Help/suggestions on getting NTT to eat

[Alexkoj]

Hi all, I got my NTT about 3 months ago and although it has stablised somewhat (it no longer hides in a corner of the tank), I am convinced that it has not eaten a bite in the 3 months I've reared it. I'm housing it with bichirs and feeding them sinking pellets and sutchi fillets occasionally.

Please could I have some input on how I can get the NTT to eat? It's developing a little bit of a sunken belly.

Cheers guys!

 

[krichardson]

Try dropping pieces of raw shrimp so it lands close to the dat's mouth so that it gets a smell or taste of it.Most dats can't resist raw shrimp.If it starts to eat that then you can stuff the shrimp with pellets in order to provide more nutrition.

 

[Alexkoj]

Try dropping pieces of raw shrimp so it lands close to the dat's mouth so that it gets a smell or taste of it.Most dats can't resist raw shrimp.If it starts to eat that then you can stuff the shrimp with pellets in order to provide more nutrition.

Thank you man. Are their alternative food sources other than shrimp?
I’m very surprised it managed to last 3 months without having a bite or even going near the pellets / fillets

 

[krichardson]

You're welcome and you could try earthworms,bloodworms or live feeder fish as a last resort.They can go quite a long time before eating what you want them to eat.I have dats hold out that long when I trained them to eat pellets.

 

[Alexkoj]

You're welcome and you could try earthworms,bloodworms or live feeder fish as a last resort.They can go quite a long time before eating what you want them to eat.I have dats hold out that long when I trained them to eat pellets.

Were you successful in pellet training those dats in the end?

 

[krichardson]

Were you successful in pellet training those dats in the end?

Yes,some take longer than others.The NGT and the NTT species are the most stubborn and hardest to train in my experience.That is one of the reasons why I try to stick with indos these days.

 

[krichardson]

You can also give freeze dried krill a try though it may take a bit of time before the dat goes up to the surface to eat one of them.

 

[Alexkoj]

You can also give freeze dried krill a try though it may take a bit of time before the dat goes up to the surface to eat one of them.

yeah dude it's ignoring hikari carnivore sticks too... should i just stick to sinking pellets and hope it buckles soon?

 

[FunWow!]

Night crawlers are your best bet. You can squeeze the dirt out of them and push pellets like carnivore into them.

 

[Alexkoj]

Night crawlers are your best bet. You can squeeze the dirt out of them and push pellets like carnivore into them.

Thanks but I'm trying to avoid feeding it fleshy foods.. how long more do you think the NTT will ignore the pellets?