How to get pups to eat.

[RDFISHGUY]

I think my small male is well on his way to eating pellets but can't get the female to eat anything besides earthworms. I've tried the following:

Clams
oysters
shiners
krill
mysis
bloodworms
1mm NLS
3mm NLS
broken wafers
small shrimp pieces

She won't eat any of it and she is going to die soon if she doesn't eat something. She is very weak and you can see the bones in her hips and tail.
Do you just have to wait until they get bigger before they accept different foods or is she just a picky little bugger?

 

[snow]

If I were you I would feed her live black worms. That will fatten her up very fast. It will make her grow quickly too. It is the best emergency food to feed a stingray when it is weak and starving itself to death. This would be the best route to go IMO. If you could aslo put her in a seperate tank so the other rays don't go after the black worms.
When my rays would not eat anything I gave them some live black worms and it worked like a charm.
good luck
-peace

 

[m_class2g]

i wouldnt starve stingray pups for too long. feed her what she wants to eat now. good luck!

 

[RDFISHGUY]

Thanks for the post but blackworms or dew worms neither is readily available in Red Deer. I guess I will just have to suck it up and order them on-line.

 

[skynoch]

Until a ray hits a certain size they have a harder time with pellets. Live blackworms like stated above.

 

[Joey]

Chop up some market shrimp or fish fillet.

 

[snow]

Thanks for the post but blackworms or dew worms neither is readily available in Red Deer. I guess I will just have to suck it up and order them on-line.

I would think Charles from Canadian aquatics would be able to ship you some.

 

[RDFISHGUY]

I would think Charles from Canadian aquatics would be able to ship you some.

I just picked up an order of plecos from him on Sat. LOL. Too much of a PITA to order, just worms, from him. Although, for fish, his service was top notch. I am going to try to get them from Walleye Master in Edmonton. They will ship to your door.

 

[RDFISHGUY]

Apparently SW don't ship well in the winter so I'll be stopping in Edmonton on my way back.

 

[Cirrus]

I lost my female BD/Leo pup (7-8 inch disc) last year when I hardened my heart and tried to starve her into eating shrimp/pellets. Without a doubt it was the biggest fish keeping mistake I ever made. I will never let a young ray go more than 7 days without eating its prefered live food again. The larger male (12 inch) I had took to shrimp and pellets no problem.

Has the forehead begun to sink in at all?

Good luck.

 

[carcrazy]

I agree with everyone that live black worms are the best for young pups. I feed each with a turkey baster to make sure each one gets his share. I store the live worms in the fridge in a bowl of water that I clean every few days by pouring off the dirty water and replacing with new (without dumping the worms in the process). Good luck.

 

[rudy]

If it. Eating earthworms don't get it on black worms...that is like Ray crack. Grow it out on earthworms. Does walmart or Canadian tire there not have them?

Grow it out and feed the other one other foods. Eventually it will break

 

[RDFISHGUY]

My wife fed her some dew worms from Fas Gas today. Walmart and Can Tire are sold out. Tried starving without much luck. Just felt mean. Now I'll try stuffing her with worms. I'm picking up 500 worms and 1000 SW on my way home from work. That should keep her going for awhile.

 

[JMorash]

Small scallops (if you can get them), those and krill have never failed for me.

 

[RDFISHGUY]

She's back on worms. You could see her hips and her forehead was starting to cave in. She was going to starve herself to death. No more experimenting. I bought 500 worms in Edmonton. She is already recovering.

Its weird that she won't convert to pellets as the male already has and the BDL I got 3 months after her is eating like a champ. I'm telling you these fussy fish are a lot more work than cichlids. Both rays and aros are a fussy lot.

 

[rudy]

She's back on worms. You could see her hips and her forehead was starting to cave in. She was going to starve herself to death. No more experimenting. I bought 500 worms in Edmonton. She is already recovering.

Good to hear. Pups will constantly eat. If the other one is eating shrimp then she will as well eventually (when she doesnt get full enough from the worms).

 

[RDFISHGUY]

The male is eating pellets. I gave up on the shrimp for now but once she gets used to eating from the tongs I'll try other foods again.

 

[rudy]

The male is eating pellets. I gave up on the shrimp for now but once she gets used to eating from the tongs I'll try other foods again.

I am sure you have tried this but just in case.... Cut up the shrimp in long thin pieces and soak them in worm guts.

 

[Mark Huveneers]

Get it fat and healthy, when it it 100% keep it with one ray that eats everything. Usually it will pick up on other foods then.

 

[skynoch]

Get it fat and healthy, when it it 100% keep it with one ray that eats everything. Usually it will pick up on other foods then.

This is basically what I started doing. I keep a few pups around from a previous batch and put my new born pups in with those and within no time the new pups will eat what the previous ones have. I have also found that some pups have problems with pellets until they get a little larger so don't starve pups at all just let them eat and they will sort it out themselves or when around the 6" mark and healthy you can then experiment on missing meals. I've never had a ray I've had to starve it just may take time.