Baby oscars

[goldfries]

my baby oscars are too smart.

they recognize food just be looking at the cover.

now here's my problem.


when i bought them, the 1st food that i gave them was flaked food - Tetra : Guppy.

because of this, i have problems giving them other pellet food, which they will approach but will not eat.

and if i give them frozen bloowords, they'll eat it a bit, then after a while they just left it there. even after it sinks to the gravel, they just left it there.


such behaviour is rather odd in comparison to my main oscar who eats almost everything, from bloodworms, to pellets, to prawns, to other fish and even dead fish.

health conditions of the fish are healthy. should i just don't give them any food for a week?

any ideas?

[Serrateeth_2002]

are baby oscars like ducklings? Seen once,live with it forever,but i think pellets and bloodworms are too large for the baby oscar,don't worry,they will grow up and accept more kinds of food.

[Anton Wernher]

Dont feed them for a couple of days as you have suggested. A day or two with out any food should have them eating anything that falls in the tank.

[Co/\/vict]

yea they will eat the pellets, just give them a while. Oscars are pigs:p

[goldfries]

thought so too myself.

they look like they're full after a few bites on the bloodworm cubes.

however, they most enthusiastic when they see my flake food container.

though meant for guppies, they will rush for the food and even jumping out of water before the food is dropped.

as for my biggy oscar, he jumps out for anything.

rather afraid of him biting my fingers nowadays since he's getting bigger and bigger.

[Arkady]

Oscars are Piggies! My two babies are only 6 inches, and they already eat about a hand full of medium cichild pellets. From the looks of it, I should already be feeding them Large cichild pellets, their mouths are big enough. When I get them live food. I buy about 60+ goldfish and just dumped them in the tank. I have lil decorations for the goldfish to hide in and run form the Oscars, but within 2 or 3 days, they'll eat every single goldfish in that tank. This is my first Oscar, let alone 2 Oscars I've ever raised. They're still babies, so I am basically a newbie at this. What're things I can do to ensure I keep my babies alive? People tell me I'm lucky to have a pair of Long-tails this big, as well as mate with eachother....

I've raised fish before, but never Oscars, and I wasn't that into my fish back in the day, but I realized how much I love them with my previous fish. I have had Bala Sharks, Siamese Tigers, Fighting Fish, Goldfish, Plecostomus, African Cichilds, and Paradise fish. My Paradise was a prize fish, he was about 4.5" long. When he died, I went out and bought myself my two new babies, my baby Oscars; Arkady and Creed.

If this doesn't work out =*[ I'm going with an Albino Oscar and another Long-tail Oscar, and hope they pair up. 'Cuz I'd like to see their resessive genes kick in, and I'll have a baby Albino Long-tail Oscar... ;D But those are just dreams and fantasies.

[O-man21]

I got bit once, it didn't hurt

[Frameshift]

Goldfries~

What size is a "baby" oscar? I envision a baby oscar as being under 1", but from what you posted I assume they a larger. If they are under 1", just keep feeding the flake food. If they are over 1" then starve them for a week and see if they eat pellets. When my oscar was 1" all he would eat were flakes, but by 2-3" his main diet was pellets.

Arkady~

If you want to keep your fish healthy, you will want to cut back on feeders. Feeder fish are unhealthy, carry many diseases your fish can catch, and frankly, they have no nutritional value your fish needs.

If you want to continue feeding feeders, buy a 10 gallon tank and quarintine them for a couple weeks, and only feed ocasionally. I feed my oscar crawdads, earthworms, pellets (staple), peas, moths, and any other insect I can find, but I stay away from feeders. Without getting a nutritional diet oscars become prone to HITH, or Hole in the Head, which is devastating to the fish.

O-man21~

I've been bitten by an oscar also, 12", broke the skin on my nuckle and made me bleed, you could see where the oscars teeth raked along my skin. It hurt, but startled me more than hurt me. What size was the one that bit you?

[O-man21]

it was a 13 incher but he didn't bit me hard, he likes me:D ... but anyways, I think a baby oscar would be any where from 1 inch to 3 inches

[goldfries]

"My two babies are only 6 inches"- Arkady

6 inch is considered babies? i thought 6inch is more like halfway to full adulthood of oscars.

"What size is a "baby" oscar? I envision a baby oscar as being under 1", but from what you posted I assume they a larger. " - Frameshift

Frame, they're slightly more than 1 inch but still less than 2 inches. what you posted made sense, as my baby 'o's behaviour matches your description.

and abt feeders, i rarely gave it to them. my oscar behaved weird after i gave him like 20 feeders which he finished in like 30 mins and less.

for now. my baby 'o's have flaked food while my bigger (6-7") 'o' has frozen bloodworms for food, but for the past week i have been changing his diet to pellets. he seems to be enjoying it. he'll even jump up to catch my pellet canister.

[O-man21]

I'd say babyhood ends at 3 inches. I'd say starve them for 2 days, then they'll eat anything, it worked for me

[goldfries]

i quit starving them. they look so cute when they're begging for food and i can't resist. :D

so now i'm just probably do what Frameshift did, wait till it reaches a few inch bigger and change their diet then.

i think by then their appetite would've increased greatly.

[Arkady]

lol, no, to me I still see them as youngsters until they're like atleast 8 or 9 inches long. besides, even a 21 yearold adult is still a baby in his mother's eyes.