nmwierman1977

Burt and Ernie went from only wanting to eat every 3-4 days to wanting to eat every single day. They have been little piggy's all week. I have to put a wafer in their tank every day. Yesterday I put 2 wafer's in. I put one in ther morning before I left and then I put another one in when I got home because it was already gone!! I just hope that I'm not over feding them. I read that a fat otto is a happy and healthy otto. And god knows they are skinny as anything and are just starting to get a little fat. I'm really beginning to wonder if Burt is a female. He is so much bigger then Ernie. His body shape is tad wider than Ernie. Maybe when I get home I can try to take some pic's of them amd someone can tell me. I'll feel really bad if I Burt is a female and not a male because I've calling him Burt all this time.* He might have a sexuality complex. LOL* * * * Natalie

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chickadee

Well I have an Aunt Bert (Alberta) and she is very much a lady... It is possible as the differences are usually width and length and general body mass. The females are definitely bigger through the body and wider. I think you are not overfeeding them as long as they are not leaving brown algae uneaten for YOU to clean up. When that time comes then cut the food in half until the algae is gone. (They get lazy if you do the feeding and they think "why work when she is going to give up food for just being cute?" )

I am so glad you have them and Royell. You are a great fish mommy.

Rose

nmwierman1977

I think that Ernie is eating more then Burt because his tummy is much more fatter than his. I'm concerned that Ernie is getting to the food faster and isn't leaving anything for Burt. I put 2 wafer's in there this mornnig hoping that Burt would find one and start munching on it. Of course with in a few minutes of them being in there Ernie found one and sat on it. he's still there. Burt is more into being on the plants and the wall of the aquarium more then anything. Every once in awhile I'll see him eating up the left over crumbs that Ernie left. Natalie

chickadee

There is microscopic small plants and algaes on the walls and plants that Burt is probably eating. Some otos just do not like the wafers and will eat the "naturally" occuring food rather than the food that you give them. Is Burt's tummy rounded at all or sunken? If they have sunken tummies at all, they may not be healthy but if they are growing and looked rounded at all they are okay. The food is there so you have done all you can do.

I am sure that if Burt was really hungry and wanted to eat, he could let Ernie know to "move it, Bud!"

Rose

0morrokh

Two wafers might be too much for two Otos (depending on how big the wafers are), so if the two are not getting eaten you could try just feeding one but breaking it in half. I don't see Otos as tending to be food hogs though so I'm sure they're both getting enough to eat.

Btw, if Bert is a female then you could call her Berta...

nmwierman1977

Burts tummy is a little bit rounded. Not nearly as much as Ernies.

chickadee

Just so long as he/she is not sunken in tummy wise. Burt is probably just going to be a picky eater. There are picky otos too. Unfortunately.

Rose

nmwierman1977

I have a few pics of Burt's tummy and also of Ernie.The ones of the tummy are of Burt only. I'm hoping that you will beable to see his tummy. I tried very hard to get a clear pic of it, but it wasn't easy. His tummy shows a bit of a glow. Here they are:

nmwierman1977

OK, somhow the pic Iposted last night are in the first post I posted about them. I don't know how they got there. I posted them because I wanted everyone to look at Burt's tummy and tell how you think he is. Whether he's healthy or in trouble.

Now for today's udate. I did a little switch a roo with Royell and Burt. I decided to put Royell in the 5 gallon with Ernie early and put Burt in the hosp. tank because I'm really concerned that he's not getting enough food. His belly is very flat and he's very skinny. He wasn't easy catching, but I caught him. I put a couple wafer's in there for him and I hope that he will decide to eat them. I knwo people will probably say that 2 is too much, but* he really needs to gain some weight before he starves himself to death, so that why I did it. Hopefully he'll survive and I can put some meat on him. Natalie*

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nmwierman1977

Thanks Rose for the pic revamp. I don't know how that happened. Natalie