Eel Feeding

[JLind3214]

Hey guys so I've been hearing alot of different things from my LFS about how often I should feed my baby snowflake eel.. They said that they should only eat like 3-4 times a month but I've also heard that if you want them to be less aggressive towards other things then they should be fed more often...

Any advice on the topic would be greatly appreciated!

THANKS!

[Graffiti Reef]

When I had mine I fed him every other day or 2 and only fed him 2-3 pieces of small shrimp. These guys can technically go a month between feedings in nature but I wouldnt put them through that. They are practically blind so keeping them fed often will decrease the chances they go after your other fish. They get really hyper when they smell food in the water if you go a long time between feedings and soetimes gets to a point where anything that will fit in their mouth is fair game. Feeding them often keeps your other fish safe too. It will decrease theyre likelyhood of jumping out too. Hope this helps.

PS use tongs or something and keep feeding them and they will eventually be conditioned to just wait for you to feed them instead of going nuts looking for food. Shrimp is better than live fish that way they learn that shrimp = what I eat and live fish = not what I normally eat. Eels are pretty good at being conditioned and are smarter than most people give them credit for.

[ghrorick]

I fed mine twice a week and he did good for 7 yrs. And like Graffiti reef said use tongs, it makes it easier and you really don't want to chance being bit (hand feeding can turn into an ER visit in a hurry). I had tongs that were almost 2ft long so I didn't have to put my hands into the water to far.

[JLind3214]

Thank you guys so much for your advice! I have a feeder stick but im probably gonna have to get tongs because it seems to fall off the stick a lot.. but I will definitely be feeding him at least 3 times a week so he doesn't go after my other fish..

[Graffiti Reef]

Originally Posted by ghrorick

I fed mine twice a week and he did good for 7 yrs. And like Graffiti reef said use tongs, it makes it easier and you really don't want to chance being bit (hand feeding can turn into an ER visit in a hurry). I had tongs that were almost 2ft long so I didn't have to put my hands into the water to far.

True that, recurved razor sharp teeth and a mouth full of bacteria can lead to a pretty nasty infection. Ive read of divers getting blood poisining from one of their bites. Were talking about 4-5 ft morays though.

[chubbs]

I'd would feed mine every other day useing a scewer

[ghrorick]

I had puffers with mine and the skewer just couldn't get past them consistently, those fish new when it was eel feeding time and you could throw food into another part of the tank and they would just sit and wait for the eels food (hey what would you rather have frozen shrimp or freeze dried)

[JLind3214]

I finally got him to start eating freeze-dried krill. Haha I have a feeding stick currently, but I'm going to have to invest in some tongs because it falls off the stick and floats to the top. And I really have no interest in hand feeding him as of now.. I would like to keep all of my fingers..

So far he hasn't escaped from the bigger tank with the glass lid.. (Fingers crossed it stays that way).Thanks again for all of the advice, I'll be posting pictures of him as soon as he stops being so shy.

-Jenna

[Graffiti Reef]

Originally Posted by JLind3214

I finally got him to start eating freeze-dried krill. Haha I have a feeding stick currently, but I'm going to have to invest in some tongs because it falls off the stick and floats to the top. And I really have no interest in hand feeding him as of now.. I would like to keep all of my fingers..

So far he hasn't escaped from the bigger tank with the glass lid.. (Fingers crossed it stays that way).Thanks again for all of the advice, I'll be posting pictures of him as soon as he stops being so shy.

-Jenna

No prob, Eels are awesome, I cant wait to get a predator tank going again and have these guys around.