The Puffer Forum

Depends on the type of medication you get.

well i did get gel-tek

Soak the food, I recommend overnight in the fridge. I've sucessfully treated a DP with it, but I dont' treat by the instructions. Make sure you got quick cure PX, there are a couple much less available types that are for other things. I soak the food overnight in the fridge. DP's often spit the worm casings and you need deep penetration of meds. If thats not possible a half hour or so at room temp is ok. I treated for 7-10 days, fast the puffer a couple days, then treat again.

do i soak in pure geltek? or 50/50 ?

well now it looks like he has internal parasites .. i just got home and his stomach is all bumpy .. =[
i tried feeding him bloodworms soaked in the geltek stuff for like a half an hour and he would just keep running away .. i think hes scared of the turkey baster but last time i fed him like that he was fine .. ill try again in a couple days

I've found a small translucent glass dropper MUCH better for DP's than a turkey baster or baby medicine dropper. It's the perfect size and doesn't scare the puffers.

hes jus tusually down at the bottom of the tank and never really comesup for anything, so its alot longer and helps .. but he ate with it before so maybe since he didnt recognize the smell and the fact that the baster was right near him he got a little scared the first time

Could be. I have the same problem with them not "seeing" the dropper, but taught them if they follow it up the glass on the outside of the tank, it will dip in on their side right after it disappears.

lol well im going to try and feed him again .. he hasnt eaten in like 5 days so hopefully he eats .. how much geltek should i use ?
i use maybe a 4oz plastic cup to thaw out the bloodworms

how often do you feed him ? some sites say once a week .. ?

Dwarves should be fed daily, skipping one day per week.

Boxermom wrote:Very few puffers will eat dried or flake food. It often can take a week or more before they settle in and start eating normally. Just keep offering a couple of the bloodworms every day and it'll eventually start eating. Mine took over a month!

Hopefully you cycled the tank first, yes?

That is funny, one of my SAPs ate frozen shrimp out of my hand the first day I got it