The Puffer Forum

I have one little tiny dwarf puffer who is truly my miracle baby. Ever since I got my GSP, Dexter, I've wanted to add more puffers to my household. I had my heart set on owning a few dwarf puffers. I had my tank ready, just waiting for the day I could find somewhere to buy DP's. I found a seller on aquabid.com and after some contemplating, I decided to go for it. I had never ordered fish online before. Well, to make a long story short, the next day they arrive at my door with two eensy weensy heat packs, all laying on the bottom of the bag. I was devastated and furious at the idiots who packed those poor fish. It was in November, so it was probably around 30 degrees outside, and they only used two tiny heat packs? Well, that evening I just kept looking at my poor little deceased DP's, whining to my fiance about how cute they are when all of a sudden I see one of them jump. At first I thought I was seeing things, then about 15 mins later I seen it again. I yelled "He's still alive!!!" and raced the bag over to the tank. I set it in the tank and watched it all night. Gradually, the little guy got stronger and stronger. The next day he was swimming around like nothing had ever happened. I was so shocked and amazed. Now, three months later, he's still going strong. I love the little guy, and some day I would still like to have a couple more, but I'm hesitant to because I can't get him to eat anything other than snails. Now, this wouldn't be too much of a problem, but he only eats the "heads" off of them and then swims away. His belly is never fat like Dexter's. I'm worried he's not getting enough to eat. Obvoiusly he's eating enough to survive, but that's not good enough. I've tried freeze-dried shrimp, krill, bloodworms. I've tried crab pellets. I've tried raw shrimp. He won't eat anything. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

DPs love snails, so I think it's okay if they don't particularly like other food, especially if you put them in vitamin solution before feeding. I wouldn't worry *too* much, as long as he's interested in food and actively hunting the snails. I may be wrong, though.

By the way, where did you order them from?

By the way, congrats on the little guy!

Thank you. I ordered them from a seller on aquabid.com. It's kinda like an e-bay for fish. The seller called himself Kingfish Joe. He has his own store and website, which I'm sure I could find if I looked through my e-mails. He refunded me the amount for the fish, but I was out the 25 dollars for shipping. I left him bad feedback on aquabid and a few weeks later he was off the site. I don't know if he got suspended or what. I guess I wasn't the only one who received DOA fish from him....

You could try diced up raw shrimp soaked in garlic. Also you may want to think about treating for IP, they may be causing the lack of appetite and may be the reason his belly never gets real big.

Here's his website... http://www.tfdfish.com/
He's located in OH, I live in PA. So he knew darn well how cold it was outside.

by Dadof4 on Sun Feb 08, 2009 4:04 am

You could try diced up raw shrimp soaked in garlic

See, I've been thinking about buying that stuff. I've never had any picky eaters until now.

It's cheaper to use plain clove garlic.

DP's go bezerk over live blood or black worms....completely ape sh** over them.....cant get enough.....in fact....it is almost all my DP eats...other than the occasional snail... He will not touch anything else at all...

You can put tiny pieces of food inside the empty shells to try and make that transition...

by julianchan on Sun Feb 08, 2009 5:03 am

DP's go bezerk over live blood or black worms....

I don't know where to find them. The only pet stores that I've found in my area are Petco and Petsmart and one little crappy one that's a pet store/Steelers merchandise store.

bummer_babygirl wrote:

by julianchan on Sun Feb 08, 2009 5:03 am

DP's go bezerk over live blood or black worms....

I don't know where to find them. The only pet stores that I've found in my area are Petco and Petsmart and one little crappy one that's a pet store/Steelers merchandise store.

Ew. Steelers. Sounds like a bad store.

Pet store + Steelers merchandise... odd combo...

I know. It's very odd. The people that own it are odd. I try to avoid that place. But at the same time I hate only being able to shop at the big chain pet stores. Some day I will find a normal pet store within driving distance!!

bummer_babygirl wrote:Thank you. I ordered them from a seller on aquabid.com. It's kinda like an e-bay for fish. The seller called himself Kingfish Joe. He has his own store and website, which I'm sure I could find if I looked through my e-mails. He refunded me the amount for the fish, but I was out the 25 dollars for shipping. I left him bad feedback on aquabid and a few weeks later he was off the site. I don't know if he got suspended or what. I guess I wasn't the only one who received DOA fish from him....

No, hes still selling fish. Just under a different name.
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/ ... stributors

Hes alsolocated in OH...