Feeding/owning new puffer

Terrance · Post by **Terrance** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 12:32 am

Hey guys,

I just got a Monotrete Turgidus last week. So far he's been hiding most of the time. For the first few days, I left one small snail for him to eat every night and always find pieces of snail shells in the morning. I tried feeding him raw shrimp as seen by my LFS. The people there would hold the shrimp and tap the top of the water, then turgidus would swim out of shelter and actively look for food. I tried the same thing, but it wouldn't work so thats why I left a snail for him to eat every night.

2 days ago, I just stuck a piece of shrimp in front of his castle shelter because tapping the shrimp at the surface water level didn't work. He attacked it and i was happy to see him eat it. I tried to lure him out of the castle with the shrimp, but no success. He only ate it when his whole body was inside the castle. 1 day ago I was really busy, so I left another snail for him to eat. Today I tried to tap shrimp on top of the water, and slowly waving the shrimp closer and closer to his castle shelter. He never came out, so I waved the shrimp in front of his castle again. I lured the shrimp away from the castle, and he came out to eat. He attacked the shrimp viciously, and by the time he was finished eating.. I think he puffed up for a few seconds. Should I be concerned? Is this normal behavior for a new puffer? How am I suppose to help him get used to me?

Sorry for the long paragraphs, but I never owned a lurking/nocturnal puffer before.

Salmon · Post by **Salmon** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 1:04 am

I know nothing about brown puffers, but at first my figure 8 was kind of shy and hid or swam away from me everytime I came into the room. I'm still not able to hand feed it, but he knows when I open the lid its feeding time so he hangs out in the front of the tank. I guess what I'm getting at is he probably isn't used to you yet and it may take some time, just don't get frustrated with it and try to spook it or make sudden movements. Also wear earthy colors, reds and bright colors may scare it as well. Just give him time he will grow used to you and be more personable.

xrayjeeper83 · Post by **xrayjeeper83** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 11:57 am

he most likely will start coming out once he is more settled in. When I got mine he wouldnt come out from under his rock but now he is out every morning looking in my bedroom lol

sevenyearnight · Post by **sevenyearnight** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 4:19 pm

xrayjeeper83 wrote:he most likely will start coming out once he is more settled in. When I got mine he wouldnt come out from under his rock but now he is out every morning looking in my bedroom lol

Lol, your puffer is a creeper

Terrance · Post by **Terrance** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 3:09 am

Thanks for the input guys. I hope it gets better within a few weeks. I traded in my 2 SAPs to get my turgidus. The 2 SAPs didn't seem like they have enough room in a 29gal and were very active. They seemed easier to own too. I'll try to get a 40 or 50gal for 3-4 SAPS in the future.

Purifire · Post by **Purifire** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 5:38 am

Is the new puff in the 29g now?

Terrance · Post by **Terrance** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:08 am

Purifire wrote:Is the new puff in the 29g now?

this lucky puff gets the whole tank for himself.

Terrance · Post by **Terrance** » Sat Jul 30, 2011 3:17 am

Salmon wrote:I guess what I'm getting at is he probably isn't used to you yet and it may take some time, just don't get frustrated with it and try to spook it or make sudden movements. Also wear earthy colors, reds and bright colors may scare it as well. Just give him time he will grow used to you and be more personable.

I scared him today. He wasn't in his castle (usual hiding spot), so I looked around the tank and even under the tank too. Next thing I see is him shooting around the tank and bumping into other objects in the tank. Then he laid in front of the tank with his tail curled up. I saw some of his black spots turn whitish. He stayed there for a while.

He continued to stay up front while I did a water change. I noticed an even bigger whiter spot during the PWC. After I was done, he hide behind a plastic plant. This seems like stress?

I didn't feed him today or yesterday, so I threw in a snail for him to find. I'll check to see if his white spots are cleared up by tomorrow morning during his feeding.

Salmon · Post by **Salmon** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:12 pm

Do the white spots look like salt crystals? because that could be ich

Terrance · Post by **Terrance** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 4:27 pm

The white spots is now turning into his regular light black spots

I looked under the tank while he was in his castle.

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 6:29 pm

What, no substrate?

Terrance · Post by **Terrance** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 7:16 pm

He still QTing. Its been 2 weeks since I got him. I'm about to buy some substrate this week and add it in next weekend.

Terrance · Post by **Terrance** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 9:37 pm

What is an appropriate amount of food to feed my turgidus? I been feeding him every 2-3 days or until I notice his stomach is not very round anymore. I been feeding him 2-3 pea sized raw prawns for the past 2 weeks. I notice 4-5 pea sized raw shrimp makes his belly really large, and stopped doing that after reading the overfeeding thread.

I'll get more variety of food soon. I tried giving him raw mussels, but he wouldn't eat it.

I might be getting paranoid, but does it matter how his poop look like?

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