The Puffer Forum

as some of you already know i got my pignose puffer wednesday. well i did piles of reading on this puff before buying it and i was fully aware he was a lurker. well i want to make sure everything is normall as he hasnt stopped swimming up and down the glass all day and night like a mad man and hes meant to be at the bottom sulking if my sorces are correct.

is this normall for a pignose?

Totally normal. Is there sand for him to burrow in?

yep the sand is quite deep too so he should love it. also still thinking of what to try and feed him im thinking mussels to try it and move to different things if that doesnt work.

sounds normal to me, he will probably revert to the sulking when he realises he cant get out. Try feeding mussels as a staple diet and persevere with them, prawns and shrimp are good too. Its very tempting to find one food he will eat and then just rely on that but this coud lead to nutritional problems. Eventually he should associate you with food and you'll have no probs. One trick is to feed on a stck or bit of string as you can make the dead food move about like live prey to get them in the mood

Just remember you are going to need to stir the deep sand up each week or 2 otherwise you could get some nasty toxic build up in it.

yep will do. iv just also tried him with some fresh prawn which he has rejected. not worrying just yet but i will be by the weekend.

it could take him well over a week to settle in so don't panic too soon

It could be he's getting used to the lighting or activity levels in the area too... if there's lots of people walking around and he's not used to it, that sort of thing.

Does he have a cave of some sort to hide in? If not, he might just feel too exposed sitting in the open so he's looking for somewhere more hidden.

yep hes got a big plant pot with deep sand on the bottom and some rock caves and plants. still not eaten though

Did you read the Library article on how to train him to eat dead foods?

yes i did. i have managed to get some mussel in the current on a little wire so it looks like its live but still no luck i know im being impatient though and should wait but its been almost 4 days now as the store fed him monday its now thursday he must be hungry

Oh those lurkers can stop eating for over a week if they are stressed or just don't feel like it. Give him time, and keep the water clean, and he will eat for you.