Alternative feeding

[CJs Aquatics]

Hey all, I told a forum friend @mountaintoppufferkeeper I would post this new process I’ve been playing with today so here we go. I have a fish that only eats live food. This specific fish is so stubborn he would actually probably rather starve then eat anything that isn’t alive. Makes feeding time really tough. He loves earthworms and snails however for reference he is a species of puffer, although I think this would probably work for other pickier types of fish as well perhaps some cichlids and bichirs etc. that like things live. Started to run low on worms the other day or maybe was just too lazy to feed them and had an interesting idea. I wondered if I could find worm shaped silicone molds so I could make artificial worms and perhaps ween him to other foods that way. It made sense bc it would be no different the artificial worms used for actual fishing or something of the sort so I went online and found these:

Pardon any mess or not great pictures but here they are. These are silicone molds the first 2 specifically for gummy worms. I ordered them and decided to make repashy worms/ bears bc the bears are funny. 
 

Grabbed a few kinds but for the worms I used the grub pie fish, it just made sense.

A few more tools for this trial and error project we’re some plastic cups, some colorful pipettes that came with the molds, a measuring spoon this one was 1TBSP and a spoon to make the mixture.

Also this measuring glass, anything would work though. I used 2 tablespoons to 1/2 cup of water I heated to a boil in the microwave. I did it a little at a time bc I was using different flavors of repashy for different species of fish. 

I mixed it and used the pipettes to make the molds and stuck them in the freezer for later. I also used a credit card to scrape over top of the molds to remove as much excess repashy as I could after it had started to set. 
 

I had to play around with the ratio as you might see things were thicker then I wanted but will still work for there purpose. I stuck them in the freezer then moved on. 
 

the second batch I eliminated a bunch of unnecessary steps in my opinion such as the cups and the measuring spoons and it went much smoother.

I just poured the powder into 1 cup of the boiling water right into the measuring glass, and mixed it in there to a more liquid consistency. Then I piped it into the molds. I left excess on top to show what I meant by using the credit card/ consistency, then just scraped it right off. (Last statement sounded good but it was actually bc I’m messy). 
 

stuck these in the freezer as well to finish setting and they will be ready to go. 
 

The point of this whole post was it worked. I fed the “repashy gummy worms” to the picky puffer and as it thaws it wiggles like a real worm. He loves them. Using it as hopefully the first step towards transitioning him to eating pellets flakes etc. The bears were just a funny bonus. If you have a picky eater that likes worms or stuff that wiggles it might be worth a shot/ an easy alternative, just thought I would share. 

[Lennie]

Great post CJ,

thanks for sharing it with us all🥰 

 

 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Nice! I just need a “nano” gummy worm mold for my Pea Puffers to mimic bloodworms, lol. 
 

 

[Guppysnail]

This is very creative. Great job. Thank you for sharing. 

[CJs Aquatics]

@AllFishNoBrakes perhaps my next experiment actually 

@Guppysnail thank you I appreciate it I was so excited the worms worked I had to share 

[Milliardo Peacecraft]

@CJs Aquatics. That is awesome!  I love the line "I think he would rather starve than eat anything..."  He sounds like a kindergartener if it isn't hot dogs and chicken nuggests forget it and your the creative parent trying to find ways to hide the veggies in something they will eat.

[CJs Aquatics]

@Milliardo Peacecraft I feed the fish daily, everyone eats, this particular one throws a temper tantrum and won’t. I figured ok he will when he gets hungry enough. Nope, he beat me in our chess game bc I couldn’t ever let him go very long in good conscience. Had to trick him with these lol even so still stubborn in the fact that he will only eat it if I make it look alive but it’s a start, I’ve never met a fish this stubborn lol

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

@CJs Aquatics thats even more awesome than i pictured. Great stuff thanks for sharing 

Edited July 18 by mountaintoppufferkeeper

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

@CJs Aquatics ..... i have joined you ... gummy worms below and a 4" worm lure mold above

[CJs Aquatics]

@mountaintoppufferkeeper I hope they love it like mine do 

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/18/2023 at 9:24 AM, CJs Aquatics said:

I fed the “repashy gummy worms” to the picky puffer and as it thaws it wiggles like a real worm. He loves them. Using it as hopefully the first step towards transitioning him to eating pellets flakes etc.

Very good news to see that you were able to get the puffer eating. Well done!

[itsfoxtail]

This is genius! I would love to see it in action!

Wish I would've seen this post back when I was spending a half hour dangling a mussel on a rope to try and get it to look like it was still alive for mine. I called it 'bonding time' and it was nice but boy your back starts to hurt when you're hunched over like that for that long, haha!

[CJs Aquatics]

@itsfoxtail the things we do for our fish friends, I toyed around with recording it but I’m terrible with pics and videos, honestly it’s rather anticlimactic. I just dangle a frozen one on an opposite side of the tank for maybe 60 secs to give it time to thaw a bit, then if you move the tweezers you use up and down it looks like a live worm and picky puffer loves it. If you make them wrong when the puffers attack them they almost explode a bit and make a mess in the tank and also if not made properly they can fall apart a bit but when done just right it’s a good time