Hello everyone I’ve had my snowflake eel for around a year and he’s really not looking well. This all started about 2 is moths ago. I had a 5 day power outage with no casualties. During that time he came out for food but I never fed him. After power came back on I didn’t see him for two months. In the last week he started poking his head out of the rocks but wouldn’t eat anything. I tried clams krill and squid. Just about an hour ago he was halfway out of the rock in broad daylight. The little yellow nubs on his nose are gone and his color is very faded. I just caught him. He is in a critter keeper box in my sump with the lights off. I through some very small pieces of squid in the box with him that I’ll change out in the morning. Everything I read online about snowflakes eels said that hunger strikes are decently common and they usually start eating again on their own. He also looks very emaciated. I just want to make sure I do everything I can so any input would be greatly appreciated. Pics will be posted in a bout an hour. Thank you John
Eel on deaths door
- Thread starter BigRed78
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Sounds like his hunger strike was spurred by the power outage, that in itself could have recovered from since he survived the initial 48 hrs or so after the outage. I would not have moved him, I would have tried various methods to peak his interest in eating. Like chumming the water then attempting to feed his favorite foods, or something like octopus or squid, which some snowflakes find a delicacy. Or even something live, which works best, like ghost shrimp. The move kind of created more stress, ands he is less likely to eat in a container, than a tank that was his home.
Brandon3152134
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I would try live ghost shrimp. That's what I used to get mine to start eating after bringing him home.
I’m gonna go hunt for some ghost shrimp and silversides tomorrow. The only reason I moved him is because I couldn’t leave food out for him in the other tank without others eating it. I used to feed him with a stick but he has just been ignoring the food on it.
Brandon3152134
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I would keep him in the critter cage as long as hes in the same water. You can get ghost shrimp from pretty much any basic pet store and they will survive when dropped into a salt tank for a little bit so you could put some in there with him and turn the lights off so he can hunt. Lion king is right about leaving him in his home but if hes already moved I wouldnt change it again but leave the lights off and give him something to hide in
Brandon3152134
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Update?
So he’s still kicking I picked up some silversides I’m going to try later. It seems as though with the rona going around there is a shortage of ghost shrimp. I called the two petcos and the lfs near me and none of them had it. I was recommended by the store owner to try mollies and there has been a small one swimming around in there for 45ish minuets that he didn’t touch yet
Brandon3152134
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Letting the food soak in minced garlic could help
xxkenny90xx
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Garlic is overrated imo... Ghost shimp are big sellers so you have to find out when your lfs is getting them and be there within a day of that. The Molly was a good purchase. Personally I would hold the Molly with some tongs and try to entice the eel that way. Or maybe even injure the Molly and leave it near the eel. Predators like struggling fish
Brandon3152134
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I've never had much luck with garlic but any bit could help. This is my newer eel after the one I had for a year or so jumped
Another update hopefully good. I left some food in his critter cage for him. The moly some pieces of squid and a silverside. As I’m writing a report for school right now I saw him to that head shake thing that eels do when they eat. I didn’t see if he actually ate somthing though.
Hugh Mann
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Have you tried shrimp? Not ghost shrimp, but just chunks of frozen shrimp. My moray admittedly isn't a snowflake, but takes shrimp above all else.
Another route you could take is a small emerald crab. Of course there's the risk of bringing over a parasite without quarantining it. My lfs had a snowflake on a hunger strike, and it ended 4 seconds after introducing an emerald crab.
Another route you could take is a small emerald crab. Of course there's the risk of bringing over a parasite without quarantining it. My lfs had a snowflake on a hunger strike, and it ended 4 seconds after introducing an emerald crab.
