Force Feeding

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Deano1956

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 1, 2008
1,265
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Morris, IL.
Any ideas about force feeding my rays that wont eat? I netted her up tonight and turned her upside down and tried to push a little of my home made mixture of food in her mouth but i dont think she swallowed it. Is there a better way like a turkey baster or ?:confused:
 
I was reading that article on here from the shedd aquarium on them force feeding the blue dot rays and I think i am going to start that on the one female to see if she can be saved. i dont think she will make it through the weekend if something isnt done fast, she is wasting away rapidly so either this works or she needs to be put out of her misery. :(
 
Lfs sell syringes made for feeding baby birds that work perfectly for this. You can take a four inch piece of air line tubing and attach it to the end of a syringe and use that to reach the rays stomach. Then very gently push a liquid mixture of pureed food into the stomach.
 
I've done a couple of long posts about tube feeding / force feeding rays in the FW ray section (with pics). Do some searching, or I can later and link you.

Airline tubing and a syringe work wonders.
 
Dug out at least one of the quotes to give you an idea of what it looks like.
Short version is make a slurry of food, add some B12 to help stimulate the feeding response. Round the end of the airline tubing going into the stomach. Slowly slide it in until it goes no further, then back it out a little. I use a black marker to mark the depth the first time - makes it easier down the road. Remember the stomach on rays is located on the dorsal side toward the tail, so it will feed like you are going fairly deep. Don't force it, that's a good way to tear the stomach.

Here's the quote, using cownose rays as an example:

Zoodiver;3742621; said:
I can't seem to find my FW ray tubing pics at the moment. I've got some specifically of motoro, menchacai, and otorongo.
These are of cownose rays, but you get the idea of what it all looks like coming together. One method is showing relaxed animals and manual restraining while I tube. The last pic is showing a move active (flapping) ray being safely restrained by a second net. (Flapping animals tend to hurt themselves, so finding a good way to protect them from themselves is a great idea.) I'd suggest a good soft mesh or rubber net to hold them in. I've found a lot of the nylon mesh nets really tear up the outside of the rays.

Tube1.jpg


Tube2.jpg


Tube3.jpg




Tubecownose.jpg
Click to expand...





Another, similar info:


Zoodiver;1792031; said:
Tube feeding rays is difficult, especially in smaller ones.
The hardest part is not to harm the inside of the stomach walls. You'd be surprised how even the slightest oops leads to internal bleeding and death.

I'd have at LEAST three people there. One to hold the ray (on it's back), one to insert the tube and hold it in place, and one to use the syringe to push in the food.

Use a mush of very high calorie food. STAT is a good product mosts vets can get you. Mix it up with krill or something to feed it. Make sure to lube the feeding tube and also make sure it's rounded and doesn't have a point or sharp edge.
Don't feed too much. In the state the animal is in, it's stomach is not the size it normally would be stretched to during regular feedings. Have the person holding the ray feel how full the stomach is getting as you go (stomach is on the back next to the base of the tail).
Click to expand...
 
Ok thanks, now how much should I give her? she is about six inches in dia. maybe 3 mil at a time? And it has to be on their back?
 
Ok just did it, she doesnt put up much if any fight, shes really weak but I dont think I hurt her at all. I put the tube in like you said and it went in 3 or 4 " and stoped and I dont think i even put in 3 mil maybe 2 or so and put her right side up in the water and she went down on the bottom to rest. the other 2 rays come up out of the sand as I'm sure they smelled the fish oil that I added to my mix of squid, shrimp, scallops, garlic, B-12 and I forgot what else. I didnt see her expell any of ot back out so I will do this a couple times a day and see what happens. When I feed the other guys she starts to swim around the pond, so if she smells the food why doesnt she eat?
 
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