excatly what the title says i have a 6" motoro and i want him to eat shrimp instead of black worms as it takes alot of worms to fatten him up
how to get rays to eat different foods?
- Thread starter streaker442
- Start date
How long have you had him and what are your water params? Usually a healthy motoro will not refuse any kind of food unless somthing is bothering him. Then again if he is a new import that could be it or he is just plain picky.
Will he eat regular earthworms? If not try chopping them up first. If you can get him to eat regular earthworms and night crawlers it would be alot easier on your wallet. It is funny though that you have to chop the worms up first as every ray Ive owned would at first only eat tiny chopped earthworms but within days they will eat whole earthworms and then again days later will eat whole nightcrawlers even though they ray itself hasnt grown much. It seems they need practice to get the hang of swallowing a worm down. Once you have them on regualr worms try dropping a piece or two of shrimp in there with the worms and he might eat that in his frenzy. If not "marinade" the shrimp in worm juices and go from there.
Like I aid before once you get them eating greedily on regular worms I find it easier to switch them over to other foods like shrimp! With any new food for a ray start with small pieces!
Will he eat regular earthworms? If not try chopping them up first. If you can get him to eat regular earthworms and night crawlers it would be alot easier on your wallet. It is funny though that you have to chop the worms up first as every ray Ive owned would at first only eat tiny chopped earthworms but within days they will eat whole earthworms and then again days later will eat whole nightcrawlers even though they ray itself hasnt grown much. It seems they need practice to get the hang of swallowing a worm down. Once you have them on regualr worms try dropping a piece or two of shrimp in there with the worms and he might eat that in his frenzy. If not "marinade" the shrimp in worm juices and go from there.
Like I aid before once you get them eating greedily on regular worms I find it easier to switch them over to other foods like shrimp! With any new food for a ray start with small pieces!
Yeah, the marinade technique works really well. Also what is a lot easier on your pocket than shrimp is smelt. It is a lot cheaper, and that is what my rays main diet consists of. Then I substatute it with shrimp, and earthworms once or twice a week.
Get him good and fat on live blackworms and then don't feed him for two days.
Then offer him shrimp/smelt on the third day. If he refuses, offer it again on the fourth.
He will most likely eat some by then. Hunger is a big motivator. If he does, keep going with it. If he does not, go back to feeding him blackworms on the fifth day. Wait a week or two and repeat the process.
It does not take long. It always seems to go much better for me when I have more than one ray to convert. Rays have a food competition thing that kicks in. They also have a "monkey see, monkey do" mentality.
Colin
Then offer him shrimp/smelt on the third day. If he refuses, offer it again on the fourth.
He will most likely eat some by then. Hunger is a big motivator. If he does, keep going with it. If he does not, go back to feeding him blackworms on the fifth day. Wait a week or two and repeat the process.
It does not take long. It always seems to go much better for me when I have more than one ray to convert. Rays have a food competition thing that kicks in. They also have a "monkey see, monkey do" mentality.
Colin
I agree with rvrrays method,
for me wad i do is, pump the ray up for say a week, feeding it at least once or twice a day with its favourite food.
then aft that week, starve it for 2days, then drop the new food in. In its hunger it might accidentally swallow the new food, either that or it will eat it well.
if it fails, feed it its favourite food for 2 days, then starve for 1 day and retry again..
good luck! usually healthy rays are easy to get them to eat new food!
for me wad i do is, pump the ray up for say a week, feeding it at least once or twice a day with its favourite food.
then aft that week, starve it for 2days, then drop the new food in. In its hunger it might accidentally swallow the new food, either that or it will eat it well.
if it fails, feed it its favourite food for 2 days, then starve for 1 day and retry again..
good luck! usually healthy rays are easy to get them to eat new food!