My feather duster has yet to come out..

[William]

My featherduster has yet to come out of its rock [ Its burrowed into a chunk of rock ] since I got it last Thursday.

It still has its feathery bits attached, It just never opens its duster out into the water.

Should I be concerned?

Thanks

 

[scuba_steve]

i would be !! shouldnt take that long imo !!

 

[William]

It still has not opened up..

It just continues to sit down in its rock.. Could it be dead?

 

[steve-s]

Tap the tube and see if it moves at all. If the worm is in there you should be able to detect some movement. FWIW, it could have cast off it's tube without you noticing it. If that's the case they will rarely emerge during the day for fear of predation. Check at night after lights out and see if you notice anything.

Cheers
Steve

 

[William]

He dosn't have a tube, he is in a piece of rock. a very large piece of rock.

and he does not come out at night, cause I've checked before.

 

[steve-s]

Sounds like a christmas tree worm, not a duster. They are strict filter feeders just the same though. Their survival rate in a captive environment has not been very inspiring.

Might try taking a very small amount of finely minced raw seafood (or just the juice) in a eyedropper and release it gentley over the hole and see if you get a response. There is no real way of telling with these types of animals. If you can still see the proper shape of the crown, it should not yet be dead. Might just be dormant.

Cheers
Steve

 

[William]

It is a normal feather duster, Its just a single one in the rock, and quite large compared to what I seem to think is the smaller christmas duster [ They appear smaller than normal duster heads in the pics I've seen ]


Hes just borrwed into this rock, and has been like that since I ahd the tank.

How finely minced? cause I don't think I could get fresh juice from any seafood.

 

[steve-s]

It is a normal feather duster, Its just a single one in the rock, and quite large compared to what I seem to think is the smaller christmas duster [ They appear smaller than normal duster heads in the pics I've seen ]

Not to doubt you but I would love to see a pic. FWIW, dusters always have tubes or eventually grow them if they've "flown the coup"

How finely minced? cause I don't think I could get fresh juice from any seafood.

A single piece of raw shrimp in the blender with some tank water should do the trick. Set it on low at first and then to puree when it's in smaller pieces.

Cheers
Steve

 

[William]

Sorry for not posting earlier.


I did as was mentioned before, a single shrimp in some saltwater.

WOW!

The thing is alive, and in a major way. The stoic position he is in is because thats how far his tube comes out of the rock, preventing him from opening full and wide.


Cause when I squirted the shrimp mush in for it, it got spooked and sucked itself down into its rock and out of view faster than bejezus!

It is DEFINATELY alive, and I have been giving it squirts of shrimp and tankwater.

I have 5 pounds of squid in my freezer to from a feast I treated my family to a while ago, so I'll defrost some of that to add to the shrimp muish tomarrow.



Thanks everyone for the advice and aid!