Tiny Tropicals

[koltsixx]

Pinhead crickets or slightly larger. Remove the jump legs. Petco and PetSmart usually have them.

Thanks fishguy1978 , unfortunately I fed them before reading your post and they did eat the crickets. Can I ask why remove the legs? To make them easier to eat or prevent escape/jumping?

By the way is there any negatives to feeding crickets? Like gut impaction because of the chitin in their exoskeleton? Again I worry because these guys are so small.

 

[fishguy1978]

Thanks fishguy1978 , unfortunately I fed them before reading your post and they did eat the crickets. Can I ask why remove the legs? To make them easier to eat or prevent escape/jumping?

By the way is there any negatives to feeding crickets? Like gut impaction because of the chitin in their exoskeleton? Again I worry because these guys are so small.

Keeps them from jumping out. I don't think that their exo will cause any issues. Insects are a natural prey item.

 

[koltsixx]

Keeps them from jumping out. I don't think that their exo will cause any issues. Insects are a natural prey item.

Thanks, I appreciate the help and info. Hopefully I'll be able to update as they put on some size and hopefully switch onto pellets.

 

[wednesday13]

Thanks for the suggestion wednesday13 . I use tongs too but generally don't have issues switching over to frozen, etc. but I was worried because these guys are small and skinny. I hadn't thought of roach clips which inspired me to maybe try veggie clips? As for the worms I get worms from unclejimswormfarm.com on occasion as a treat for my cats. Would the Gars be able to eat them? I know I'd have to cut them, but I thought the worms would be too much as these guys are maybe 4-5 inches max TL.


Thanks jjohnwm . There's only 1 bait shop locally on City Island which can be tedious to get to without a car, but I'll give it a go. I never heard of a worm blower before and it's a great idea. I have to Tong feed my Pied Florida and if it's shrimp and he misses it, it sinks and he ignores it(intimidate by the cats, I'm trying to find a better suited tank to move him to). If it floats that's a second go he has at it. And I'll think about some surface plants, hopefully ones that won't overrun the tank and ones I can secure.

First seriously thank you everyone. I was hesitant to post as I thought it was dumb question on my part, but I got great suggestions I wouldn't have thought of. I'm on my way to Petco now, no feeder guppies and their Fancies are ich ridden so I'm going to try the smallest Roseys they have as well as some pinhead crickets for now. I'm also going to try those floating live blood worm feeders to see if that gets them eating. Later I'll see about getting to a bait shop. Thank you again guys.

worms are pretty “safe” imo… the euro crawlers are small compared to canadians. He offers red wrigglers also but im not sure if they need refrigeration or not. I once fed crickets to a small aro that refused all other food and it died after a few weeks. Id say gar a much hardier. Could have just been a fluke with my 1 cricket experience and a low quality inbred albino aro … those guys will probably be snapping at floating pellets soon id imagine if they took crickets down 1st try.

 

[koltsixx]

worms are pretty “safe” imo… the euro crawlers are small compared to canadians. He offers red wrigglers also but im not sure if they need refrigeration or not. I once fed crickets to a small aro that refused all other food and it died after a few weeks. Id say gar a much hardier. Could have just been a fluke with my 1 cricket experience and a low quality inbred albino aro … those guys will probably be snapping at floating pellets soon id imagine if they took crickets down 1st try.

Dude what are you doing to me? You're supposed to allay my fears not make them worse. Seriously though thanks again wednesday13 and sorry to hear about your Albino Aro. I had planned to go easy on the crickets just in case. Figured I'd vary the diet between bloodworms if they take them, feeders and shrimp again if they take them. I really want to see about trying the "worm blower" jjohnwm suggested. I've been checking on unclejimswormfarm for the euro worms and am considering a starter kit and I hope you're right about the pellets.

 

[Hao]

I don't know what your setup is like but hopefully there's very little flow for them to chill at the top. From my experience, young gars tend to float at the top which makes them fairly easy to feed/train. I've never had issues getting them to eat tiny pellets (1.5-2mm) /tiny pieces of frozen fish at small size. Key is to drop the food on it's snout and it'll naturally react to whatever touches its snout. Good luck!

 

[koltsixx]

I don't know what your setup is like but hopefully there's very little flow for them to chill at the top. From my experience, young gars tend to float at the top which makes them fairly easy to feed/train. I've never had issues getting them to eat tiny pellets (1.5-2mm) /tiny pieces of frozen fish at small size. Key is to drop the food on it's snout and it'll naturally react to whatever touches its snout. Good luck!

Thanks Hao the Gars are currently housed with my Redtail/Black Ear cat hybrids and there is minimal flow. I'll keep at it with the pellets and shrimp and try to aim for their snouts. Perhaps because of my looming over them they've ignored stuff dropped on their snouts so far only taking the crickets. Today I was going to try the small Rosey reds I got and try pellets again later today.

 

[fishguy1978]

Can you get ghost shrimp? They will reproduce too if given the chance. They can also be predatory if not careful.

 

[AR1]

Hey actually I am facing same issue with my florida gar so I thought why create a new thread! He is about 6 inches. I tried feeding it dried,floating shrimps and pellets but he hasn't eaten yet, at least not in front of me. He did grab a shrimp but spat it out. It's been a week since I bought him, should I still wait, he seems more skinny. I read that one should be patient when feeding dried or frozen foods to gars, should I still wait more. He is very skittish and shy. I can't buy live feeders since my father is very busy and can't take me to the petstore . But I will try to manage if extremely necessary
By the way koltsixx sorry if I derailed your thread.

 

[koltsixx]

Hey actually I am facing same issue with my florida gar so I thought why create a new thread! He is about 6 inches. I tried feeding it dried,floating shrimps and pellets but he hasn't eaten yet, at least not in front of me. He did grab a shrimp but spat it out. It's been a week since I bought him, should I still wait, he seems more skinny. I read that one should be patient when feeding dried or frozen foods to gars, should I still wait more. He is very skittish and shy. I can't buy live feeders since my father is very busy and can't take me to the petstore . But I will try to manage if extremely necessary
By the way koltsixx sorry if I derailed your thread.

Nah, no worries at all, I don't mind. By dried floating shrimps do you mean krill? And if you do are you presoaking it? You can also try breaking it(if it is Krill) in half before soaking it to make it easier for the Gar to swallow. I usually have no issue with Gars but these 2 are smaller than I ever had and like you I worry because of their size and age they may not have the reserves to endure long periods without food.