questions for FLOWER keepers

[omojena]

i have a female flower rays that i have kept in quarentine for about 90 days. during that time i have fattened her up really well on canadian night cralwers. i have tried repeatedly to get her to eat shrimp, krill, silversides, etc repeatedly with no luck. i decided that i would put her into my main tank so she could join my 4 motoros and male flower. the male flower eats ANYHTING like a champ!!! it was my theory that she would learn to eat by watching the other rays. since her introduction to the main tank i have been feeding her market shrimp cut into chunks with a hole peirced in the middle... in the hole i thread a night crawler and tie it in knots. she has been readily eating the chunks of shrimp with worms tied to them. i have begun only adding the shrimp as of late without the worms but she will only eat 1, 2, or 3 chunks and ignore the rest. she will not get a full belly unless i tie the worms on. she has been accepting the shrimp for about a week now but ever 2 or 3 days i have to give her a large feeding with worms tied on to ensure she stays robust.

my questions are: has anybody else experienced this with their flowers? do they take a new food and accept it but not eat it greedily? if so... how long did it take for the flower to begin to eat the new food greedily and stay fat and robust? what techniques/prepared foods have you had success with in getting the flower to eat readily?

thanks!

 

[jwong1024]

this may not only pertain to flowers. I have had motoros eat everything, and I have had one that will only eat nightcrawlers.

 

[Nic]

Well J flowers are more tricky to get on other foods..... motoros can be stubborn but i blame that more on the keeper giving in on them


Omo........ just let her eat the shrimp... if she is eating some its good... dont offer the worms just let her have her few pieces of shrimp her appetite should change

 

[omojena]

Well J flowers are more tricky to get on other foods..... motoros can be stubborn but i blame that more on the keeper giving in on them


Omo........ just let her eat the shrimp... if she is eating some its good... dont offer the worms just let her have her few pieces of shrimp her appetite should change

so you think i should let her keep eating the shrimp even though she is only eating a little bit? after time she will get hungry and devour it?? im afraid that she will waste away because i have read so many horror stories about people loosing their flowers.

 

[LBathory]

if she's eating some of the shrimp, it's likely that she will start to eat all of it once she learns there will be no more worms coming.

 

[Nic]

so you think i should let her keep eating the shrimp even though she is only eating a little bit? after time she will get hungry and devour it?? im afraid that she will waste away because i have read so many horror stories about people loosing their flowers.

i would.. if it starts to get bad then feed her the worms but as long as she is eating she should be fine... and i would give it several weeks too

 

[ashleysomething]

I'd love to impart some knowledge here, but I have no idea when it comes to flower rays. Keep us updated! My best friend is waiting for her flower ray to come in, and I'd love to share this information with her or have her read it on here.

P.S. Tying up the shrimp with a worm is fu'king genius.

 

[omojena]

bump

 

[michael]

if she made it 90 days and is healthy your past a flowers critical stage for the most part. I only feed my flowers twice a week and they are always "healthy" looking. If a ray gorges itself to when its back is upward its ok in my eyes but personally I feel a full but not overly full stomach is best. Due to me personally feeding twice a week my 2 small flowers now will eat pretty much anything cause they look forward to food since its not an everyday thing. They are growing at a good rate and I don't see any reason to feed everyday or till they are gorged cause i think it only spoils them and makes them more picky. not sure if this helps but GL Omar

 

[MN Stingray]

The Flowers i have kept for breeding are extreame pigs.When they first came in i kept them 82 degree water and fed ghost shrimp and live black worms .Then i slowly pulled back on the ghost shrimp and just kept them on live black worms,all this over a months time.Then i started introducing chopped nightcrawlers {made sure there was alot of guts in there}they took to them readily and i pulled back on the live black worms and have kept them on nightcrawlers and trout worms since in 80 degree water.They are growing nicely and freak out just seeing me walk towards their tank,looking for food.Now i keep them on every other day for feeding.I do that with all my rays just to help them digest everything ,keeps the waste down in my tanks too.Hope that helps some.