Porcupine Puffer wont eat

[Adam P]

Just added a small, 3" or so, porcupine puffer to my tnk 4 days ago and he has yet to eat. He was on krill and ive continued that with no luck. ive also tried blood worms and other frozen meats. he just sits in the top corner watching the movement around the house and doesnt seem to swim further than a few inches all day/night. Ive also tried feeding in the morning and night to suit his needs but nothing. Im feeling really bad for the little guy

Hes in there with 4 small damsels and they stay far away from him so I know hes not scared. any suggestions?

[RBU1]

How old is your tank? How long have you had the fish? What are your water parameters?

[Adam P]

since march or so. i have the original damsel from when it was set up . lost 2 damsels to crabs but never any issues. water is great

amazing how much pops up when you google puffer wont eat.

[RBU1]

The first thing that comes to my mind when a puffer will not eat is overgrown teeth. But in your case Im afraid it might be a different case. Do you see any spots on him? Like he is sprimkled with salt?

[Adam P]

nope. his body is a light greyish with black dots. hes not ballooning, just hanging out in the top corner. i waited until the lights were off last night and watched him and he did a bit of swimming up and down but still not too far from his corner. even tried to throw in more krill but he didnt bother with it even when it bumped him

Im going to stop the krill and try table shrimp and clams as others have suggested. is it the normal stuff that we would buy and eat ourselves or do i look for some specifically?

[Sonicblast12]

It isn't abnormal for a porc to have a bit of a hunger strike when moved to a new home.

Try dropping an earthworm into the tank when the lights are out, and leave the room. That can stimulate a feeding response and get him back on frozen.

[MrTuskfish]

It isn't abnormal for a porc to have a bit of a hunger strike when moved to a new home

.......or any fish. four days is not enough time to panic.

[Adam P]

still hasnt touched anything. itll bump him and he lets it go past

[j4mypets]

My porc used to love scallops, I would feed those and frozen shrimp, then all of a sudden he decided he didn't like the scallops anymore. I tried squid, clams, herring, silversides etc. All he wants is the shrimp, he eats 2 everyday and he is healthy and happy and is 2 yrs now. You will find something he eventually will eat. By the way he is my favorite fish! Good luck

[karaim]

still hasnt touched anything. itll bump him and he lets it go past

It's been about 2 weeks now? That's a little long, IMO. I would guess maybe it's internal parasites and treat as such.

[hybridazn]

Try live ghost shrimp

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[SkullV]

A puffer that will not take krill has an issue its like crack to them. Krill has also been linked to lockjaw in PP so that may be something to look into. Try hikari mysis soaked in garlic. If it can slurp it up the issue may be lockjaw.

[Adam P]

fresh scallops didnt work. he came up to the clam but swam away. trying live shrimp tomorrow

[reefergeorge]

This is why i get all of my fish healthy and eating in QT before adding to the DT. If you think it is IPs treat with prazi-pro, or something like it. Good luck!!

[Adam P]

hes swimming around a lot more and looks healthy as can be. I stuck a dozen ghost shrimp in there yesterday. the damsels and crabs were having a field day but i didnt see the PP even attempt. Im at the 2 week point now, any estimate on how long this can continue before he gives up?

[SkullV]

hes swimming around a lot more and looks healthy as can be. I stuck a dozen ghost shrimp in there yesterday. the damsels and crabs were having a field day but i didnt see the PP even attempt. Im at the 2 week point now, any estimate on how long this can continue before he gives up?

Did you try what I said about the mysis? If the puffer has lockjaw it will not be able to eat anything it can't slurp up.

[Jack01]

Mine small porc didnt eat the first while also. At first he wouldnt eat, then he would only eat at night, now he eats out of my hand. All this took about 3 months. He would only eat clams on the half shell at first, then krill, now even mysis.

[Adam P]

was going to try to mysis tomorrow. Hes a cool little guy with bright blue eyes. I just feel bad assuming hes not eating, hopefully he is and i just dont know

[SkullV]

You said you lost a couple damsels to crabs, are there other crabs/CUC in the tank are any of them missing? There is a GOOD chance that the puffer is eating the live food (crabs/CUC) in the evening when you aren't there to watch him. If he hasn't eaten your entire CUC yet, he will when he starts eating!

[Drewbaby]

If he was on a largely krill based diet the excess iodine could have caused him to develop lockjaw. If he appears like he is interested in food but won't bite look closely and see if he is struggling to open his mouth. You may have to force feed him live ghost shrimp. This happens with my porcupine. She was being fed almost a solid krill based diet. She Didn't eat for a month when I got her and finally started taking small scraps of silverside. She later developed lockjaw as a result of my ignorance to continue feeding her krill occasionally until I learned the hard way that krill is not the best food option. I had to force feed ghost shrimp to her for 3 weeks until the iodine imbalance was over in her body. I would put the ghost shrimp in a cup with a whole cube of spirulina brine and mysis, let them eat for 10 mins and feed them. This guaranteed she was getting enough nutrients. Just don't give up and try to make him eat.

When you buy puffers make sure their stomachs look full and not caved in as that can be a sign of malnutrition or internal parasites. Always ask to see them eat and if your still not 100% ask them to hold it so you can see how's it's doing in a couple of days.

[SkullV]

Any update with Mysis?

[Adam P]

actually stopped by a local live bait shop on the suggestion of a buddy this morning for live shrimp. even though they are 3" or so i stuck a couple in there and immediately he went after them. hes been nipping at them all day and has messed with the clam from last night as well. hopefully that kick started his hunger back up. ill try mysis tomorrow or this weekend anyways to see how he reacts. thanks for all of the advice guys

[uwish]

my PP was eating frozen shrimp, Mysis and squid, about 1.5 weeks ago he stopped. He was always an aggressive eater and knew when my red cup was by the tank it was dinner time.

his teeth are not that large but he just seem uninterested. I have heard they like to go on hunger strikes every now and then.

[gsiegel]

actually stopped by a local live bait shop on the suggestion of a buddy this morning for live shrimp. even though they are 3" or so i stuck a couple in there and immediately he went after them. hes been nipping at them all day and has messed with the clam from last night as well. hopefully that kick started his hunger back up. ill try mysis tomorrow or this weekend anyways to see how he reacts. thanks for all of the advice guys

Good luck! Hope he comes through. Cool fish