tips for breaking rays to new foods

[Nic]

So, we went about three days without feeding our rays with the temperature in both tanks at a steady 83F. For the last two days I have fed both tanks on minced shrimp mixed with cut red worms, night crawlers and Massivore sinking pellets. So far, so good. I do believe that everyone is beginning to eat again, but the speed of consumption has not yet reached it's previous amount. Any new suggestions?

give it some time... it will go back up it took almost a month for a old male marbled motoro took be agressive with food again....

 

[sodenoshirayuki]

Has anyone tried force feeding pellets using a turkey baster?

 

[Nic]

not using a turkey baster but there are a couple members who have force fed but it should only be done as a 100% last resort

 

[sodenoshirayuki]

Would you resort to it if you starved your ray for 6 weeks?

 

[Nic]

NO..... i mean as a last resort in that the ray hasnt eaten on it own in 8 weeks and is gonna die if you dont try it....


give your ray time it will take to pellets eventually

 

[Duckman77]

I didn't read through this whole thread, so perhaps this was suggested already:

I recently purchased massivore delite pellets. My 13" female MM ate them right away. She eats anything. My little 7" male MM would chew on them a bit, then leave them alone.

I tried marinating them in raw shrimp. I allowed the pellets to get good and soft (they expanded to almost nickel diameter) then tossed them in. The male ate the pellets right up without hesitation. I have since soaked the pellets without shrimp with the same results. Apparently, the pellets were too hard for the little guy. Allowing them to soften up was the key.

 

[reptileguy2727]

This may have already been covered, but I have found that one of the best ways to convert fish in general from one food to another is to bowl feed. I use heavy reptile food bowls and use an undergravel filter riser tube to put food in the bowl. They quickly learn to associate the bowl with food and are much more likely to try new things that are in it since they are already expecting food. They can get to the point where the tube alone gets them over and waiting, mouth up against the bottom of the tube just waiting for you to lift the tube and drop the food.

 

[biggfish]

Does anyone make their own prepared foods (pellets, gel, etc.)?

 

[reptileguy2727]

I don't. With the high quality options available these days I don't see the need.

 

[biggfish]

I don't. With the high quality options available these days I don't see the need.

Yes, but if your fish won't eat it what would you do? Say my rays will only eat black worms, can you create a food item that includes the nutrients of the pellets and taste of black worms without having to gut load live stock etc. Or for instance, say your rays need more vitamin D to offset the feeders you give them occasionally...Thoughts? Also, most pet stores around here don't offer expensive options such as massivore because they don't sell enough. So, is there a recipe to make the stuff if you needed to?