The Puffer Forum

You're not the first. You probably wont be the last.

Hilly wrote:When was the last time you saw him take a dump?

Nice way off putting it To be honest I am not sure, I will watch him more closely over the next few days. All I can say he is swimming around, looking happy as he goes Also he is searching by blowing the sand

So his behaviour is looking for food well thats a good sign. Perhaps it is just a blip, water parameters are good. I asked about taking a dump because I wondered if he might be a bit constipated, thats enough to put anyone off their food. A total guess but it was first thing that came to mind.

I saw the mussel and the clam.. Do you feed anything else? A high variety diet should prevent some constipation..

if it is constipation you could try Epsom salt

But really not eating is not terrible unusual..some puffs go on hunger strikes.

I have a turgidus who is refusing to eat because I ran out of his favorite shrimp and apparently the little prince will not eat unless he has a shrimp ever other day...

No he looks fine, I am about to take pics, then I will upload them. Thanks

I UmBU Pics

This is Midge Everyone.

I feed Live Muscles in shells, not every week, Frozen Muscle, Prawns and some sea food, what are you guys feeding yours?

+1 on the varied diet...

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/ ... minase.htm

is an interesting read but a long one.

Although I have not tried it, and I don't keep an MBU, I have read that Talapia is also a healthy choice. I wonder is anyone here has any ideas or thoughts on that.

You said not eating right? Not eating could be parasites..

And you said feeding some sea food, like from the grocery store? That is fine, we all do that, but make sure you freeze it before feeding it because unfrozen it can contain parasites which can kill your puffer..Thought I would mention just in case

Anyways Unfortunately I do not have a MBU..but I feed. Snails, worms, mussels, scallops, shrimp, peas, prawns, plankton, blood worms and I might start feeding guppies

Here is an article with a few more ideas
library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/

Have you tried crabs or crayfish?

My personal preference is not to feed live foods of any sort just for the unknown factor of what they could be harbouring but each to their own. Diet seems quite varied, have you tried him with some cockles in shell. I usually get the frozen Gamma packs but at the moment working through some bigger ones one of my LFS's had in.

I might have missed it, and if I did, pardon me .... but how long has your Mbu gone without eating?
You could always try an earthworm, most of my puffers love them. When my Mbu had internal parasites and was very ill, he stopped eating for a fairly long time, it was difficult to get him to take any food .... but the earthworm did it.

An earthworm might do the trick for you.

I'd be wary of any live foods though, (as you said you feed live mussels in shell every once in a while) due to the fact that even on this forum I recall someone feeding their fish some live seafood, only to find later their tank crawling with tiny parasites that were all over the substrate, food and the fish itself. (may have been an Mbu, and a clam - I don't remember).

You could try treating all of his food for IPs, but I'd treat EVERYONE's food in the tank as well - or feed them IP pellets too - if one fish in the tank has it, it's best to treat all.

How long has he has that small bulge on the belly, near his anus? My think is constipation too. Sorry I missed the parameters, I read a lot of posts.

Hi and morning, well it is here across the pond. Midge eat last night, me thinks I worry about him to much But he is a lovely and active little guy. The lump on his belly, I never really noticed it, glad that you pointed it out, I will watch to see if it goes down. About feeding dose everyone feed theirs daily & if so how many times? I myself only feeds once a day. Thanks to you all with the helpful comments I appreciate them, but not the ones that are rude to me.