The Puffer Forum

Okay, ive had my saps mikey and harold for about a month. We just got done battling ich and a minicycle and my puffs have came out rather unscathed. They r very good eaters, but since ive had them ive been crunching up their snails each day and hand feeding them. Now i think they r spoiled. Ive dropped snails in their tank but they just ignore them. Course they r small snails..... And i tend to not see them after a few days... Idk maybe they r eating them. Ugh, i digress. My question is, if i just drop a bunch of snails in their tank and quit crunching them up an hand feeding them, will they start hunting the snails when they get hungry enough?

That is correct, mine now only get whole snails. Welcome to the forum

+1 to bertie's comments.

I tend to add snails during the tank's dark cycle while the SAPs are asleep. This pretty much guarantees that the SAP must hunt to find them and then eat them by crushing them. They need the exercise of hunting (these are very active fish IME) and need the incisor abrasion of the shells. Both are good for them.

Once they figure out snails can be found simply by looking for them you will see them constantly scouring the substrate in search of more.

ive never thought of dropping snails in when lights off, tho i have a f8

a idea i have sometimes i buy red claw crabs only a few £s if they survie then all good but if they get picked on n die ill freeze um so can be defrosted later, might sound harsh but cuz my f8 hasnt got a big mouth to fit a whole crab or shelled cockle, out comes a hammer to brake um when still froze,, add bits into a shot glass of tank water to defrost then serve

Snails put in when the lights are off enables them to escape temporarily, they can then be hunted later. Be sure to add when lights are on too so your puffer understands that you are the source of his feedings, not just the magically appearing snails lol

Thank you everyone for your replies my puffers are still small and ive began raising ramshorns for them but none of them are the size of my guys eyes. I have lots of eggs but no tiny snails yet. Should i just continue to crunch bigger snails until i have some small enough for them or can they eat bigger snails? Sometimes i feed them frozen bloodworms too for a treat. Is this okay for a bit until i have smal enough snails?