Shovelnose Catfish - Picky eater or sick?

[keninpcfl]

Hi....I've got a shovelnose cat thats about 7" long. He used to love to eat feeder goldfish but now he turns up his nose. What's with this guy...is he sick or just getting picky?

It's been about two or three weeks since he's eaten and he's looking pretty skinny. Otherwise he looks and acts normal. His tankmates, a 10" clown knife and 14" gar, eat like pigs. Any ideas or suggestions??

 

[dbcb314]

have u tried other foods lol

that should tell you if hes being picky or sick..

 

[necrocanis]

what kind of shovelnose is it? My limas will go hungry if there are any top swimmers in the tank with them. They are kinda timid. Now they have a tank to themselves they eat like hogs.

 

[ethnics]

my tsn is a picky eater kinda. at first he wouldn't eat ANYTHING. then i slowly got him on sinking pellets which was hard to get him off. now he eats floating pellets, sinking pellets, shrimp, smelt, feeders. buT! if its not what he eats daily, it'll take a while for him to realize its food lol

 

[Crazy Taco]

catfish a picky eater? ive never had one that wouldnt eat absolulty anything and everything.

 

[keepinfish]

My lima has times when he is picky for some reason. THen he has times when he eats a lot. Lima's are easily spooked it could be just scared?

 

[keninpcfl]

have u tried other foods lol

that should tell you if hes being picky or sick..

Have tried other foods in the tank (night crawlers) before he decided to stop eating and he wasn't really interested. Maybe I'll try the night crawlers again or some sinking pellets.

One thing I noticed that was kinda strange was that in the past he'd shed his skin. Has anyone ever seen this? I've been told that it's normal behavior for a shovelnose but some say that it's not.

 

[bukster]

def need to know if it's a lima or tsn or spotted or what. but either way make sure to test u'r water. he may be stressing and not wanting to eat much or it may just be like my lima and just not want to eat ever.

 

[DrZacharyus]

its a lima, read the post above you. Limas are picky, i have one that will eat pellets and nothing else and another that will eat shrimp (when he decides to) and mollies.

 

[necrocanis]

Have tried other foods in the tank (night crawlers) before he decided to stop eating and he wasn't really interested. Maybe I'll try the night crawlers again or some sinking pellets.

One thing I noticed that was kinda strange was that in the past he'd shed his skin. Has anyone ever seen this? I've been told that it's normal behavior for a shovelnose but some say that it's not.

He's not shedding skin, it's his slime coat. My limas do it at least once a week even if completely happy and eating like pigs. If they get spooked they will shed it, and if they are in poor water conditions they will do it more often especially when not eating. Even tsn, rtc, jau, and marble catfish will all shed their slime coats when stressed. I have even seen my old planiceps shed his. Seems to be something that pimelodid catfish do. Limas, and rtc seem to do it more often than any other catfish I have ever seen though.