crustaceans to feed my porcupine puffer

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porcelaindoll
Puffer Fry
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Location: Denver, CO

crustaceans to feed my porcupine puffer

where exactly am I supposed to find crustaceans to feed my puffer and what kind? snails? what is everyone here feeding as far as "crunchy treats"? this isn't exactly easy to find.

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Puffer Queen
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Post by Puffer Queen »

Gamma's Cockles in the shell, frozen crabs (Asian market), prawn and shrimp with shell.

Kelly

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gagned
Dwarf Puffer
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Post by gagned »

I buy raw frozen shrimp (with the shell on), live mussels, and live clams from my local supermarket (just make sure you rinse them off thoroughly before feeding them to your puffer). You should also be able to get some nuisance snails from your LFS (just ask them - they're usually more than happy to give you a whole bunch for free).

Eating preferrences really depends on the puffer and his/her personality. I find that my GSP really loves mussels and clams, but my porc won't touch them. They both will eat the shrimp, but my porc will only eat it if I cut it up into small pieces (which usually ends up bypassing the shell). The porc loves snails though, and my GSP will usually ignore them. Strange, huh?

What type of puffer do you own?

Dan

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gagned
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Post by gagned »

Sorry... I forgot you said you had a porc (the title of the thread). See if you can get some nuisance snails from your LFS, and try some various things (shrimp, mussels, etc) from the seafood department of your nearest grocery store and see what he likes.

Good luck,

Dan

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porcelaindoll
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Post by porcelaindoll »

I have a porcupine puffer. thanks for the ideas everyone!

also one more quick question I have read they are nocturnal and will sit on the bottom of the tank during the day and not move much. this is perfectly normal, right? mine hides during the day and doesn't really move very much.

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gagned
Dwarf Puffer
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Post by gagned »

Mine is actually pretty active during the day, but I have seen him sit at the bottom of the tank from time to time (he's especially active when he thinks he can sucker me into feeding him). How long have you had him? What size tank, and how big is he? If he's fairly new, he might just be a little stressed at the new environment, and if you've had him for a little while, he might just be a little bored. From time to time, I periodically rearrange some of the decorations which seems to take care of the boredom (it gives him the sense that he's in a new environment, and he gets excited at the thought of exploring). Is he eating?

Oh yeah... you might also want to give him some peas as a snack. It's not a "crunchy" food, but my porc absolutely loves them.

Hope that helps!

Dan

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mikeosoft
Figure 8 Puffer
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Post by mikeosoft »

My porc sleeps during the day when I'm not in the room. If I'm in the room he's pretty active.

He loves snails, I pick freshwater snails up from a LFS for $1 for 15 of them.