Oscar Wont Eat Anything But Meat

[Skibur]

Is this very bad? He would suck in pellets but just spit it out, i tried over 10 different varieties of pellets, he would eat flakes but i won't think they would fill him up. Will eating too much meat cause HITH? HELP!


btw, hes only about 5 inches long.

 

[invader]

What do mean by meat? Beef and stuff like that? Or shrimp and seafood?

 

[shroob]

I would just starve the oscar, don't feed the fish 'meat' and just keep throwing in pellets, eventually he will take them and keep them down. I've not heard of an oscar starving to death . If the oscar doesn't eat in say a week, then feed him sometihng he will eat, just to be on the safe side. Then continue with the pellets, oscars are notorious for getting hooked on one type of food, the key is to keep varying their diet. In the long run a staple of pellets will be much better for your fish. (Don't forget your greens as well).

 

[Naughtygirlrlw]

My 2 oscars prefer flakes over pellets, believe me they get enough of the flakes to sustain them. Oscars never really get "full" they'd probably eat until they exploded-lil' piggies. Give him a day or two with no food and he should accept the pellets. Remember variety is the spice of life and you can give your oscar a big variety to choose from; flakes, pellets, defrosted cocktail shrimp, bloodworms, live insects & earthworms from the garden. You can also do veggies (nuke 'em in the microwave so they're a little soft) like peas, cucumber, zucchini. Frozen silversides are a treat. Look in your frozen food section where you get supplies and be creative. On a side note, if you are feeding meat from tablescraps, please be careful. Meat for human consumption can be too fatty and have spices and such on it that are not part of a fish's natural diet and could constipate them. Let us know how he likes his new diet!

 

[darkwolf29a]

I'm with Naughtygirlw on this one.

That's what I did.

Wehn I bought my Oscar, he wouldn't eat pellets at all. So, I stopped feeding him anything but. If he didn't eat the couple I dropped in, I just cclosed the lid. After a couple of days of that, and a few more of his eating and sulking, he got to understand...He'll eat what I feed him, and nothing else. Now, 8 inches later ( he's a total of 9 in), he'll eat what's put in front of him.

In short, get them hungry enough, and they'll decide that pellts aren't so bad.

 

[mr oscar]

i can tell you now this is nothing new, i have had many oscars over the years, what makes them so fantastic is they have proper personalities,shrrob suggests starving it, i am telling you now this is a mistake they not only sulk they also become nasty and seriously miserable if you treat them this way, yes it will eventually eat, it has to to survive but your prised fish will not live a happy life i have had a oscar who would only eat lobb worm, one who will not tolerate annything but pellet, and most like to rearrange their tank, i even kept a red tiger oscar once that would not tolerate any gravel in his tank, i had to remove all of it, if you love your fish and want it to live for 10 years happy and thriving then feed him meat dont worry about it and do not, i repeat do not starve him, i am not saying this for attention, i know what im talking about, i believe they are the only fish who are genuinely like pets, please love him and look afetr him, use fast flow mechanical filteration keep it clean and feed him what he likes, he will reward you.

 

[Skibur]

i can tell you now this is nothing new, i have had many oscars over the years, what makes them so fantastic is they have proper personalities,shrrob suggests starving it, i am telling you now this is a mistake they not only sulk they also become nasty and seriously miserable if you treat them this way, yes it will eventually eat, it has to to survive but your prised fish will not live a happy life i have had a oscar who would only eat lobb worm, one who will not tolerate annything but pellet, and most like to rearrange their tank, i even kept a red tiger oscar once that would not tolerate any gravel in his tank, i had to remove all of it, if you love your fish and want it to live for 10 years happy and thriving then feed him meat dont worry about it and do not, i repeat do not starve him, i am not saying this for attention, i know what im talking about, i believe they are the only fish who are genuinely like pets, please love him and look afetr him, use fast flow mechanical filteration keep it clean and feed him what he likes, he will reward you.

thanks everyone for the advice! But doesnt feeding too much fatty human meat turns into a bad diet and causes Hole in the Head?

 

[MXPX4318]

i can tell you now this is nothing new, i have had many oscars over the years, what makes them so fantastic is they have proper personalities,shrrob suggests starving it, i am telling you now this is a mistake they not only sulk they also become nasty and seriously miserable if you treat them this way, yes it will eventually eat, it has to to survive but your prised fish will not live a happy life i have had a oscar who would only eat lobb worm, one who will not tolerate annything but pellet, and most like to rearrange their tank, i even kept a red tiger oscar once that would not tolerate any gravel in his tank, i had to remove all of it, if you love your fish and want it to live for 10 years happy and thriving then feed him meat dont worry about it and do not, i repeat do not starve him, i am not saying this for attention, i know what im talking about, i believe they are the only fish who are genuinely like pets, please love him and look afetr him, use fast flow mechanical filteration keep it clean and feed him what he likes, he will reward you.

That's probably the WORST advice I've EVER heard! So you're saying that if all your dog would eat is grass (which too much causes vomiting) and nothing else, you SHOULDN'T keep him away from grass because he likes it and he's a pet? Based on what you're saying you should feed an Oscar MEAT (non-aquatic) which can cause all sorts of health problems because that's what he LIKES? your Oscar will NOT live 10 years that way, he will die premature of some sort of disease, just like humans that eat unhealthy things die prematurely of things like heart disease! you DO NOT know what you're talking about sir!

Phillip

 

[shroob]

i can tell you now this is nothing new, i have had many oscars over the years, what makes them so fantastic is they have proper personalities,shrrob suggests starving it, i am telling you now this is a mistake they not only sulk they also become nasty and seriously miserable if you treat them this way, yes it will eventually eat, it has to to survive but your prised fish will not live a happy life i have had a oscar who would only eat lobb worm, one who will not tolerate annything but pellet, and most like to rearrange their tank, i even kept a red tiger oscar once that would not tolerate any gravel in his tank, i had to remove all of it, if you love your fish and want it to live for 10 years happy and thriving then feed him meat dont worry about it and do not, i repeat do not starve him, i am not saying this for attention, i know what im talking about, i believe they are the only fish who are genuinely like pets, please love him and look afetr him, use fast flow mechanical filteration keep it clean and feed him what he likes, he will reward you.

I will have to defend my advice then. Meaty food (by which I think the OP means human meaty I presume) isn't good given frequently to oscars, especially as a staple diet. The oscar may well sulk, for a few days at most then it will learn to accept pellets and will enjoy them. A few days sulking will not do the oscar any harm at all, it will probably be the best few days of that oscars life looking back, when the transition from an unsuitable diet changed to one that promotes health and makes your oscar live longer.
I will make a comparision, ever see the film 'Supersize me' where a person was given a diet of fastfood for a month, look how he ended up at the end of the month, now think of that but with a fish and not for a month, but for the rest of their life (which will be shortened due to the diet).
3 people, including myself, have suggested briefly starving the oscar, as in the long run it will be much better for it. An oscar should be able to go 1 week without food EASILY, and I go back to my point I have never heard an oscar starve to death (just to say if your oscar does die, godforbid, during the 'starving' then it won't be due to lack of food), they are one of the greediest fish out there, sure they can get hooked on certain foods but the key is a varied diet, of which meat should play a very little part.

A bad diet is one of the factors which will cause HITH, an other is water quality. Feeding mammalian food all the time cannot be good for either, so theres another benifit in switching to pellets as a staple.

 

[mr oscar]

when skibur said his oscar would only eat meat, he did not say only human meat, i presumed he meant worm or shrimp, i did not realise he meant human food, he never said human meat,anyhow, trying to force feed pellet is a task and a half if they dont want it and all i said was if he likes meat then let him have it as he has a personality and he will thank you for it, starving him will make him moody and he will sulk, some will never eat pellet and some will, under the now revised circumstances, i agree human meat is not for him, however if he likes worm or shrimp why not let him have it, also i have never heard that hole in the head is caused by eating worm or shrimp, usually poor water conditions is the reason, i have never had that though so cant comment, i have looked 20 times now and still cant see where the words non aquatic and human meat are mentioned, still my point is phillip i agree i would not feed him grass either, i also did not feed any of my oscar babies i have bred human meat or grass, but there you are, phillip (sir)

 

[juanveldez]

okay, after having raised how many picky eaters I am going to throw my two cents in here. the keeping all foods away from the oscar minus the small amouts of pellets is actually a very widly accepted practice by not only myself but by many other cichlid owners. I have done it with some of my very rare and expensive fish to include my Crenicichla sp Cobra, Cichlasoma Grammodes, Amphilophus Festae, and my F1 Firemouths. of the fish I currently have only my F0 RD, and my Cr. Semifacitus are the ones to take pellets right off the bat. I do not feed meat ment for consumption by humans, also add scallops, cocktail shrimp, silver sides, krill, and BBS along with Platies that are bred here in my home for my fish.


so in summary what shroob and MXPX4318 have stated is common practice. and will not harm the fish in any way.

 

[rossyt99]

Quite a good debate>

Have you fed your Oscar Chopped Earthworms as a treat?? (Mine used to love em'!)

It was quite an event watching my other Cichlids battle over a Juicy worm, with one at each end until meeting in the middle.
Firemouth Vs. Blue Acara usually very entertaining)

 

[mr oscar]

point taken juanveldez, and again do admit that meat for humans isnt acceptable, but admit forceing them to take pellet is not nessassary wrong, as for the grass thing, yes it would make my dog sick, as for letting them eat worm, or shrimp if they like it why force pellet, they do not eat it in the wild, admittedly it is good if you can get them to take it but some wont, i just dont belive it will make them die early, i dont lie ok, i have had oscars with superb personalities that have lived ten years and i have not forced pellet on them, yes i have fed live bait and worm all im saying is meat wont kill them or give them hole in the head, if you think it will, them perhaps i have been lucky, either way i have always loved and looked after mine and never starved them

 

[juanveldez]

not saying that adding meat to the diet is bad, and for most preditory fish a meaty diet is a must, but for most cichlids the reason that it is accepted practice to get them on a pellitized diet is due to the fact that the pellets will have the nessicary parts needed for promoted health. you used the example of a dog eatting grass. would you feed your dog raw venison or lamb as that is what would have been commonly avalible to their wild counterparts, no you feed your dog kibble as it is better for its heath both containing the proteins that it needs but also the vitiamins and fatty acids needed for continued health.

 

[mr oscar]

sorry about the dog eating grass comment, i only said it because someone else mentioned it, is was not meant to be for you, as for your other comments, juan, thank you very much i always appreciate good advice, thanks again