The Puffer Forum

Another update. My puff has been eating better and better He's decided he will eat the tiny snails without me crushing them first, and then anything I reckon is a bit too big, I'll partially crush and let him get on with it. Success! Thankyou. Now i'll just have to watch out for his teeth getting long...

This is how Fahakas eat snails!

I dont understand. How do these fish survive in the wild if they need their teeth trimmed even if they are eating snails everyday?? ( A. Modestus and SAPs)

I said the same thing earlier in my thread;

"I was just wondering... if their teeth grow so fast even with a constant supply of snails... what happens in the wild? Or is it something that only happens in captivity.. maybe in the wild they are constantly hunting and eating snails and other hard shelled foods... so they are eating more but also using more energy. Whereas in an aquarium they are eating less and using less energy therefore teeth growth?"

It is a mystery... hmm...

My SAPs almost never required tooth trimming, but their diet was always basically snails. I suspect that their wild diet is close to that.

The only times that I had SAP incissor problems was when fed incorrect snails - MTS broke a few plates. That requires trimming during regrowth of the broken plate, as the opposite plate overgrows.

What about A. modestus? Do you think he is better or worse in the easy-to-get-overgrown teeth department? I have had sooo many puffers, but this is my first crack at this guy, and I am paranoid. I dont want to trim any teeth. He gets snails every day. He has boatloads. They dont really seem like huge snail eaters, though. Any tips?

No extended Auriglobus experience, sorry, but I did and would treat them just like SAPs.

Thanks for the help and info RTR, and everyone else! Also thanks guys for the two great vids.

After reading all this, my puffer has a problem.

Tetraodon baileyi eats snail by the sucking method. I tried crushing the snail. But once it is dead, it doesn't give a hoot. It only likes to catch snails which are still hanging on the glass.

Strangely, it eats prawns which are dead. But as prawns are big, I have to cut them up. So the puffer is smart to just pull out the flesh and leave the shell behind for me to clear up.

Any solution to this tricky puffer please?