I've had my 4-5" spotted gar for about a week now, and he still is not eating the raw shrimp. Is there any surefire foods besides feeders that will get him to bulk up? I dont wanna lose him.
Will spotted gars starve themselves to death?
- Thread starter DOTARUINEDMYLIFE
- Start date
these guys can live for very long without food.
hes probably just getting used to the tank.
a healthy fish will never starve itself.
hes probably just getting used to the tank.
a healthy fish will never starve itself.
what are you offering him?
chances are he's just getting used to the tank. by this time he should be pretty acclimated to the tank and ready for feeding. there're many as you say "surefire" foods such as pellets, prawns, shrimp, krill, white bait or even fish strips.
just continue offering preped foods and make sure the water stays clean. also, it's alright to give him some feeders if he looks like he's getting too skinny. many ppl say to starve the fish, what we(well i at least just to make the point clear) mean is that just start offering preped foods, and try not to give in to feeding him live food again, but if he starts to look skinny, by all means give him something to eat...
chances are he's just getting used to the tank. by this time he should be pretty acclimated to the tank and ready for feeding. there're many as you say "surefire" foods such as pellets, prawns, shrimp, krill, white bait or even fish strips.
just continue offering preped foods and make sure the water stays clean. also, it's alright to give him some feeders if he looks like he's getting too skinny. many ppl say to starve the fish, what we(well i at least just to make the point clear) mean is that just start offering preped foods, and try not to give in to feeding him live food again, but if he starts to look skinny, by all means give him something to eat...
4-5 inches is pretty small to be starving a gar. take a long skinny object such as a very thin dowell, piece of acrylic, metal coat hanger (straightened out), etc...attach a piece of shrimp or whatever to the end of it. lower the shrimp into the tank in front of the fish. if necessary gently wiggle the shrimp around in front of the gar (to mimic live prey). this has worked 100% of the time for me and starving the fish has not been an issue. after getting the fish to take a few pieces off of the feeding stick, you can start dropping them into the tank in front of the fish. eventually he will start taking them on his own. good luck.
go with what demjor has suggested above and you should be fine. a week is a pretty short time, but more than enough time for the fish to get used to its tank...small gars have a tremendous drive to feed. does the gar have any tankmates? if so, what are they? they can definitely play a role in how well the fish acclimates.
this fish is pretty small to starve, but keep offering up the non-live foods by using the feeding stick, this has worked with me as well regarding finicky eaters.
do NOT give them feeders, it can easily undo any progress at this stage and they have several problems of their own. get whole frozen fish (small ones like silversides) instead of feeders.
xander, feeders are not good for the fish...that's back to basics again--
--solomon
this fish is pretty small to starve, but keep offering up the non-live foods by using the feeding stick, this has worked with me as well regarding finicky eaters.
do NOT give them feeders, it can easily undo any progress at this stage and they have several problems of their own. get whole frozen fish (small ones like silversides) instead of feeders.
xander, feeders are not good for the fish...that's back to basics again--
--solomon
E_americanus;1577933; said:
i would have thought at 4-5" it would be a lil early to continue starving him once he gets skinny. don't have nearly as much experience as you, but IME, the occasional feeder never really set me back much. they still accepted preped pretty soon...the quickiest i managed to get onto prawns was a day, whereas with my first gar it took about a week to get him to take pellets, and i gave him a feeder just before i introduced him to the pellets...(in snakes this is used to make the snake get into "feeding mode"...don't know if it's the same with gars but it sure didn't set me back)
no denying that feeders aren't good for the fish, but a few here and there can't do that much damage can they. i've known fish that grew up on feeders and are healthy as can be.
xander13;1577946; said:
there is no point in putting the fish at risk if it is not necessary. and yes, snakes are quite different than gars.
there have been a couple occasions where just one batch of feeders has caused the demise of a fish IME, and this happens in feeder batches throughout the world. if there is an aggressive bacteria or even parasites it only takes one feeder to do it. statistically one feeder may not make or break the fish, but the point is that going back to feeders is unnecessary. given this is a Florida/spotted gar we are discussing, the fish should be fine with continual offering of non-live foods.--
--solomon
my point in suggesting him to use feeders was in the case that the gar continued to refuse preped foods and got skinny, as it's still rather small atm, what with stunting and such. it wouldn't be an offence or anything to fill it's belly a little. of course if it accepted the krill it'll be great, but just in case.
xander13;1577987; said:
in training a gar off live foods, feeders = last resort. period.
the gar will be fine, keep up with offering the non-live--
--solomon