The Puffer Forum

I have a species only tank with 5 dwarf puffers, they go nut for bloodworms but I wanted to give them a little variety so I bought some small red ramshorn snails. I have been putting in a few of these squished into the tank but the puffers don't seem interested at all. I am reluctant to throw them in live in case the puffers don't eat them and I can't find the snails later.

Does anyone have any ideas? Is it possible my little guys simply don't like snails? Or is it likley to be that they aren't moving?

Your snails may be a little too large for the DPs. Since they seem like they are now expecting worms, it may take a little time for one of the DPs to take a bite out of any snail you try to feed them. I don't think this will last long though. In my experience, after the first taste you cant put a snail in there that will live more than a few hours. Definitely wait for a more experienced member to weigh in though before you introduce a potential pest into your tank.

Try feeding crushed snails after a day or two of not feeding, also try soaking in a little crushed garlic to make it irresistible. Once they know what it is they will devour all snails added

Thanks for the advice I tried the garlic thing and again they ignored the crushed snails for a good 4 hours before I took them out and simply gave them some bloodworms. Could it be they are so used to bloodworms they have forgotten what to do with a snail?

It's possible, don't feed for a couple of days and try again. If they look healthy it won't hurt them

If you can find them at an aquatic store near you, try live blackworms -- I've never seen a DP refuse those yet! Longtime forum member and ultimate puffer mentor RTR reared his DPs almost exclusively on live blackworms and swears by them for growth and development.

If you haven't yet, try putting the snails in live. I have 3 dwarf puffers and feed them pond and ramshorn snails about twice a week (in addition to frozen food). In my experience they tend to loose interest once the snail stops moving if they dont get it all out in the first few bites.