How to Pick Out a Healthy Freshwater Pufferfish
Aside from researching your chosen species beforehand, picking out a healthy freshwater pufferfish will largely determine whether or not you are successful keeping the little guy alive. Unfortunately, many puffers for sale in pet stores are stressed, battling internal parasites and starving – which is quite the laundry list of health problems, especially if you’re new to keeping pufferfish. Here are first five things I look for to determine how healthy a freshwater puffer is before I make my purchase: 1. Bright coloration. A healthy fish, regardless of the species, is brightly colored – obviously, this is relative to the quality of the specimen, but the colors should not be dull or faded. However, a washed out coloration does not necessarily break the deal [...]
How to Feed a Stubborn Freshwater Pufferfish Snails
Sometimes, it can be very difficult to feed snails to a new freshwater pufferfish. In fact, many will not eat for a week or so because they are still recovering from the stress of transport, and the completely foreign environment – this also includes normally enticing fare, like frozen blood worms and shrimp as well. However, if you have already given your puffer adequate time to settle in to his new home, then here are a few tips to help you jumpstart your puffer’s appetite for snails again. 1. Smash the snails. This has worked for me quite a few times – for snails with a weaker shell, like pond snails, this is really easy to do with your fingers. However, if you don’t [...]
