Win one battle, Lose two

Well some good news, Nooki my fahaka has finally decided to stop sulking and for three days straight has been swimming about, begging, eating and giving us glass kisses, so think we can safely say he is over the hump, even if it is just for the moment!

The struggle continues to get my little miurus onto dead foods. He is such an oddball, eating most of the snails in the tank, silly little fish. We had a small victory with 3 very small bites taken out of a defrosted silver side, so over time I shall win! Leaving a good period before trying again, an ever ongoing struggle to be vigilant and not give in to him with live food.

Had a minor shock tonight, it is their night to have no food (try to alternate days on their feeds if not longer) so did usual check and hellos. Only found my Baileyi upside down resting on the bottom! Was pretty much prepared for him to be dead but as soon as the net was in to scoop him he flipped over, got a bit disgruntled and promptly wedged himself sideways into a favourite gap. Will be keeping a close eye on him but the night before he did suck in an entire mussel without chewing before I could stop him an it must have been uncomfortable! He must have overeaten as he constantly begs and hasnt since.

Worst than kids

I have come to the conclusion that wet pets are worst than kids, because at least to some extent you can force your kids to get on with something such as..eat!
Nooki continues to sulk though has given into the odd bite of mussel or worm when neither of us are looking. He also unusually has taken to burying himself. It is a common trait amongst fahakas but up until this point he had never attempted to do so. Hopefully this is a moody teenager sulk that wont last too long as we do miss his podgy face begging or even swimming around! I go and have a sit with him each evening for one of our "talks".

Next trouble is little Ushmew, he continues to be active and interested in everything. I havent managed to wean him yet, though have been given more tips and articles to keep trying, he is currently not being fed for a certain period of time to get him interested, fingers crossed it will work!

Calcifer is hating the winter months and half puffs most mornings until we turn all the lights on. Fitzgig has a hunger that can not be fed! He strikes the feeding tongs with such force, it is good he has a good appetite.

We can not forget my fur babies as well being 1 year old Shilo and Pixie (sister kittens). We have them as house cats and they are very naughty. You would think fish and cats would be a terrible combination? Our cats only want to get into the tanks to get water (even though they have plenty around the house), it just doesnt taste the same unless some fish have swum in it.

Little Ushmew likes to swim

He really loves to swim about I would say 80% of the time and bury the rest. Unsure whether this is because he is next to the sofa where we always are or if it is a juvi state but it is a pleasant surprise from what we had been reading. I havent manage to train him onto dead foods in his first week, plan to get some silversides to try round two. Here are some pics of him having a good swim about after eating a small colony of shrimp!!



Nooki continues to sulk and hasn't eaten since the earthworm. I specially got him live river shrimp but he is refusing these currently too. He had a flid out when one attached to his eyeball and back, such a silly chappy. Here is his sulky face:

Victory!

Well a small victory today, Nooki has eaten a giant worm so this is good news. He would usually eat more and beg but we wont push it. Ushmew the congo seems to be hungry but not enough for garlic ladened mussel or wriggling worms, I feel his plight will last much longer and require a lot of patience. He swims about most the time and must get pictures of it, the congo body shape is fascinating especially when in swim mode.

Step One Puffer Training!

Well after a further hour of bobbing some more mussel this time on thread, Ushmew finally and almost accidentally took a bite. Not a big one mind and he spat a fair bit out but some he ate! He refused anything further, but quite an achievement of after the hours of nothingness. Step Two...to get him to like it!

Nook's is in a sulk

Well after all those introduction, Nooki my fahaka is in a mega sulk and cant decide if I added new plants, did a change over of the decorations last week or just some unknown cause. This is day two of his hunger strike which is unusual as he will beg and even once ate a companion when refused him food. We have had talks and he still likes my company but turning down even worms has me concerned on my little lad. Tonight we tried various foods soaked in garlic but to no avail. I know that puffers can go on proper sulks from time to time and he does appear to be going through his teenage phase at the moment. I have since rearranged the tank back incase moving his favourite root might have triggered this at least intially. If the hunger strike continues to the weekend then we plan to tempt him with live shrimp (the ultimate weapon) if not a crab!

Also spent a good 45 minutes tonight trying to convince the mini Ushmew to take some cockle or mussel (also garlic soaked) since I have now run out of shrimp and earthworms.
He showed a lot of interest and chased but would not bite so we shall try again tomorrow. This may be a patient process as weaning lurker puffers off of live foods can be a time consuming process. The little tyke has been swimming around a fair bit and likes to see what me and my partner are doing on the sofa. I think a big stock on lots of good foods over the weekend is in order!

Least touch wood Fitzgig and Calcifer are behaving (though watch this space).

I try to feed my puffers as much variety as possible including: mussel, cockle, shelled cockle, shelled mussel, prawn, river shrimp (gut loaded), earthworms, bloodworm, oyster, crabs. Where I can I try to dose the food with vitamins to help keep them in tip top shape.

So aims this week:
1. Get Nooki eating again (eating anything, anything!)
2. Try to wean Ushmew onto something other than live river shrimp (working progress)

Ushmew the Congo Puffer - Tetraodon miurus

My newest addition Ushmew the Potato Puffer. A mere 1 inch big and arrived over the weekend. I am still learning his behaviour but already pleased by his activity. I was not expecting such a small puff but glad he managed the river shrimp that were his size!

He pulls such funny faces! I have more but they are not happy to load currently. Hope to have more developments soon.

Ushmew has a lot of growing to do and training on eating foods that arent live feeders. Miurus get to about 6 inches in size and lurkers/ambushers.