# Colomesus Asellus Puffers won't eat snails/shrimp



## xerxeswasachump (Mar 29, 2006)

Hello Everyone,

I have a 46 bowfront tank with 6 harlequin rasboras, 3 platties, and two colomesus asellus puffers.There a relatively peaceful freshwater puffers.

Anyway, my puffer won't eat snails. They aggressively eat freeze dried krill but I haven't tried to feed them anything else. I know they need to eat snails daily to keep their beaks from growing too long. Unfortunately, mine have no interest in snails. My tank has hundreds of malaysian trumpet snails and every week I add a few ramshorn or pond snails, but the puffers don't touch them. I even added about 20 ghost shrimp but they don't appear to have any interest in them either.

Any ideas on what I should do at this point?

Thanks


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2010)

Try not feeding them at all. Sometimes when a fish is used to eating things you put in, and fish food, they will not be interested in anything in the tank because they know food is always given to them by you. So when you don't feed them for a day or two, they will instinctively go for what they should. Also, I don't know anything about Puffers at all, but don't do anything unsafe if not feeding them for a few days is bad, don't do it.


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## xerxeswasachump (Mar 29, 2006)

Well they are both pretty fat at this point. When i first got them abotu a month ago, one of them was very emaciated. That one has definitely recovered. I'll give them a few days without food. I do often go weekends without feeding the tank at all. It seems all of the fish are getting pretty fat so i might just take a week of from everything. The SAEs and platties need to earn their keep and munch on some algae. 

Hey also, i have hundreds of deal malaysian trumpet snail shells everywhere. I'm not sure what caused the die-off and there are still plenty of live ones, but do you have any idea what would cause a mass die off of snails in a short amount of time?


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2010)

May I suggest your puffers ate the snails when you weren't watching?


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## MOA (Aug 16, 2009)

Hi,

If you are worried about your puffers' dental ridges, you can float some untreated cuttlebone in the water. Cuttlebone is often sold for pet birds to sharpen and grind their beaks on but it works for puffers as well. You might not see them munch on it, but I can almost guarantee that it will get smaller the longer it is in the tank! (LOL)

MOA


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## xerxeswasachump (Mar 29, 2006)

Hah, i figured it would just dissolve into the water over time. Also, these are small freshwater puffers, not large saltwater ones. Would that make a difference in what they were able to eat?

Also, I bought 25 ghost shrimp yesterday to see if they would like them. Turns out one of my puffers is a ruthless hunter! Unfortunately, the other one won't go near the shrimp or snails. I'm not sure what to do with that one.


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## Guest (Jan 8, 2010)

It seems it is just a matter of them getting used to it. And possibly the dominant one is going after the shrimp, so the other won't.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

What you need to do is smash the little snails up  It makes them more tempting and they can then fit them in their mouths. Even if it seems like the snails will fit this is likely a part of your problem. Sometimes Ramshorn shells are too hard for them to crack open completely. You want them to munch on it but if they can't fit it in their mouths they will loose interest. You can also buy clams from the grocery store and smash those up for them.


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## xerxeswasachump (Mar 29, 2006)

OOOO clams are a great idea. I'll give that a try. I'm worried about all of the nasty clam guts getting all over the tank though. 
I did smash a few snails but all of the other fish stole the snail guts before the puffers could get to it. Also, as I mentioned before, one of the puffers is terrified of my hands and runs off when i try to hand feed them.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

LOL did I mention that the snails are more tempting that way? hehehe. Getting the others not to steal their food may be an issue. In that instance a cuttle bone may be a better idea. To get them to really go for the cuttle you can always smash the snails up on the cuttle so the taste is still there even if the other fish eat the snails themselves. I little gross but hey! The alternative is to have to anesthetize them and clip by hand. That's an issue for me. I am getting puffers and I really don't want to have to deal with hand clipping. I would be afraid of getting the clove oil mixture wrong  An overgrown beak is a very big deal though so you gotta find some way to keep it healthy. If nothing here is working you can look for suggestions at the puffer forum http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/


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