The Puffer Forum

I acquired a Colomesus asellus about three weeks ago and really enjoy his hyperactive swimming style. however he will only eat frozen blood worms and brine shrimp. I have many snails and want him to start eating them to help trim down his beek what can i do to teach him that snails are food?
I've tried three different types of snails mystery, ramshorn and pond. with no avail, i would appreciate any suggestions!

you can try crushing the snails, and make sure you have his atention before dropping them in. There are several threads about using garlic juice too to stimulate his apetite.

Brine shrimp is not the best food, it has almost no nutrition, and is basically tank-waste. I feed both frozen krill and frozen clam.( provides a decent amount of fat and protein) there are also shell-on shrimp that you can purchase at the grocery store to help keep his teeth down. Try to vary the food each day(s) to ensure he grows up healthy and happy.


Please read all the stickys and library articles on both SAPs and feeding.

How big is he? How big of a tank is he in? was the tank cycled, and if so, how?


I think this thread should be in the freshwater puffers section rather then the pufferpics, could a mod move it there?

hope this helps

Oh, the snails you listed will be fine, just remember not to feed MTS ( Malaysian trumpet snails) , as their shells are hard and can chip puffer teeth.

I had to put my SAPs into a breeder net to feed them snails. Try the crushing 1st though. You also need to make sure they are the right size--about as big as their eye. I just gave up after a while & stuck to blackworms & plankton.

OK thanks for your ideas ill try using the breeder trap and crushing snails

My puffer is about an inch and a half and he is in a 65gal. I named him Bumblebee Tuna, because he looks like a huge bee. to cycle the tank I used albino black skirt tetras, they loved all the swimming space, but are now in a 15gal they were in the 65 for three months before i got the SAP.

i tried putting him in the breeder net and he just swims up and down the sides. every once in a while jumping to try and knock open the lid. he seemed uninterested in ether snails or krill. but he loves his blood worms.

i just don't want to have to trim his teeth too often, I'm afraid ill hurt him or cut them to short and he wont be able to eat.

how often should he eat? i usually feed him in the morning some blood worms until his belly is slightly round

Maybe is you skipped a feeding or 2 he'd be more interested in trying something else.

i finaly got him eating snails. i have feed him 2 or 3 about the size of his eye for the last week and now all the snails i have are to large or small for him to eat so I've crushed a few big ones for him to eat. i also give him blood worms every other day when i feed my dwarf frogs (also blood worms) is this enough food for my sap or should he be eating twice a day like the rest of my fish?
thanks for your ideas