I Give Up......

[JENnKerry]

OK, so I starved my Zebra Dwarf Lion for two whole weeks. I tried for the last few nights to feed him frozen prawn and krill and he just turned his nose up at it. I have tried everything you can think of and he is just really stubborn.

So I had to break down today and get him some ghost shrimp which he happily and greedily accepted :rolleye1:

I guess some things aren't meant to be. But he is healthy and I guess that's all that really matters.

[RickD1]

Try feeding him guppies my Panther Grouper loves them.

[swegyptian]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6825364#post6825364 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RickD1
Try feeding him guppies my Panther Grouper loves them.

He would probably eat those fine, but I think they want him to eat frozen/prepared foods that are appropriate for him in the longrun.

[JENnKerry]

That's right. I mean, thats the goal for anyone who has a carnivorous fish, to get him onto frozen. It's been two months since we got him.

[Hunter29]

have you tried a feading stick or something like that? I have a volitans that took well over a month, maybe 2, to get to eat frozen. For a while all he wanted was to kill and wouldn't eat anything that wasn't alive. He was even harder to switch over to frozen than my ribbon eel. Patience is key.

[JENnKerry]

Yeah I have tried the feeding stick. I posted this same question over in Reef Discussion and someone suggested using two acrylic rods like chopsticks and feeding clams or oysters. Has anyone ever heard of them eating oyster or clam meat?

[T-T-Trigger]

I always used silversides with the most success - for one thing they actually look like food! a glob of clam or headless anything will only look like carrion or worse to them i think. Imho, using the head end (if not the whole) silverside will give them something to focus on as they 'move in' for the kill, which is their natural instinct.

jme, hth, gl, ymmv, etc...

[JENnKerry]

I do have silversides. But maybe he's not interested because he is much smaller than the dead fish. So what do you use, an acrylic feeding stick?

[VolitanLioness]

I agree if you have not tried silversides then try those, Lions can be stubborn and take patience, that is one of the first foods I offer and they all took to silversides fast except that red dwarf I had & it took months to get it on frozen......

None of my lions will eat clam or scallops, they will take it, but just spit it out....lol

Kaye

[VolitanLioness]

Sorry posted the other one at the same time you did.....

I use a Acrylic feeding stick with my lions, look through your silversides and see if there are some small ones in the package.... I know when I buy them there are some really tiny ones in the package....

Kaye

[JENnKerry]

I have tried them before but maybe they were too big. I know my lion has gotten bigger since I first got him. Maybe I can try them again :)

[steveboo]

I found some frozen sand eels at my LFS , thats how I got my lion on frozen foods. They are very skinny , just the right size for a small lion.

[VolitanLioness]

I can not find those here in Mich.... I have looked, that would be a good addition to my frozen foods.....

Kaye

[T-T-Trigger]

with one little guy I just turned off all pumps so anything i dropped in would fall pretty much straight down. it was a pain to collect the uneaten, but it was a small tank, so not that bad and witht he pumps off I could drop it into a nice open area. Once he grabbed those free fall pieces I never needed a feeding stick - which, obviously, is the ideal.

there are some purveryors who sell quite small silversides, maybe you have to search for them. Also, like V. lioness said there are runts to be found in most packages. Or else just keep teying as many foods as you can.

IF he is really small, mysis shrimp might be better to use than silversides. You can get live ones if necessary, and mix in thawed-out frozen ones to train them on to that if required.


It might not be feesible for you right now, but these days I have learned that anything that has to be trained onto food goes into a mostly bare holding tank until they learn - it is MUCh easier to experiment that way without polluting the main tank - disturbing other fishes, etc... In fact, right now I am working on training a stonefish, who is being less than cooperative to say the least, but it is easier this way.


Just one more consideration (i promise :p) - zebras are a comparitively difficult species of lion to ween. Much more so than volitans, fuzzy dwarfs, and russell's. So take that into account too: your struggle will probably be longer than most.

[crazyfish]

If you can't find silversides that are small enough take one and cut it's head off and put that on your feeding stick so the eyes are looking at him. With the two lions I have switched to frozen they seem to like something with eyes. Once you get them to eat they will eventually take anything you throw in the tank. Also be patient a lion can go for quite some time without eating. It took me about six weeks to get mine to eat frozen and he didn't have anything else in that time.

[JENnKerry]

I know that the LFS that Jen works at sells live mysis shrimp. Maybe I can try feeding that to him a few times. Then maybe he'll eventually go for frozen.

But for now I will look for runts in my silverside pack and see if that works.

[Patchy]

i have trained 11 lionfish of live food now. my newest (spot fin) only took 2 weeks.

at first i was dropping him live feeders. then week 2 i would hold onto the feeders with tongs. then when they get use to food coming on tongs switch frozen food onto them. i used a large piece of krill this time.

when making the frozen food seem alive, make a swimming motion away from the fish. althought they are ambush predators i fins when training its best to let them choose the speed to move along at.

i would also always feed in one area of the tank, they are very intelligent and link certain objects and areas with feeding

[JENnKerry]

It took me about six weeks to get mine to eat frozen and he didn't have anything else in that time

You starved him for six weeks? WOW.

[crazyfish]

yes I did. That's actuallt not that long really. Before I did I fed him as many feeders as he could eat and then the training began.

[civicss1]

i started mine on feeders then switched him to silversides with no prob...now he eats frozen squid, krill, silversides, just about anything but my clown...yes i have a clown fish in the tank...i am just waiting for the lion to eat him...i didn't have to starve my lionfish...i guess i was lucky...

[EdKruzel]

When the feeding stick doesn't work I pull out the big guns, very low test fishing line.

With the help of a sewing needle you make a slight hole through a fin or the tail and tie a knot in the end just large enough to snag itself onto the food.

When the lion or whatever fish takes the food source the impact will usually tear the fin and release the line.

Ed

[JENnKerry]

That's a really good idea. Thanks Ed :)