Sting Ray Pup

[meghanashley]

well I've always wanted one but never dove in because you always hear how hard they are to keep, at least the inexpensive ones. I went to pick up a powerhead and I saw this little guy, I think he has internal parasites cause his feces are white, he also was in a tiny tank with large plecos, so I figured for why not give it a go (he was ridiculously cheap), and try to get him on his feet. Can I give the normal dosage of prazipro he's tiny maybe 4" diameter? I think he's a little boy but I'm no expert, he has been quite active, he sat for about five minutes but now he's checking things out, that is as long as he doesn't catch me looking at him, then he freezes.

Here are some pictures. There a little cloudy, I just removed about 3/4" of sand


he's poo, bad right?

 

[haynchinook334]

looks like a female retic. white poo is bad.

 

[FishDog]

I would suggest trying to get her to eat before treating. If she doesn't eat in a couple of days then go ahead with the prazi per the bottle.

 

[meghanashley]

ok, so no special requirements because she's small/ juvi then. Can I do a little garlic extract with her food maybe? I put some blood worms in, the guy at the store said he's been feeding her live tubifex, which I can pick up no problem, figured I'ld try the easy stuff (shrimp, blood worms) since i already had it.

 

[FishDog]

You can try the easy stuff but I doubt it will work. If she was eating at the store then feed her what she was eating then start to ween her onto other foods. With retics, if they stop eating then you might not get them to start back up again.

 

[meghanashley]

ok, I'll pick some up tomorrow, just incase. Do you think that the white feces or slothing she has could be some else beside parasites? Or is just better to get them stable before administering meds?

 

[FishDog]

That looks like parasite poo. Internal parasites are not life threatening so it is always better to get the ray settled and eating before throwing meds at it.

 

[TheFishJunky]

That looks like parasite poo. Internal parasites are not life threatening so it is always better to get the ray settled and eating before throwing meds at it.

I agree^^^^ get her to eat for 2 days and then worry about the parasites.But I wouldn't wait longer than that.Then start the prazi pro.

 

[meghanashley]

ok thanks guys, I think she ate most of the bloodworms I put in there already, then again maybe they just all went in to the filter, she won't let me watch her even if she catches me peaking around the corner she freezes. I droped a couple of wax worms (? never heard of a ray eating this but figured I'ld try) maybe I'll do some shrimp on the morning. How often do you feed at this age/ size?

 

[PeteLockwood]

How often do you feed at this age/ size?

As often as it'll eat so as often as you're willing to. Rays tend to quit eating when they've had enough (not starting to eat, obviously, is a different thing).