Training The Trickiest fish on Earth to Eat Prepared Foods....
- Thread starter Suzanne Lynn
- Start date
Suzanne, look here for information on breeding mandarins: http://www.marinebreeder.org/forums/index.php. I know I've found great info for other projects there. I hope it helps.
I've trained a lot of difficult animals but I've never tried my hand at dwarf seahorses. They sound like a fun challenge! The key for most mandarins seems to be starting with live brine and then working around their slow pace. I've used baby food jars with great success in the past. Pipe fish aren't too bad, although I have had some difficulty with dragon face pipes.
andyrm66, it's my understanding that the ORA mandarins are raised on pellets and roe. Mine picked at roe immediately but he was a target. I know people have had more trouble with the reds and blues.
Sorry for the bad typing, touch screen phones aren't the best for forums.
I've trained a lot of difficult animals but I've never tried my hand at dwarf seahorses. They sound like a fun challenge! The key for most mandarins seems to be starting with live brine and then working around their slow pace. I've used baby food jars with great success in the past. Pipe fish aren't too bad, although I have had some difficulty with dragon face pipes.
andyrm66, it's my understanding that the ORA mandarins are raised on pellets and roe. Mine picked at roe immediately but he was a target. I know people have had more trouble with the reds and blues.
Sorry for the bad typing, touch screen phones aren't the best for forums.
oo pretty Andyrm66!!!! And thanks Cadre, I'll look at that forum and see if there's any more I could learn about. And Ive heard alot of issues with ORA mandarins eating like they should be but this method I posted about has worked on two mandarins all the way to pellets and 4 to frozen brine. (the other four were too far gone due to being poorly shipped and too emaciated to digest food)
andyrm66, the target mandarins aren't too difficult so don't worry yet. It's a good sign that they are fat now but that doesn't necessarily indicate what they were eating. I would suggest starting with roe and frozen shrimp, if they don't eat that then pick up some live brine and train them from that as Suzanne describes.
Suzanne, your method is very similar to mine so I have no doubt that it works well. ORA definitely had a few issues with the mandarins to begin with. I honestly haven't ordered them lately so, while I think they worked out the kinks, I can't say anything about them. I think people forget about shipping stress with these guys. The fact that they're aquacultured certainly helps but in my experience, mandarins just don't ship well.
Anyways, I'd like to try my hand at dwarf seahorses soon so hopefully I can buy a few from you when I am ready!
Suzanne, your method is very similar to mine so I have no doubt that it works well. ORA definitely had a few issues with the mandarins to begin with. I honestly haven't ordered them lately so, while I think they worked out the kinks, I can't say anything about them. I think people forget about shipping stress with these guys. The fact that they're aquacultured certainly helps but in my experience, mandarins just don't ship well.
Anyways, I'd like to try my hand at dwarf seahorses soon so hopefully I can buy a few from you when I am ready!