I came up on a really nice bd female but the thing is skin and bones chews on live blackworms but not getting any weight any of you guys ever force feed a ray pup? I'm thinking of making a slurry and put on back with plastic syringe? Ray might have have organ issues or something but figure why not try but wonder if anyone has experience this
Force feeding a bd pup
- Thread starter Brent
- Start date
I would not force feed her as long as she is feeding on her own. I would offer her all the chopped night crawlers she will eat and keep the tank very full of live ghost shrimp.It may eat its self back to health with little time. If it does not regain weight you will need to treat it for pathogens.
I hope you didn't pay a significant amount of money for this ray. Rays in these conditions are usually sad stories.
oldfish
gives good advice but I would still be very careful and very selective when treating with medication, identification of the pathogen is obviously best, but I would go with a consensus on here before you do that.
You say it chews.... does it chew and spit or chew and swallow? (shh, I know what I just said)
Stress reduction is your #1 goal right now. Isolate from tankmates but do not remove from the same water. Lights off at all times. A small amount of salt or stress coat or stress zyme or whatever it is that API makes there, but nothing that would alter the water significantly. Do not spook the fish. Force feeding is possible but your absolute, absolute, ABSOLUTE last option. Make sure all parameters are constant. Do you run a drip? If not daily 10% water changes twice a day, if yes up your drip a bit. Do not let any food rot in there. Does it have somewhere to hide or better yet bury? Don't significantly alter its environment by adding substrate but a good decoration or two may help. Keep at it with the blackworms, live ghost shrimp or rosy red minnows, and chopped earthworms. You can try gradually upping the temp a little bit to boost metabolism. Otherwise just pray. Just so you know I had a sub-adult BD die after 26 days of not eating, with a pup I would probably say you have no more than 20.
vamptrev
Dieselhybrid
jim barry
UnstoppableJayD
A
Aquaman
C
cheon
ShadowStryder
keepinfish
DIDYSIS
wednesday13
DB junkie
oldfish
gives good advice but I would still be very careful and very selective when treating with medication, identification of the pathogen is obviously best, but I would go with a consensus on here before you do that. You say it chews.... does it chew and spit or chew and swallow? (shh, I know what I just said)
Stress reduction is your #1 goal right now. Isolate from tankmates but do not remove from the same water. Lights off at all times. A small amount of salt or stress coat or stress zyme or whatever it is that API makes there, but nothing that would alter the water significantly. Do not spook the fish. Force feeding is possible but your absolute, absolute, ABSOLUTE last option. Make sure all parameters are constant. Do you run a drip? If not daily 10% water changes twice a day, if yes up your drip a bit. Do not let any food rot in there. Does it have somewhere to hide or better yet bury? Don't significantly alter its environment by adding substrate but a good decoration or two may help. Keep at it with the blackworms, live ghost shrimp or rosy red minnows, and chopped earthworms. You can try gradually upping the temp a little bit to boost metabolism. Otherwise just pray. Just so you know I had a sub-adult BD die after 26 days of not eating, with a pup I would probably say you have no more than 20.
vamptrev
Dieselhybrid
jim barry
UnstoppableJayD
A
Aquaman
C
cheon
ShadowStryder
keepinfish
DIDYSIS
wednesday13
DB junkie
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The Ray was free it's a pup probly a month old I'm an experienced Ray keeper I guess I would say so I know the basics I didn't think of ghost shrimp gonna try that .... Seems
Like she's eating but skinny guess I could try prazi pro she's by herself in a 100 gallon that's on a 2000 gallon system ....here eating is the only issue
Like she's eating but skinny guess I could try prazi pro she's by herself in a 100 gallon that's on a 2000 gallon system ....here eating is the only issue
I would probably cut earthworms to the size that they don't require chewing. This would not be fun.
You are much more experienced than I, but I recently got a wild caught motoro that was refusing food as well or chewing it but not actually eating. I had the best luck with what others mentioned, chopped earthworms into small 1/2" pieces, slowly started on that, then had great luck with the live ghost shrimp as well. Just be careful with the ghost shrimp since it sounds like it is on your main system, the ones I got brought back ich and ended up taking out my school of Geos, I presume they brought some other stuff with them, they dropped fairly quickly after ich showed up.
As said above which sounds like you are already doing, lights good water etc etc.
Force feed will only stress the ray further and would most likely kill it.
Earthworms cut real small and let all the guts and stuff go in the water. I have had 2 pups that were very difficult to get feeding.
The last one has taken 6 months to get on food properly. The key is perseverance and trying different things. The final thing that cracked this last pup was to isolate with divider in the same tank as other rays. The pup stopped eating all together and started sulking, he then broke free from behind the divider and has since been slamming food down him like there has never been an issue!
Every ray can be different I guess.
Force feed will only stress the ray further and would most likely kill it.
Earthworms cut real small and let all the guts and stuff go in the water. I have had 2 pups that were very difficult to get feeding.
The last one has taken 6 months to get on food properly. The key is perseverance and trying different things. The final thing that cracked this last pup was to isolate with divider in the same tank as other rays. The pup stopped eating all together and started sulking, he then broke free from behind the divider and has since been slamming food down him like there has never been an issue!
Every ray can be different I guess.
Is she captive bred? Sounds like she was perhaps the weakest one of the litter. As you suspect, she may not be completely developed. Good luck. I do not think force feeding will help.
As a side topic, are there instances where CB pups have been confirmed to have internal parasites?
As a side topic, are there instances where CB pups have been confirmed to have internal parasites?
Yea captive breed I got earthworms and seems like she is eating them I'll keep u guys posted 
pic just an idea of her potential if I can save her
pic just an idea of her potential if I can save her