Pufferfish without snails as food

[Chrigu]

Hello everyone
I would like to keep a figure 8 or green spotted puffer. But is it posible for the puffer to trimm his teeths with frozen crill? I mean crill has a quite hard shell to. Or do i have to feed snails? Are there any other foods that trimm the teeths of the puffer other than snails?

Thanks for responses
Chrigu

 

[Achilles1763]

Frozen Crill isn't going to cut it sadly... both are active hunters so you will need a properly hard shelled food source to keep the beak in check... I would use snails or cockles with the shell slightly broken (just de-frost and crunch it with a spoon back) so they get to eat but have to bite through a small amount of the shell. I did this for my various small puffers until they were big enough to crunch the shells whole.

 

[Morticia]

I feed snails and it's never cost me a dime. I went to my local pet stores and asked for their pest snails. I started out with about 40 snails and they bred rapidly. I've been feeding my Puffer for nearly a year off of those original 40's offspring. Much easier than finding crab, crawfish, or clams in my area. He gets live ghost shrimp, blood worms, and of course snails. The snails are his favorite thing he gets so excited when he sees me coming with the cup