my dp wont accept my food

penna32 · Post by **penna32** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:18 pm

i havent feed this little guy in about 6 days .. for 4 days i was away so i couldnt feed him, every since then he just wont accept the food .. hes gotten much skinnier and smaller, and i feel really bad

are there any remedies or something i can do to get him to eat?

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:24 pm

If it's the same food he was taking before, it sounds like he has parasites. Mine have not skinnied up at ALL with only 4 days of no food, I suggest treatment for internal parasites. Soaking the food in garlic can encourage eating. What have you been feeding him?

penna32 · Post by **penna32** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:27 pm

ive been feeding him thawed out bloodworms .. ill treat for parasites again with gelTek, just normal garlic? like how much would i put in ? i thaw out the bloodowmrs in a veryyy small plastic container

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:41 pm

If geltek did not work the first time, your parasites are resistant, and it will only make them more resistant to try again. I had a green spotted puffer die because the parasites were geltek resistant. I suggest ordering flubenol-15 from http://www.flubenol.co.uk. For garlic, I'd put a clove of garlic through a press or crush it up really good, then let the food sit on top of it for a while, in the fridge.

penna32 · Post by **penna32** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:43 pm

sorry if this is a really amatuer response, but literally on top of it? or let it soak in the water with the food?

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:45 pm

I personally believe more garlic juice is absorbed with just juicy crushed garlic with worms laying on top of it, right on the juicy pulp.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:46 pm

Not that a tiny volume of water to make it a slurpee consistency would hurt.

penna32 · Post by **penna32** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:47 pm

well i usually do 2 gum drops so ill soak on right on top nd one in water .. hope this works i love my little puffer

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:49 pm

Two gum drops? How big are these? Your DP only needs about 3 bloodworms a day, and that is if he is fully grown and the worms are small-medium in size.

penna32 · Post by **penna32** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:52 pm

well i feed my other fish .. i have about 20 fishh or so .. (not in the same tanks of course)

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu May 31, 2007 3:54 pm

ahh, ok, you can soak only the DP's food, just pick the bloodworms out of the gumdrop after you thaw, but before adding to anybodies tank, and soak them in the garlic as I described before offering to the DP.

penna32 · Post by **penna32** » Thu May 31, 2007 4:00 pm

okk so heres my step
thaw out the bloodworms
pick out some bloodworms and put them on the garlic
feed the rest of my fish the remaining bloodoworms, while the puffers are being soaked
feed the puffer

sound good?

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu May 31, 2007 4:03 pm

Sounds good, btw, how are you feeding? I've found feeding DP's with an eyedropper and giving them the worms 1 by 1 as they eat makes them more petlike and affectionate than just dumping the food in now and then, it gives them a trigger to start getting excited, when they see you with that eyedropper outside their tank, they know whats coming.

penna32 · Post by **penna32** » Thu May 31, 2007 4:14 pm

yeah mines pretty much the same thing with the turkey baster .. the first time e was scared but after that he jumps around and swims in circles, but now he doesnt even move and i have to move a couple of my java ferns to find him but i really feel badd

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu May 31, 2007 5:14 pm

He's probably really suffering from parasites, get the flubenol asap

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my dp wont accept my food

my dp wont accept my food