The Puffer Forum

hey everyone, just wondering from some more experienced people if this seems alright as i feel like it should be....now obviously you cannot have too shy of a puffer for this to work, and i do it with my GSP's, who would bite my finger if i stuck it in and wiggled it around.

i have a large piece of a broken snail shell beside the tank. every once in a while before a meal i rinse the shell shard, and dip it in the water as if it were food. my puffers grab on and try to rip pieces off for about a minute before they give up, than they get fed whatever im feeding them that day. first off i want to say i think it works quite well to help keep their teeth down. i also give them smaller snails regularly. just wondering if this is not a good idea for some reason. and if someone has shy puffers maybe something you could dip the piece of shell in to make it taste/smell more appealing....? or variations on this idea?

wanted to share thanks in advance for any info/comments

Well, it's not the best of ideas to encourage puffers to bite your fingers, makes maintenance harder, especially when they get bigger! Lol

One of the reasons malaysian trumpet snails are not recommended is because they can chip or even break off their teeth. If the snail shard is too hard, they could chip or rip their teeth out. I didn't think puffers' teeth could be dislodged, but someone posted about it here, it was kind of scary

If they have a regular diet of snails and other shelled food, it should keep their incisors in check.

alight thank you syn. i had only done it once or twice, and thats not how they started nipping at me, they have always done that! mean little buggers. but i do taunt them up to the top of the tank before every time i feed them. i think they just get so excited to eat.

i never knew that their teeth could get messed up!!! the only problem i have EVER heard of was their teeth getting too long so im always really afraid of it happening.

and thank you for your input you seem to be the one who is always helping me. its more than appreciated

A proper diet will prevent their teeth growing too long, except in the case of puffers like South American Puffers. If worst comes to worst, puffer dentistry isn't too hard, but is obviously not the preferred route if it can be avoided.

Oh, no problem Dr! I wouldn't have ever thought of it either unless someone had it happen, which is unfortunate, but it's good to know.

It is very creative.