The Puffer Forum

hey guys, i bought some new silk plants for my gsp tank now the he has totally changed his attitude and eating habits. He would come right out for food now he ignores it, any suggestions? Should i pull out the plants or will he eventually adjust?

He is probably adjusting to the new surroundings.

i feel so bad, i dont think hes eaten today. Hopefully he will adjust soon, i dont want him to go to much longer without a meal.

Don't be upset. My puffers sometimes get a little attitude when something changes in their environment and they refuse to eat too. They can go a couple days without food but usually get over themselves and return to normal within a short period of time.

That makes me feel better, i was feelin' kinda guilty. I just wanted to give him a nice home...LOL

How is your GSP doing today? I hope everything is getting back to normal.

My GSPs love the silk plants, I have the big leafy kind. One GSP sleeps under the leaves, while the other sleeps on top of them. They used to pace the glass all the time, but now they spend their time under leaves either resting or looking for food.

hes doing better, thanks! its so funny you said one of your gsp's likes to sleep under the silk plants because thats where i found mine. It was really funny. I gave him half a clam today and it looks like he has a full tummy. How are your guys doing? Do your gsp's have any favorite foods?

Yeah, one my GSPs loves to hang out under the big leaves when he's not looking for food. The first time I found the other one sleeping on top of the leaves, I thought he died. His tail was curled and wasn't moving. I was just about to remove him when he woke up. Turned out he was just basking under the lights.

I have been trying new foods lately. They really love frozen blood worms and a spot on their heads will get green. They gobble up mysis shrimp, but no significant color changes. They eat squid if they are really hungry. I tried giving them snails for the first time a few days ago, they seemed to really love them.

I bought the wrong kind of snails, though. I thought I could just crush them with my fingers, but that didn't work. I tried smashing them against the table, but the shells were too hard. Finally, I had to take a hammer to them, even then I really had to give it a good whack. But, they went nuts for it. I will try live clams next.

How about yours? What foods do you find they like?

They really love bloodworms, shrimp, clams, they dont really like squid too much. What kind of snails did you try? Ive tried the really small ones and they didnt even touch those. I've heard that they love , i think they're called, mealworms. I havent tried those with the gsp's or f8's but my burrfish seems to love them. My 2 dogfaces are in qt right now and they're really picky, love silversides but thats about it. I need to wear their teeth down, i was gonna try this cuttlebone idea for all my puffers, but i havent yet.... dont really know if i should?

Yeah, I was waiting for the results of the cuttlebone idea! Please let me know if that works.

I am not sure what kind of snails I bought. The were just advertised as water snails. The shells are dark and course and very hard.

my gsp LOVES snails. you can hear him crunch them. hes on them well before they hit the bottom. and if hes napping and you drop one in, he immediately wakes up and munches the snail