Feeding Gator Gar Saltwater Fish

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Spatula

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 22, 2009
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Under your bed
I've heard it's fine but just wanted to verify here with the experts.
Where I live I have easy access to saltwater fish such as Anchovies, Sardines and Mackerel. I've been feeding my boy a few of each lately and he seems to LOVE them. Even more so then the market shrimp. I am wondering if these are OK as a staple diet as the market shrimp week after week are becoming pricey, especially with how many he eats :nilly:

The only thing different I have noticed is that when I feed him the mackerel or anchovies his stool (poop) is darker.
Let me know whatcha think...
Thanks In Advance

Gar Power :headbang2
 
I do the same sometimes. I chop the saltwater fish up into small pieces and feed the gars. They love it and the only thing worries me is that the fishbone is very sharp and I'm not sure whether it will cause harm to the gars.
 
those fish are fine to feed, just make sure you're not overfeeding. captive gars almost always have a ton of fat bodies building up as they aren't nearly as active as wild fish. now, we haven't seen a ton of evidence for all the fat buildup as COD in gars, but it has happened before (see the thread on the necropsy of the $5k leucistic t-gar).

so just make sure you're not overfeeding. if anything, in captivity, slightly underfeeding with larger and/or older specimens is probably better (but use common sense as well - i feed all my big gars only 2-3 times a week) --
--solomon
 
Most of the time if you just drop it in right next to the Gar, he will snap at it since its falling.
 
bennifer is absolutely right, at least for my own experienced with alligator gars too. just drop the food right near him and if he saw it when it is dropping down, he will just bite and make his food. if somehow the food is on the bottom without him knowing it, mine will they stare at it.. watch it for around a minutes or more, then few things happened : either he will swim to the food and smell it with his nose, some will smell, moving it with his nose, then most of the time he will bite. once bite, it will definitely be his food. some will stare and swim away afterward but be back to the food again very soon to stare at it again, until he bite and eat it. if you still have problem, try to starve him like a day or 2 and try again. make sure dont leave the dead fish in the pool as it will polluting the water. once they had tried to eat it for once, most of the time they will just eat it. only differences is the time he need to stare and eat it. haha. i got 3 gars, all of them never refuse to eat the first time i feed them. the first time i feed them is the longest time they need to stare before they feed it. i have been having them for a month and half. everyday when i go see them, they know it. they will just come near me.. some will float on the top, some will just circle me in the bottom pool, some too shy to come near me..but they all know it's food time. once thrown into the water, it's party time. i got 1 which is very brave and most of time he will just come and bite it. then the shy 1 will chase him for his food. then he realize there is food on the bottom he just stop stare it and bite less then 30 seconds. i love them so much :)
 
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