Safe feeding puffer chicken?

[isaac newton]

I recently bought 2 dwarf puffers at pets mart today (risk is high since they are mixed with tetra neons and guppies. Coudnt resist buying them :( ) . Is it save to feed dwarf puffers raw chicken and steak????

[ChilDawg]

Steak? Definitely not.

Chicken might be okay, but the increased risk of salmonella and the fact that fish aren't built to digest chicken makes that a poor choice. (Not to mention that you would have to completely pulverize the chicken before it was of a size suitable for your DPs.) I would go with young snails as a good food for DPs, and maybe some really tiny morsels of fish, but probably just the snails.

[isaac newton]

outdoor worms???

[rjl420]

small worms would be fine, if your talking about earthworms, they may be a little large but you can cut them up i suppose. I feed my DPs frozen bloodworms. I defrost them in a cup of tank water and add them after they have seperated. I also feed them crushed (read: mashed between my fingers) freeze dried krill and plankton and occasionally live black worms. they also eat their fair share of small pond snails, a must for anyone who keeps puffers.

[isaac newton]

Wont the DP if i drop the worm in hole simply bite out chunks hence slowly tear the worm to shreads?

[ChilDawg]

Yes, but, if the worm starts to die, you have a rotting worm in there. Most people lacerate the hell out of an earthworm before giving it to fish that small. Just go with microworms and baby snails and you'll have a much easier time!

[isaac newton]

oooo sounds violent :D