Pufferfish Extremely Picky

I’ve had my Congo Spotted Pufferfish for a while now (1.5 years) and I’m still dealing with this issue.

It used to eat clam on a half shell but as of recently it just only eats the white part and avoids the brownish parts. Then after maybe a few pieces it’ll get bored and spit it out again and again. But the funny thing is when I feed Bloodworms or Uncooked frozen shrimp it’ll go crazy for that and eat until it gets “bored”. Which I can tell works from the stomach slowly expanding from eating. It’ll eat every bloodworm when I feed that, it’ll eat uncooked shrimp until it’s full or gets bored of it, it does eat brine shrimp decently but gets bored after a while. But it will not touch clam anymore, it will eat snails but again it’s just not interested. I’m not suspecting any disease or anything because it eats the uncooked shrimp and bloodworms like crazy. Am I dealing with a picky eater? How can I fix this? I’m planning on feeding rephasy meat pie mixed in with some clam shells for the beak. Any other suggestions for what to feed it?

Another thing is that this pufferfish is so like interactive that whenever someone comes up to the tank it goes crazy racing back and fourth until the person leaves the room. Is me being in the same room distracting it from eating or what?

It only shares a 29 gallon with a SA BB catfish and a Colombian Pleco which never have any interaction.

 

He needs some fresh water live food. This particular fish is in need of live insects and earthworms.
May I suggest live:
- earthworms
- crickets
- snails
- grubs
- grasshoppers

This fish does nor want the clams and mussels or shrimp from the sea. This is a fresh water fish that needs fresh water live food.

 

I agree with what Frank the fish said!
Also try bladder snails, he may ignore snails that are too difficult for him to chew.

 

It is a Tetraodon schoutedeni we're talking about here, right?
Then shelled food is still essential to wear down it's teeth. I'd start a culture of medium sized snails in a small tank or a bucket.

If it doesn't go for hard shelled stuff anymore there might be a problem with the teeth, though. Keep an eye open when you feed it the next time. The mussel shells might have been too hard and the teeth have been worn down too much.

But the funny thing is when I feed Bloodworms or Uncooked frozen shrimp it’ll go crazy for that and eat until it gets “bored”. Which I can tell works from the stomach slowly expanding from eating.

The expanding stomach tells me it eats until full, maybe even too full, but not bored. Same with the other food items, which seems to be still a certain degree of variety. What you describe as "bored" sounds simply like you're overfeeding. Feed smaller portions several times a day, it will not come across as you descibe it, I would assume.

Speaking of variety, bloodworms / red mosquito larvae don't have the best nutritional value. Maybe feed white or black ones instead.

 

He needs some fresh water live food. This particular fish is in need of live insects and earthworms.
May I suggest live:
- earthworms
- crickets
- snails
- grubs
- grasshoppers

This fish does nor want the clams and mussels or shrimp from the sea. This is a fresh water fish that needs fresh water live food.

Alright thank you! I had it on shrimp and others because that was what the store I got it from had it on. I’ll try out some earthworms and other things!

I agree with what Frank the fish said!
Also try bladder snails, he may ignore snails that are too difficult for him to chew.

Sounds good will get some!

It is a Tetraodon schoutedeni we're talking about here, right?
Then shelled food is still essential to wear down it's teeth. I'd start a culture of medium sized snails in a small tank or a bucket.

If it doesn't go for hard shelled stuff anymore there might be a problem with the teeth, though. Keep an eye open when you feed it the next time. The mussel shells might have been too hard and the teeth have been worn down too much.


The expanding stomach tells me it eats until full, maybe even too full, but not bored. Same with the other food items, which seems to be still a certain degree of variety. What you describe as "bored" sounds simply like you're overfeeding. Feed smaller portions several times a day, it will not come across as you descibe it, I would assume.

Speaking of variety, bloodworms / red mosquito larvae don't have the best nutritional value. Maybe feed white or black ones instead.

Alright thank you will do! I’ll split it up into probably 3ish smaller feedings? I do have some Freeze-dried blackworm cubes if that works?

 

I’ll split it up into probably 3ish smaller feedings?

You can also do 2. And do 1-2 fast days a week.

I do have some Freeze-dried blackworm cubes if that works?

Freeze-dried has it's downsides. Take 1/4 of a cube, soak it in tank water and see if the fish eats them. Under no circumstances feed those directly and dry.

 

You can also do 2. And do 1-2 fast days a week.


Freeze-dried has it's downsides. Take 1/4 of a cube, soak it in tank water and see if the fish eats them. Under no circumstances feed those directly and dry.

Will do, also any suggestions on feeding earthworms? My puffer isn’t really big by any means maybe like 2”-2.5”ish. Any easy way to prepare them? The earthworms from my pet store are pretty big.

 

Never fed earthworms to any animals, so there I can't help you out.

 

You want red wigglers, not night crawlers. Red wigglers are small and your fish can eat one whole. You can culture them yourself in a little container with compost. Just search for 'how to grow your own red wigglers'. Or you can dig them up in any fertile ground area.

 

My fahaka won’t eat clams anymore too. Puffers are intelligent creatures that know when they can get away with being picky.

It does sound like you’re overfeeding, as some other posters have mentioned. Just enough to get the tummy slightly rounded is a good amount.

In addition to snails I would suggest breeding self-cloning crayfish in a tub/tank. Once you get a small colony going they will breed fast enough to feed every day. As for feeding worms, just cut a red wiggler to a good length with scissors if necessary. You can then squeeze the poop out too if you don’t like the idea of the fish eating that or the sight of it spewing out into your tank water.