The Puffer Forum

I have 2 gsp's right now. they are both about 1.5 in. I am feeding them a diet of blood worms, store shrimp and once a week I throw half of a clam in there so the can naw on the shell a little. I am wondering when is it nessisary to start feeding them snails, is the clam enough? what about shrimp in shells? Or is there anything really interesting to watch them eat?

They can have snails at any age, just make sure its not a species of snail with a really hard shell like a nerite or malaysian trumpet snail. Pond snails, ramshorns and apple snails all are fine.

A good rule of thumb is to feed snails that are approximately the size of the puffer's eye. If the snail is a little bigger, and your puffer is familiar with them, you can crush it to make it easier for your puff to get at the "meat".

Crunchy foods are always good for your puffer, but there's lots of options out there. Gut loaded live crickets, gut loaded live shrimp, earthworms, snails are all good live food options. The clam is a good one as well, as is raw, shell on shrimp. I think there's a good article in the library on foods, otherwise I know its around as a sticky...