The Puffer Forum

Hey there
I have as problem and it is this: of frozen food, one of my congos only eats Krill (not the mashed up ground up kind but the kind that looks like shrimp) and eats live food (guppies ghost shrimp and the like).
I would like him to eat other things and have been trying but the subborn guy wont eat even a single bloodworm or those tiny eel looking frozen food that my other congo eats with gusto.

Any ideas?

How long have you fasted him for before trying something new. As Congos are lurkers they can some of the most stubborn to persuade them to take frozen foods.

Theres a feeding article in the library with some ideas, the string idea bobbing it around to simulate live food and also using a chopstick and gently bopping them on the head to get bite reflex has been successful.

It takes time and patience, the hungrier they are though the more likely of success of weening them off feeders.

hmm.. dont like to starve em but you might have a decent point.
I generally feed em by hand (hold the food in the water) it has worked alright for a while now, sometimes get my fingers bit but im a hockey player (goalie) and cuts and scratches dont bother me too much. Ill wait another day and try again with some different food.

If a day doesnt work feed anf then leave a few more days if 3 days doesnt work, try 5 and then try a week. It might sound a little harsh but lurkers dont exert a lot of energy so should cope fine with it and then try again. It sounds like hes well fed so week of fasting wont hurt him.

I wouldn't feed an adult lurker more than every 3-4 days.

I have an adult Congo who was very picky about eating and I just kept offering him other food, and he would mostly ignore it and not eat it, so I would remove it the next day and just kept trying. If you're not offering him anything else, he may finally give in when he's hungry.
It worked for me, so thought I would suggest it.

alright thanks for the advice!

They dont eat every day in the wild. Starve is a bit harsh. He is likely pampered as is. I know my puffers are. Lol.

I've been having a similar issue with my baby congo but he's actually taking things from my big turkey baster readily so I tried stuffing some cockle meat onto it and he started chewing away happily. He's a bit scared of the defrosted silverfish I give him from time to time, and swam away in fear at first. He seems to be associating me opening the tank with getting food now which is a good sign.
Keep up with it and I am sure you will crack it soon

My Suvatti goes on self imposed "hunger strikes" for over a week at a time. Longest he went was 4 weeks and he didn't have an issue (ate like a pig after that ). Point being that lurkers can go for quite the stretch without eating so you may have to ride out the storm for a while when trying to switch him over to frozen...