeping spiney eels in general. sadly the sticky section could use an updateing.. (hint!) But what your experianceing isn't uncommon or abnormal.. many fire eels will not eat anything but live earthworms. I would suggest going to your local sporting good store.. our Caebelas carrys nightcrawlers year round and at decent prices. bass pro may also.. and if all else fails Walmart usually carrys them/ otherwise they may be able to order them for you year round if need be. Trying pellets like massivore are deffinately good to try.. but starveing them to attempt to get them to eat other foods can be quite dangerous as they will often starve to death or get starved to the point ever if offered nightcrawlers again to weak to recover.
and for all my smaller eels I cut up nightcrawlers.. it can be messey but at 9" 3rds or quarters should be small enough.. eels in the 6" range and smaller are best off with live blackworms.. you may try reaching out to a local fish club as they will often do group buys for them.. We do have a vendor threw the market place that I know a few of the stingray guys use that sell blackworms in bulk. ATM my 6" fire goes threw 1/8lb a week. i just dump them in at the beginning of the week. Good or bad these guys will grow 1"+ a month when fed properly so your shoudl be able to take nightcrawlers easier and easier. If you plan on keeping him/her for life 30"+ I would consider cultivateing your own worms... hoping in the meantime you can expand its food acceptability. My old group did not take frozen krill and fish peices until they where well over a foot.
When my fire eel was smaller he couldn't resist ghost shrimp. I now have him eating frozen market shrimp and tilapia. The trick is to pick up one of those tongs used for planting from petco or petsmart, and start feeding him the worms with the tongs. After a while the fire eel will start to associate the tongs with food. Mine will now try to eat the tongs even if there is no food. Go a day or two without feeding him, then offer him a small piece of thawed out shrimp with the tongs. He may spit it out at first, but after a day or two should start eating it. Soon after that you should be able to just throw some shrimp in.
It's frustrating I know. Mine is the exact same way, tried everything under the sun and the bastard will only eat nightcrawlers. Had him for 5 months now. All he does is hide too except for feeding time.
When I had a tire track, he would eat anything.
When I had a tire track, he would eat anything.
