The Puffer Forum

Hi all!

New DP owner here, and just a question to kick start, do your DPs only eat crushed snails? I tried putting some really small snail 2 days back, and Sinky actually went to probe (not sure if he ate), but today, I newly bought a pack of snails and after I fed a couple bloodworms, I tried to drop a snail in front of my 2 DPs but was ignored However, once I crushed the snail, Sinky went straight for it.

Will I always have to be crushing snails for this pampered DP then???

Considering they need snails as large as their eye, that's pretty tiny, so crushing would be the way to go.

Uh, okay. Also, what's the likelihood that DPs will eat pea? I bought snow peas n popped the peas out of the pod before feeding. I tried them crushed at well, but my puffers totally do not appreciate.

They're carnivores so I don't think they realize peas are food

I thought so too. However I kept reading that people are feeding pea to their DPs.
Also, my DPs only suck on the bloodworm and not eat them whole (I.e they leave the skin behind), is this normal? The DPs I saw in other videos eat the bloodworm whole.

Mine did. Sometimes they would actually eat them up, but more than half the time they would slurp them down and leave the husks.

A good side to the snail size issue is that you can (or I have, at least) enjoy a few adults producing tiny live food and cleaning up the tank at the same time. Except the MTS.

I feed my Dwarf Puffers a combination of Freeze Dried Krill and frozen blood worms.

They will not eat the Krill whole, you have to crush it up between your fingers.

Tetra Jumbo Krill is the best I've found.

Everyone says freeze dried krill can give lockjaw,I personally have not seen this, but my girls only get frozen thawed krill 2xs a month.

If you give them baby bladder snails, most will go for them at that size. It isn't unusual for them to suck the blood out of the inside of the worm, especially when young. If they will eat a crushed snail, be happy... some are too lazy for eating even those. Even though they don't need the snails for their teeth, it is truly a natural staple in their diet that should be matched at least 40% of their diet. Travancoricus are notoriously picky eaters, so if something works stick with it (prob less krill tho to be safe). Peas are usually fed to pass constipation, in which case daphnia is the better choice as it works just as well for a laxative but unlike peas, is a crustacean and packed with calcium, which most puffers will eat thawed frozen daphnia (and go wild for live daphnia).

Congrats on your new puff, they have so much personality and intelligence packed in that tiny package!

thanks all! I haven't seen Krill in my nearby LFS, but I have bought some frozen brine shrimp, which totally doesn't catch their interest
sometimes they do not even bother about my frozen bloodworms too unless I start wriggling it around >.<
I tried to keep snails in a container, but they got so super pungent (probably some died inside) and I threw them out! *shocked*

Still got loads to learn, and yeah, I'll keep checking up this forum for more clues! Cheers!

I am a new DP owner also. I think I am lucky, mostly my DPs eat anything. Sounds like yours could be a little fussy and want wriggly stuff. I feed my puffers snails that are about 3-5mm (because it seems more efficeint? dont know if thats the right word? to grow snails larger for feeding) but always crush them first. There is an article in TPF library on breeding snails or google it, it is not too hard to maintain a population but they do need a little more care than just sticking them in a container. Also, probably no good as main diet, but can you order and culture some white worms? They eat yeast and I feed my cultures with nutritional or brewers yeast which I believe has more vitamins/nutrients in it and live food so my crew snap them up.
Vita chem is a vitamin supplement you can soak the food they WILL eat in, if you are worried your fussy eaters are not getting enough nutrients. I had some success feeding peas but was only doing so because of suspected constipation, I microwaved a frozen pea and a little crushed garlic in a shot glass of water for 30 secs then once cooled mashed it up. When it was dinner time and everyone was hanging around I turned off filter (so the pea could slowly float to the bottom) and dropped small pieces in and they chased and ate a few bits. 3 of my puffers let me feed them by hand and these 3 will eat Repashy Grub Pie off my finger the other 2 also chase and eat the odd bit as it floats down, I add a little raw crushed garlic to the Grub pie when I mix it. I think just a case of seeing what your lot will eat and then adding as much nutritional value as you can. Good luck!