Enrichment

[CJs Aquatics]

Hey all, my favorite pet fish Jabba the dragon puffer kind of seems bored. I may be over thinking things but it led me to question is there anything I can do or add that will provide him with some enrichment of some kind? He’s in a tank by himself currently because of his aggressive nature, is very excited when he sees me moving, will follow fingers and essentially beg for food but it was just something I was wondering, I know it’s probably an odd question but any insight would be helpful, thanks

[JJenna]

The first thing that came to my mind for enrichment would be centered around feeding. Change up the feeding time or feeding location. Keep changing it so he's constantly having to search out his food. I'm not well versed in all things puffer, do you use a feeding cone for bloodworms? You can move that all around the tank. Do you think he would push a ping-pong ball around the surface of the tank (this makes me wonder if there is such a thing as a floating feeder that fish have to chase after). Do puffers like current in the tank? You could fiddle with that. 

I think about the enrichment stuff I do with my pups and it's mainly centered around food. One meal I hide their food around the house, another day I feed their meal in a puzzle ball that they have to push around to drop the kibble out, But you get the idea. It's great that you're thinking about your Jabba like this. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Caves? Hoops? Tunnels? Floating and/or sinking balls (I've seen puffers push them around)

On the food motivation thing, bloodworms, tweezers and motivation to go through said obstacles above. Then maybe in his "off" time he would find those things are fun enough to "play with" when you're not around. 

[Guppysnail]

I have never kept puffers however my Badis badis enjoy searching out scuds. If you seed the tank with enough they will breed in the tank. It provides an added food source as well as when he is bored he can search them out. 

[gardenman]

I've always used enrichment with smarter fish (Oscars, Midas cichlids, etc.) Golf balls (floating plastic ones and regular sinking ones,) weighted artificial plants that they can (and will) pick up and move around. A substrate they can move around pretty easily.  Hiding some food inside something they can see and have to figure out how to get to it. A clear plastic bowl with a looser lid works pretty well.  They like to chase a laser pointer also, so if you're sitting nearby you can have them dashing all around the tank chasing the laser pointer like a crazed kitten. They're generally pretty smart fish, so put their minds to work.  They tend to like to redecorate their tanks also, so give them smaller rocks, and driftwood they can move around. There are treat balls that you can fill with treats for dogs and cats that might be usable for bigger fish to bounce around and get food from. (Wet fish food tends to get a bit sticky though.) 

[The endler guy]

On 12/12/2022 at 1:02 AM, CJs Aquatics said:

Hey all, my favorite pet fish Jabba the dragon puffer kind of seems bored. I may be over thinking things but it led me to question is there anything I can do or add that will provide him with some enrichment of some kind? He’s in a tank by himself currently because of his aggressive nature, is very excited when he sees me moving, will follow fingers and essentially beg for food but it was just something I was wondering, I know it’s probably an odd question but any insight would be helpful, thanks

....from what I read they are an ambush puffer meaning they sit in the sand all day waiting for a snack. You always could feed some live shrimp or other small feeders.

Edited December 12, 2022 by Zenzo
Removed first sentence.