new oscar - picky eater

[chris_1127]

Ive just acquired an oscar with a 4ft tank which i brought home yesterday; he's several years old now and is about 8-10" in length, seems quite healthy in general. He is likely to just be a temporary resident, as the intention was to make the tank a community tank when i can find a good home for him. However in the mean time i want to make sure he's well looked after. So far having a bit of trouble getting him to eat the pellets the guy said hes been feeding him. Theyre large floating cichlid pellets - he told me you got to get the fish's attention before he will take them - have tried this but he's just ignoring them. I initially just put it down to the stress of moving him however he wolfed down some flake i put in there, and the same with some sinking small pellets that i tried him on. Are they usually picky? the cichlid pellets that ive put in so far have all been ignored, even when they float right past his nose! Could he just be bored of them?

On another matter, if anyone can give an oscar a good home in a couple of weeks time in the Devon area, drop me an email. He seems to be a bit of a charactor so far, and is fond of spitting the large gravel substrate at the glass of the tank! He's also destroyed one large plastic plant overnight!

 

[Vip]

Oscars are picky eaters but you have to train them to eat by just feeding them what you want them to eat, sooner or later they understand and they will eat them. Try bloodworms they love them chuck 4 cubes in there at once and he will splash around for them.

 

[guppymonkey]

My guess would be that the fish is still a little stressed out and the previous owner didn't vary the diet much. If you could find some healthy feeders he should wolf those down but I try not to suggest them very often because much of the time they end up passing on disease and parasites.

No oscar has ever starved itself to death so I don't think you have to worry about that as a worse case scenario. When oscars are full grown (as your's seems to be even though he is a little small for a full grown oscar) they can eat every few days and be fine. In fact eating every other day is usually better for them then constant feeding.

 

[chris_1127]

Just as a quick update, he's now eating the large floating pellets that the guy gave me - i left it a couple of days till he was good and hungry and he took them straight away. these pellets have been his only foodsource since the guy had him from what i can gather, except for the plec wafers that he steals. He will also take medium sinking pellets now, and seems to like bloodworms - but he won't touch the beef heart that i got for him - spat it back out again! Still its a relief that he's eating again. Just a shame that more of what he eats doesnt stay in his mouth......

 

[BlueIce]

Glad to hear he's eating again...
Never heard of a picky oscar before,all the ones I've owned would eat anything dropped into the tank...heck I think they would have eaten dog crap if I put it in there...lol

 

[evaDsIcixelsiD]

Hm....I fed my oscar goldfish. He loved to chase them around the tank. I kind of felt bad though. Goldfish are a lot easier to get attached to than rosy reds or guppies.

 

[chris_1127]

tried him with river shrimp at the weekend - they lasted seconds in there with him, i think he likes live shrimp!!!

 

[DannyBoy17]

I once saw a big spider fall in my tank...within seconds, my oscar devourved the whole thing except for a leg which stuck out his mouth, until he spit it out.