My new eels wont eat, expertise please.

[Newb73]

Thanks for the posts guys.

Was getting a bit concerned that i could literally lay fresh krill on my snowflake that I got a week agos head without him showing interest.

 

[jda]

Primer from somebody who knows about Pebbletoothed Eels...and the difference between them and Fangs:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/fm/index.php

These fish often refuse take prepared foods, but after a lengthy starvation period will generally wean over to stick feeding. However, initially I would recommend feeding them live fiddler crabs, small blue crabs, and small shrimp to establish the fish.

You can buy live SW feeder shrimp many places online.

 

[P-Dub]

I’ve had a number of zebras and always do very well with raw frozen shrimp. Whole or just the tail, with or without the shell. All has been great. Never had one less than robust and healthy. Snowflakes have always appreciated the same but certainly loved squid or octopus or fish as well. Food strikes are not uncommon with Moreys and the only time one ever came close to dying on me was when it escaped and was found almost dry and wrapped in newspaper in my sliding glass door track. They are incredibly tough animals. Popped the relatively stiff ell back in th tank when I picked it up and I felt some life. Drifted to the bottom of the tank and three hours later it was poking its head out a hole with newspaper still stuck to itself.

 

[Newb73]

Primer from somebody who knows about Pebbletoothed Eels...and the difference between them and Fangs:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/fm/index.php



You can buy live SW feeder shrimp many places online.

The only problem w live shrimp is they wont survive with my picasso and puffer long enough for the eel to find them.

I have a nice feeding stick and ill start to acquire some more frozen food items with my next few grocery and lfs trips. For now ill offer him a piece of krill every couple days


The picasso loves it when he shows no intetest....more for him.

 

[MarsRover]

I've had eels go for six months w/o eating and be fine. I wouldn't worry and chalk it up to getting acclimated. I would ditch the silversides. They're high in thiaminase and are frozen whole with guts in place. If they thaw at some point in transit they may spoil. I'd recommend offering squid and octopus and see how they react. Both can be found at Asian specialty markets and Whole Food type stores.

ETA-- Took this dragon about 4 months to eat. Had tried squid strips from Whole foods. Picked up whole frozen squid from Asian market and success.

I can’t wait until my girl eats whole squid! For now I have to cut it into smaller strips. Not my idea of fun but hey, it’s food.

OP, just take it easy for a bit. My eel makes it VERY well known when she’s hungry. By nature they tend to have several homes and will go from home to home if one isn’t providing enough food. My girl comes out and swims all over the place if she sees me if she’s hungry. I really don’t get given a choice in the matter!

Please do heed people’s warnings about the differences between pebble tooth and non-pebbles. Completely different diets in the wild.

If in a few weeks you aren’t getting a feeding response then maybe get creative with all the good stuff some people are saying. But for now, don’t panic. Hunger won’t kill them for a long time. Just enjoy them, allow them to get used to their new home and you, and for you to get used to them.

Gorgeous banana

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

WOW! That is a beauty!!

 

[MUSBFRANK]

The banana eel will definitely come around with squid, silversides, market shrimp, ect, as far as the zebra, as soon as I put in live fiddler crabs or live crawdad, it was game over.

 

[BugXprt]

Why are you getting so defensive as soon as someone opposes your opinion. From what i’ve seen so far YOU are the one who claims to know everything. You are using anecdotal evidence just as he is. I would agree to stay away from both cooked shrimp and garlic, but if cooked shrimp is the only thing your eel will eat then what can you do haha. I highly doubt soaking a raw shrimp in garlic would help at all.
- As for the OP
Keep trying live food, thats what has worked best for me in the past. Live peppermint shrimp did the trick for me with a small snowflake eel.
Also, when you feed, lightly brush the food against their faces to ‘annoy’ them. A lot of the time they will eat it just so they can get some peace haha.

Feed the shrimp on a crimper or just let wonder around, im guessing the crimper to annoy his face. What do you think of ghost shrimp?

 

[BugXprt]

Those two eels are going to have different feeding habits and patterns. Comparing a fang to a pebble tooth eels can be somewhat dangerous.

The banana should be easy and routine before long. These eaters are opportunistic and even fish are a good meal.

The pebbletoothed eel (zebra or snowflake) can be finicky, stubborn and can have months of hibernation where it never comes out of eats...this is normal and forcing anything on it could be bad. Pebbletooths do not eat fish in nature (from what I have heard), so the bottom dwellers offer the best variety.

Cuttlefish heads, fresh squid and octopus, live crabs (natural diet) and most other nasty stuff from a asian market offer a good meal to either. My Zebra would crush cuttlefish heads with a gusto, also liked squid and then would let the cleaner shrimp pick the pieces/remains out of it's mouth. You can inject any of these with Zoe, Selcon, etc. for a more nutritious snack if the diet is not varied enough for your liking.

I always enjoyed the sound of my previous zebra smashing and crushing the clams in his jaws. Yikes.

 

[jda]

Zebra, and most Pebbletooths except for maybe a Snowflake, are not vicious and aggressive eaters. Even a snowflake is too clumsy to effectively out hunt a better predator. I have never seen one outcompete a trigger or other eel for food. If my zebra had any kind of commotion, it would run and hide. They are pretty docile creatures that never at ate any of my shrimp or fish:

Here is my favorite eel photo of all time... just for fun:

 

[TvanB1]

Feed the shrimp on a crimper or just let wonder around, im guessing the crimper to annoy his face. What do you think of ghost shrimp?

Yep, feeding tongs or crimpers would work. Ghost shrimp should be fine but they are a bit small.

 

[Szigedi]

For my crab eating eels, I would get a few small cheep fiddlier crabs or what ever is around and toss them in the tank, maybe 5 depending on the size, so that the eel can hunt on his own time. For the brazilian I would pick up 3 small live mullets and acclimate them for him to hunt when he gets hungry(NO gold fish). This way there is always food available for them(if he looks hungry and tries to hunt but fails cut off one of the mullets fins). For dead food don't poke them in the face with the food either, just place it down maybe 6 inches away and walk away, come back in 30 min if its still there take it out and try again tomorrow.

 

[Szigedi]

One other thing, if its a newish tank or if you cleaned lately double or triple check ammonia and nitrite.

 

[norfolkgarden]

There is always something new to learn. [emoji54]

Just found out I'm not supposed to be feeding IQF silversides to the 22" snowflake eel we have had for 6 years.

Thank you!

He is pretty cool and I thought I was doing a decent job of taking care of it. [emoji17]

Will start it on crabs next time it is fed.


FWIW, I was told to feed it similar to a snake. Good size meal (3 IQF silversides) every 3 weeks or so.

The fresh water tank near him gets fed daily.
If he comes out and sticks his head near the top of the tank when he hears my foot steps, then he gets fed. That is around every 3 weeks.
If he just hangs out or swimming low in the tank, he isn't hungry enough to bother with.
Otherwise the food just sits in the tank, messing up the water quality.

 

[GoVols]

Let's keep it civil. The OP asked for some advice, and there will be different ideas around. Feeding garlic is something that has been much debated for years. We're not going to solve that here today. Disagreement can be expressed (and is in fact encouraged when reasonably expressed), but discussion should be about the issue and not resort to personal attacks.

Daniel,
Thanks for cleaning it up.

Eels can take some time to be ready to eat. They will for sure eat when their good and ready.

I've always had success with the freeze died krill for eels.

Freddie

 

[Newb73]

Hey guys.

My pair of domino damsels seem to be harrassing the snow flake more than I expected. The snowflake has stopped coming out for his daily swims and the dominoes will some times case it into the rocks when it only is sticking out its head. Will that work itself out or do the Doms need to go?

I don't have PVC cave, is the lack of a cave a stress point ? Can it be solved w more rock? If I ned to add PVC I will.

 

[anbosu]

Hey guys.

My pair of domino damsels seem to be harrassing the snow flake more than I expected. The snowflake has stopped coming out for his daily swims and the dominoes will some times case it into the rocks when it only is sticking out its head. Will that work itself out or do the Doms need to go?

I don't have PVC cave, is the lack of a cave a stress point ? Can it be solved w more rock? If I ned to add PVC I will.

The dominos I'm sure feel the eel is a threat. Also, they are dominos, so they tend to be jerks. The snowflakes I've owned in the past would usually only come out swimming when they were hungry. If your eel is doing that even after its been fed, then it's possible the damsels are harassing it enough that it can't get comfortable underneath the rocks.

 

[MarsRover]

Hey guys.

My pair of domino damsels seem to be harrassing the snow flake more than I expected. The snowflake has stopped coming out for his daily swims and the dominoes will some times case it into the rocks when it only is sticking out its head. Will that work itself out or do the Doms need to go?

I don't have PVC cave, is the lack of a cave a stress point ? Can it be solved w more rock? If I ned to add PVC I will.

The dominos I'm sure feel the eel is a threat. Also, they are dominos, so they tend to be jerks. The snowflakes I've owned in the past would usually only come out swimming when they were hungry. If your eel is doing that even after its been fed, then it's possible the damsels are harassing it enough that it can't get comfortable underneath the rocks.

Concurrence here! Your eel should have at least 2 (ideally 3...) good separate caves to hide out in. They make 2-3 distinct homes in different locations and rotate through them. If you've ever been to hawaii scuba'ing, you'll see what variety of homes they like. Good googling can do the same. Eels usually only free swim when they are hunting, or changing homes. They change homes because they are thought to not be finding enough food in the home they are presently in so they cycle to their next home. Pretty darn adaptive if you ask me!

My eel only comes out more than 4" or so when she is hungry. Low swimming, high swimming, doesn't matter. She's asking for food. Silly girl eats like a beast..... every couple days i feed her her fill of squid or krill.... speaking of which....she's out right now... going to try and get a video for you.......

^^ thats what she does when she's hungry and i come near the tank^^
....like a puppy dog....

yes... she is a cyclops. looks like she may have been born that way as i cannot see a socket on the side with her missing eye. Her coloration and pattern looks contiguous where i expect her right eye to be so when i saw her in the store, my heart softened and i took her home

I really can't wait until she's mature enough to just eat one whole squid so i can stop cutting up strips every few days.... i swear my hands always smell like squid....

 

[BugXprt]

For my crab eating eels, I would get a few small cheep fiddlier crabs or what ever is around and toss them in the tank, maybe 5 depending on the size, so that the eel can hunt on his own time. For the brazilian I would pick up 3 small live mullets and acclimate them for him to hunt when he gets hungry(NO gold fish). This way there is always food available for them(if he looks hungry and tries to hunt but fails cut off one of the mullets fins). For dead food don't poke them in the face with the food either, just place it down maybe 6 inches away and walk away, come back in 30 min if its still there take it out and try again tomorrow.

Thank you

 

[BugXprt]

Concurrence here! Your eel should have at least 2 (ideally 3...) good separate caves to hide out in. They make 2-3 distinct homes in different locations and rotate through them. If you've ever been to hawaii scuba'ing, you'll see what variety of homes they like. Good googling can do the same. Eels usually only free swim when they are hunting, or changing homes. They change homes because they are thought to not be finding enough food in the home they are presently in so they cycle to their next home. Pretty darn adaptive if you ask me!

My eel only comes out more than 4" or so when she is hungry. Low swimming, high swimming, doesn't matter. She's asking for food. Silly girl eats like a beast..... every couple days i feed her her fill of squid or krill.... speaking of which....she's out right now... going to try and get a video for you.......

^^ thats what she does when she's hungry and i come near the tank^^
....like a puppy dog....

yes... she is a cyclops. looks like she may have been born that way as i cannot see a socket on the side with her missing eye. Her coloration and pattern looks contiguous where i expect her right eye to be so when i saw her in the store, my heart softened and i took her home

I really can't wait until she's mature enough to just eat one whole squid so i can stop cutting up strips every few days.... i swear my hands always smell like squid....

That’s awesome... and eww