Help with a Shy Hungry Puffer!!!

[natasha]

Hello!

We just received our new porcupine puffer from a store online FedExed overnight. He has been in the tank for 5 days now but hasn't eaten anything. We tried feeding him krill and live oysters, but he doesn't seem interested. He looks pretty healthy, has gorgeous blue eyes, and moves once in a while. He is also very very shy: he usually hides behind a live rock and as soon as he sees us, he just turns his cute little face away..

Is he supposed to be this shy for the first couple of days? Is it normal?.. It's been 5 days already and he MUST be hungry, our Little Man, but he still doesn't eat. Please help!

PS Please don't ask what the level of ammonia and Ph is, we don't know. We did test the water at a lfs and they said it was good. The tank is 55 g, we have about 35 lbs of live rock, 5 damsels, a protein skimmer, and the tank is about 3 weeks old.

[Myaj]

Well, you'll need to find out your water levels sooner or later. Adding a porc to a tank that wasn't ready for the additional bioload can cause a mini cycle even in an established tank, if yours has only been going for 3 weeks its probably quite a shock to the system and there's some ammonia and nitrite issues. Stores will tell you your water is fine.. that really does you no good, you need the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels.

Most puffers won't eat if they are stressed or in poor water conditions..

Try feeding a night crawler, they usually can't resist a squiggly worm. Be sure you are removing any uneaten food so it doesn't pollute the water, and consider doing some water changes in the mean time to keep the water clean. But you'll really want to find out if you have any ammonia issues going on, puffers are very sensitive to uncycled tanks and it can kill them quickly.

[natasha]

Tnak you for your response! I guess, you are right and we do neet to get a water test kit. We change watre twice a week and the damsels seem very happy and playful bullying the puffer..

I will try to get him some of those warms tonight.

But is he supposed to be so shy?

[Idontknow]

You might want to try some ramshorn, pondsnails and ghost shrimp as well. My porcupine at first wouldn't accept any food from me for a few days. I tried both fresh and frozen shrimp, clams, mussels, etc. I tried soaking in garlic, but nothing. Then, I showed her a small ramshorn and she ate it. She only ate snails for a few days, she wouldn't eat anything else. Then, I tried a gut-loaded ghost shrimp and she went for that. So she wiped me out of my stock of snails and ghost shrimp.

After about a week, I tried frozen shrimp, calamari, and scallops again and she took those. Maybe she just needed some time to get used to everything.

Also, I read that if you gave them lots of cover and places to hide, they will get used to things faster. So, I put in lots of live rocks and silk plants where she likes to hide under.

[natasha]

Thank you everyone! Stewie finally ate a little krill last night. I got skewers, moistened the krill in water and garlic, put it on a skewer, and he ate it!!! My husband and I were thrilled.

Hi is still really shy and wouldn't come out.. We have live rock, but we need to get some plants for him.

<b>Idontknow</b>
How long did your puffer remain shy? How long have you had her?

[trekenk]

Hi natasha and welcome to the forum. It is great that you got your puffer eating, but please do be aware that krill is not good for them and can cause lockjaw. As a treat it is ok . I also see you have a 55 gal and I don't know if you are aware but your puffer is going to need a tank twice that size in the near future. Good luck with him/her.

[natasha]

Trekenk,

Thank you! I know he would need a bigger tank, but so far he is so tiny (less than 2") that it might not happen too soon

I also read about krill that it causes lockjaw, so we will only be giving that to him once a week. The strange thing is that a professional (the owner) from a lfs recommended it..

Also, maybe you can answer my question about my puffer's shyness. Is he supposed to swim around a lot during the first days (it's day 6 now) or just hang out on the sand or rocks basically all day long?.. He just sits there and moves his cute eyes when I move.

[trekenk]

Yes Lfs can sometime not recommend the proper things for our little friends. As far as the shyness goes as the other members mention your tank is probably not cycled so water changes and lots of them are in order. Every puffer is different, some will settle in right from the start while others do take some time. I'm sure in time he will come around and be driving you nuts with the consent begging they are known so well for. In the meantime continue to offer him different foods and lots of water changes, making sure to treat those water chances with a aqua plus or a similar product, and also making sure to take any uneaten food out.

[Christemo]

Most lfs know nothing about puffers.

[Idontknow]

How long did your puffer remain shy? How long have you had her?

I've had her for about a month. She took about a week to settle in. At first she hid a lot behind the rocks, in the caves, and under the silk plants. But, after she ate the snails and ghost shrimp she started to come out more and more. Now she begs for food all the time and will take frozen foods. I can even pet her now.

Give it some time, provide lots of hiding spots, and buy a test kit to check your water. I am sure your puffer will warm up to you.

[LilGreenPuffer]

A background can help. You can even cover up the sides and part of the front for a while.

[marksrush]

Most lfs know nothing about puffers.

Boy you got that right. Even at my store, unless you are lucky enough to get me, you'll get bad info on puffers. Sometimes LFS people think they know it all because they've been in the business for years, yet they have done absolutely no research on their more exotic offerings and have never kept them longer than the couple of weeks it takes to sell them all.

[natasha]

2 Idontknow
We got some ghost shimp for him, and Stewie loved them! Thank you so much for the advice!

2 LilGreenPuffer
We'll try to find some decent background for the tank, maybe that would help.

In the meantime, Stewy is still hiding in the rocks, he found a little hole in one of them and made it his private cave.

As I said earlier, we also have 5 damsels. Can he be afraid of them? Two of them are real bullies and are constantly chasing each other and the other three..

[LilGreenPuffer]

You can use construction paper or cloth, like an old, dark-colored sheet, to make a temporary background.

The reason that covering the back helps is that it makes them feel a lot more enclosed, like they can put their back to the wall. Covering the sides and part of the front makes them feel like they're in a nice, safe cave.

[natasha]

Stewie_002_small.jpg

This is Stewie!