feeding figure 8 puffer

[tanhql]

i'm currently feeding my small figure 8 freeze dried shrimp presoaked in seachem garlic guard as the main diet and pond snails as a occasional treat(depends on how much i can get from my lfs). can i include live brine shrimp and live cockle (from supermarket etc) too? cockle for it to trim it's teeth as i cannot get a steady flow of snails, but can a puffer that size (about 1.5") eat a cockle? also, will brine shrimp and FD shrimp do as the main diet? thanks.

[indie]

hi there,
I feed my puffers on shell on prawn, i put it in the tank and when their bellys start getting rounded i take it out. so i imagine he will be fine on live mussel, but he may not be able to eat it all.

i also feed my puffers on: live brine shrimp, live and frozen bloodworm, frozen mussels, cockle and snails.

[tanhql]

ok, i'm more concern about the lack of snails to keep its teeth in check. so, if i feed it a cockle, should i freeze it or feed it live? also, how do i feed? open it up or just put it in the tank whole like this?

btw, that's not my video.

[indie]

i have no idea about the cockles. i think i would open it up and perhaps try to keep the shell in there so it can peck on it? im sure someone else will come along shortly to shed some light on that!

have u thought about setting up a small tank to breed snails? this is what i do for my puffers and it works quite well. that way u dont need to rely on the lfs having them.

[Boxermom]

Brine shrimp should not be a staple, they have almost no nutritional value. Any live food should be quarantined for at least 2 weeks, IMO. I would freeze the cockles first, although that doesn't guarantee safety either.

There's a very good food article in our library.

[kjharve]

Always open up the cockle. I think it's unlikely an F8 would be able to break the shell open.

I often feed mine cockle as I struggle to get snails here too. I open the cockle before putting it in. The shell will help keep their teeth trimmed as they will scrape their teeth on it as they eat.

[kjharve]

Oh, and the cockles I use are frozen and can normally be bought from a good LFS in bags especially for fishes.

[tanhql]

can i buy from a supermarket (live ones) and freeze them? also, how do you open the shell?

[kjharve]

I put mine in water for a while to defrost them and then just prise them open with my fingers.

[tanhql]

i know this is a weird question, but would puffers get hepatitis from eating raw cockles?

[kjharve]

I wouldn't have thought so! They eat shellfish in the wild and I don't think they have cooking facilities there!

If you are freezing shellfish just check it hasn't already been frozen and thawed out for sale.

[The Fisherman]

Well, he might not be able to get through the cockle, but it might be good for him to try, to help keep his teeth worn down.

I agree with Boxermom, its not a good idea to use brine shrimp as the staple diet. I personally, use a varied diet, of Clam, Krill, Blackworms, Mussel, and the occasional QTd Ghost shrimp.

[tanhql]

while feeding the f8 with fd shrimp using a metal tweezers, i notice it'd bite the tweezers to get the remaining shrimp between the tweezers (i can actually feel the teeth grinding against the tweezers) . would this be able to keep its teeth in check?

[Boxermom]

I wouldn't, it might break their beak.

[OraLacerta]

I fed my F8 nothing but frozen foods for a year, hoping that frozen mussel, krill, shrimp, as well as Blood worms would keep her trim, but she still developed an overgrown beak. The only thing that worked for me was feeding her snails daily until her beak was back to normal. Now I feed them to her 2x a week.

Others may have had different experiences, but I think Figure Eights' beaks grow rather slowly, so it's hard to judge what is effective for them unless you've had your puffer for a long time. I would advise setting up a snail breeder; it's inexpensive and snails are a sure bet for keeping a beak trimmed.