tips for breaking rays to new foods

[Nic]

Since this comes up pretty often figure a straight thread would be good... these are some methods ive used to break rays to other foods... add yours as well...

soaking freeze dried krill in the black worm goo works great for retics...

grinding pellets up and stuffing worms with them or shrimps...

starving for up to a week ( you know your rays so what ever makes you comfortable)

i will also make my ray food up the night before and allow smelts or silver sides to marinate with shrimps to get rays on them...

clams, cockles,and mussels all were done via starve method and marinate...

add your methods and maybe it can be a sticky for nobody to look at in the future...

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

this will probably be my last post here as well....

NOOOOO!!!

Like I said, dont let one members misperception of you turn you away from posting. You have so much knowledge that its your responsibility as a fish and ray keeper to share it with others. Why would you let one person stop you from helping others? Think of all the rays, fish, and people that would benefit from your experiences.

Unless you feel that this person really knows you well enough to judge you then you should even care what this person thinks?

Like I tell my students, somebody will always call you names you just have to ignore them. Hence simply put this person on your ignore list. You are a well respected member here and it would be ashame if you stopped posting...

 

[andersp90]

Since this comes up pretty often figure a straight thread would be good... these are some methods ive used to break rays to other foods... add yours as well...

soaking freeze dried krill in the black worm goo works great for retics...

grinding pellets up and stuffing worms with them or shrimps...

starving for up to a week ( you know your rays so what ever makes you comfortable)

i will also make my ray food up the night before and allow smelts or silver sides to marinate with shrimps to get rays on them...

clams, cockles,and mussels all were done via starve method and marinate...

add your methods and maybe it can be a sticky for nobody to look at in the future...

though i just mix the new food with bloodworms (we dont have blackworms here in Denmark).. They will take new foods after a week or so with this method..

Also, i want your Msn before you go anywhere, we have lots of knowledge to share (Pm me if so)..!

Though i think you should stay here, you are one of the best ray keepers on this forum (if not the best)..!

 

[needycowgirl]

Patience patience patience! I tried the soaking method, I tried the starve method, I think I tried every method I found on here. I just kept being persitant and WALLA! Both my Retics now eat black worm (duh), red wigglers, krill and finally earthworm....Even tho Bruce still eats it with reluctance. But he eats it.

So I say try everything and be patient!!!!!

 

[Rosewood022]

Good info Nic. I've really only used the starving method. I'm going to try soaking. I've got a few rays that are picky and want them to eat other things.

Thanks for the tips. Don't quit posting either.

Pat
Amazon Stingrays

 

[ajb1971]

I've found when keeping rays with other rays, they're more likely to trying new foods (must be a competition thing) rather than a solo ray.
Wild caught rays are more complicated to get on prepared foods, but I find black worms are a great start, then cut earth worms, then shrimp cut to a size (easily for the ray to inhale) marinated in cut-up earth worms. Then from there, once the ray has been eating well and has fatten up, I'll use a starvation method up to 3 days but, like I said, if in groups, they usually try to steal each other's food and will end up eating it.
With rays, I say, "If they nibbled it, they will eat it---eventually"

 

[tank125]

I've found when keeping rays with other rays, they're more likely to trying new foods (must be a competition thing) rather than a solo ray.
Wild caught rays are more complicated to get on prepared foods, but I find black worms are a great start, then cut earth worms, then shrimp cut to a size (easily for the ray to inhale) marinated in cut-up earth worms. Then from there, once the ray has been eating well and has fatten up, I'll use a starvation method up to 3 days but, like I said, if in groups, they usually try to steal each other's food and will end up eating it.
With rays, I say, "If they nibbled it, they will eat it---eventually"

Good Points!

I want empathize the importance of first finding a food that your ray likes and feeding heavily for days/weeks to get good weight on. If you are not used to rays you will be amazed at how much their hunger drive can change from the first few days to the month later. When the ray is greedy and begging for food and aggressive with food, that is when I like to start offering other foods to vary the diet. I utilize the methods mentioned in this thread: soaking, chopping into small bits, "starving"

 

[vamptrev]

Good Points!

I want empathize the importance of first finding a food that your ray likes and feeding heavily for days/weeks to get good weight on. If you are not used to rays you will be amazed at how much their hunger drive can change from the first few days to the month later. When the ray is greedy and begging for food and aggressive with food, that is when I like to start offering other foods to vary the diet. I utilize the methods mentioned in this thread: soaking, chopping into small bits, "starving"

very good point on getting the ray fat and healthy first. i hear alot of people that try to get their fish off of live foods dont bother to get them healthy b4 they starve them.

also when i had a retic, he wouldnt eat anything but blackworms. i then put in 2 motoros with him and he instantly took to earthworms, shrimp, and smelt.

 

[Nic]

forgot to add ray should be fat and healthy first.... great point thanks for adding it.....

 

[keepinfish]

one of my rays took pellets the fist time i fed, the other one took about a week of feeding pellets for her to be interested, i tried to cut back that week from feeding prepared foods. Then she got tired of seeing the male full and started eating them.
Seemed pretty easy. Not all my fish but my eel will eat massivore, shrimp pellets, or sinking gold.