Snowflake eel

Mbnym74 · Jul 24, 2016

I just bought a small snowflake today and was wondering how do you train them? How do you hand feed them? The guy at the pet store who I know and trust told me that frozen food would be good but after reading on here it seems like everyone has there eel trained. Thanks in advance for the help.

Duke4Life · Jul 24, 2016

Squid, octopus, clams, various other crustaceans and fresh fish soaked in vitamins, offer a variety. Of you can get LRS their chunky blend is good.

How big is the eel? Smaller/juveniles will want more frequent feedings than adults. Also SFEs switch gender.

Mbnym74 · Jul 24, 2016

It is probably 8inches , about as thick as my pinky. I just ordered a feeder stick from Amazon, so that should be here in Tuesday. Can I get the foods you mentioned in the frozen cubes and if so do I feed him an entire cube, I'm just not sure on how to go about it.

Duke4Life · Jul 24, 2016

No cubes, fresh stuff that you cut into small chunks and defrost when needed. LRS comes frozen and cut up but some pieces may need 2 be smaller.

A feeding stick is good, or surgical stainless steel tongs work good as well.

4FordFamily · Jul 24, 2016

Duke4Life said:
No cubes, fresh stuff that you cut into small chunks and defrost when needed. LRS comes frozen and cut up but some pieces may need 2 be smaller.

A feeding stick is good, or surgical stainless steel tongs work good as well.

X2.

I never did "train" mine when I kept them but they did eventually come to take it from my hands on occasion over the years

Mbnym74 · Jul 24, 2016

Duke4Life said:
No cubes, fresh stuff that you cut into small chunks and defrost when needed. LRS comes frozen and cut up but some pieces may need 2 be smaller.

A feeding stick is good, or surgical stainless steel tongs work good as well.

Thanks for your great info, you said LRS comes frozen and cut up, what is LRS and where do I order or. Thanks again

Duke4Life · Jul 24, 2016

Here's the article that talks about gender:
http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch2010/feb-15-10.html

Also they are Houdini's so any small hole must be covered and a tight fitting lid. Escapes happen, been there done that, not fun.

Duke4Life · Jul 24, 2016

Larry's Reef Services, a lot of fish stores carry. I also know you can visit their website and do a store finder search.

http://www.larrysreefservices.com

Mbnym74 · Jul 24, 2016

My lid is very tight so I think I'm covered there , I just did a store search and there is one 22 miles from me so I am taking a drive tomorrow.

lefkonj · Jul 24, 2016

I second the recommendations to keep a good cover on the tank, eels just manage to escape no matter what. LRS is great because you can break it into perfect pieces to feed the eel. Careful feeding any eel by hand as they are practically blind and go based on scent, very easy to get your finger bit.

Duke4Life · Jul 24, 2016

Yours is about the size my chainlink was when I got him. I did a write-up on my time so far.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/1-year-with-a-chainlink-eel.252908/

Just keep in mind what I've got going on fish wise I wouldn't do with a snowflake, as there are several big differences.

Mbnym74 · Jul 24, 2016

lefkonj said:
I second the recommendations to keep a good cover on the tank, eels just manage to escape no matter what. LRS is great because you can break it into perfect pieces to feed the eel. Careful feeding any eel by hand as they are practically blind and go based on scent, very easy to get your finger bit.

Thanks for the input, I just ordered a feeding stick , should be here Tuesday

Mbnym74 · Jul 24, 2016

lefkonj said:
I second the recommendations to keep a good cover on the tank, eels just manage to escape no matter what. LRS is great because you can break it into perfect pieces to feed the eel. Careful feeding any eel by hand as they are practically blind and go based on scent, very easy to get your finger bit.

Thanks for the input, I just ordered a feeding stick , should be here Tuesday

Mbnym74 · Jul 25, 2016

So I rigged up a 2 foot piece of 1 inche PVC and made a feeding stick and used some freeze dried shrimp I had and the eel ate 4 pieces, it was definitely pretty cool having it come out of the rocks to eat off the stick.

jazonPartij · Jul 25, 2016

I had my snowflake for 3 days and I can't get it to eat. I'm using frozen shrimp

Mbnym74 · Jul 25, 2016

I am getting the LRS FISH FRENZY frozen food tomorrow, everyone on this site swears by it and when I spoke to the fish guy at the store that I found it he said that all your fish not just the eel will go crazy for this food. I'll let you know how it goes

Duke4Life · Jul 26, 2016

jazonPartij said:
I had my snowflake for 3 days and I can't get it to eat. I'm using frozen shrimp

3 days isn't a concern, they can go weeks plus. Any chance it has been introduced to copper, even the slightest amount?

Duke4Life · Jul 26, 2016

Mbnym74 said:
I am getting the LRS FISH FRENZY frozen food tomorrow, everyone on this site swears by it and when I spoke to the fish guy at the store that I found it he said that all your fish not just the eel will go crazy for this food. I'll let you know how it goes

@ReefFrenzy has some of the best food on the market. I would get the "Chunky" blend for your eel as it's the 1 most suitable for them that LRS makes, the others are cut up a bit to small for eels I think.

Mbnym74 · Jul 26, 2016

jazonPartij said:
I had my snowflake for 3 days and I can't get it to eat. I'm using frozen shrimp

just another update, I bought LRS fish frenzy chunks and my snowflake eel went crazy, he loved it. I think I am going to make my own food when I run out, check out my thread titled "fish food?"