The Puffer Forum

Does anyone know can stars and stripes puffers eat sea urchins or rather should they? My local store said he would order me some small black needle ones and my puffer would love them? Dont they sting? Sounds weird to me? Anybody know?

They do sting, but the needles are easy to remove. We used to remove it by using window screen or chicken wire with small holes. You just put it on top and shake it side to side and it should fall off. Just be careful when you handle it. Getting pricked by those needles hurt a lot.

I don't know about feeding it to puffers though. Do they naturally eat it?

I know porcupine puffers for sure eat urchings. as for stars and stripes, they eat a wide variety of invertebrates, so they probably do. If i were to feed an urchin to an urchin eating fish, i would not remove the spines.

Yeah, probably as DRRT says.

We usually just eat the sea urchins ourselves.

lol ya, for a person to eat the urchins, spine removal is a must.

but puffers love hunting their food, and removing the spines would upset their fun!

Yeah. Plus, the spines are pretty brittle. If you ever try to pull one out of you, the tips always break off pretty easy. I guess a puffer would be able to crunch it up.

I got a black urchin and so far he has not eaten it but he is watching it very carefully and sitting right next to it and giving it the eye. I will let yall know if he goes for it. He is hilarious.

ow ya. those things hurt like hell. there are some that you have to step on to get poked, but most of the larger ones are real touchy.

you never know, that puffer might decide he wants the urchin to be his best buddy instead of a good meal

It is usually the triggerfish that eat the sea urchins.

I stepped on an urchin before and yes it hurt!

I was scared at first as I thought I may've stood on a junkies needle (why I thought a needle would be in the Caribbean sea I don't know)

yes, urchins are commonly eaten by triggerfish, but also by wrasses and emperors, and possibly puffers