Picky dwarf puffer

[Mcgolg76]

All the sudden my dwarf puffer has refused to eat frozen blood worms. He used to greedily eat them off of a tweezer. The only thing he will eat now is live brine shrimp. He has long decimated my pest snail population. Problem with the brine shrimp is only place that sells them is 30 min away and also heard that brine shrimp are not nutritious enough as only food source. Any other suggestions for my picky guy and how hard is it to set up a brine shrimp tank

 

[Malupoo]

He may be too use to eating live foods.
Have you tried daphnia? They are easier to maintain a culture of.

 

[Mcgolg76]

Only thing he has ever eaten is pest snails. Brine shrimp and blood worms. Think he has snacked on baby rcs

 

[wildroseofky]

Can you raise some snails for him? I have done this in a 5 gallon bucket. No filter, no heat, and no extra light. I just did a big water change every couple of days and threw in dead plants from my tanks and fed them every few days. Got lots of ramshorns like this. You can also get brine shrimp and Daphne eggs online to raise yourself. Brine Shrimp probably is not enough in the long run. You can try frozen shrimp that you defrost, warm to room temp, and offer on the tongs. A lot of stores will give you pond snails because they breed so quickly. You can also hunt down earthworms and chop them up and feed

 

[Luananeko]

Puffers are known to go on "hunger strikes" from time to time where they snub foods they previously ate with gusto. Be patient, continue offering them (obviously clean them up if he snubs them), and he should go back to eating them in time. As long as the hunger strike doesn't last for too long (I think most people say don't worry until the 2 week mark) there's no risk of him starving.

 

[Mcgolg76]

I waited him out a week but then got nervous cause he started acting listless so gave in and got more brine shrimp

 

[wildroseofky]

Here is a great forum on all things puffer. It has great info on caring for and treating any problems. The Puffer Forum • View forum - Freshwater Puffers