The Puffer Forum

my puffer seems to eat anything except what he needs. I recently put 3 ghost shrimp and about 10 small pond snails into his tank and he ate one of the ghost shrimp almost the minute i put them into the tank but he won't touch the snails. i read that snails are essential to a puffers diet and im slightly worried. Is this normal?

He is probably after the shrimp because they move fast and give him the thrill of the hunt so to speak. I wouldn't be worried as he will probably munch on the snails soon enough.

You don't have to feed him snails. You can feed him anything with a hard shell to keep his teeth in good health. If you've got an asian market near you they are the best place to find cheap hard shelled foods for your puffer.

thanks i won't be so worried about that now

Snails aren't that important. I've had my puffer for about six months and i've never fed it snails. I cook a lot of seafood so i used raw shrimp to feed someties and i wrap the tail in meat so he bites into it when he eats. This works well with trimming his beak.

I haven't fed a snail to a puffer in years. If you do though, be sure it's about the size of their eye.