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Has anyone tried GOLDFISH?

thedevious1 Sep 28, 2004 05:10 PM

I have a baby Eastern Hog that doesn't want to eat scented pinkies. I think I tried everything that this forum has mentioned from brian splitting to tuna juice. You name it...I think I tried it. I gave it a African Frog when I first got it. It ate it with no problem. Tried scenting pinkies with a toad....Nothing. Frogs can be expensive. I wanted to get my hog to start eating pinkies. My hog has not been eating in two weeks. Then I went to my local pet store to buy another frog. Then I thought. Tuna juice? for some reason. Then I saw some feeder goldfish 15 for $1.00. Then I thought Tuna Fish = Maybe Goldfish. Lets give it a try. Bought some goldfish and headed home. I put my Hog in a deli cup then put the goldfish in. The goldfish was flopping around and the Hog went after it. Then I put two more, No Problem, all gone. I took some pictures but they didn't come out to clear and I don't know how to post pictures on this forum. I wish some people can show their success on this forum with pictures. I just wanted to share my experience with some people here. Maybe it might help?

thedevious1

Replies (5)

polosue25 Sep 28, 2004 07:08 PM

I think others have had success with feeder fish, possibly the small size and erratic movement gets the hogs excited. However they don't naturally eat fish exclusively so I'd be cautious about using this as a food source for very long--I know goldfish have something in them that causes vitamin deficiency. good to hear your hog finally ate somethoing though
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Sue Barnett

0.1 Western hognose (Sola)
1.0 Crested gecko (Gator)
0.1 Egyptian spiny mouse (Mia)
4.2 mini rex rabbits (Basil, Pippin, Reggie, Hayden, Jackie and Peek-a-boo)
0.1 Plott hound (Molly)
1.0 half Arab (Zarr)
0.1 'found in someone's garage' kitten (Terra)

1.0 Betta (Flash) and 1.0 FL kingsnake (Vega) currently living with 1.0 boyfriend (Ethan)

vt Sep 28, 2004 08:10 PM

They are also full of parasites. It is not worth it in my opinion.

Colchicine Sep 28, 2004 11:08 PM

>>They are also full of parasites. It is not worth it in my opinion.

Especially after only 2 weeks of fasting! I would be considering alternatives after 2 months. If it doesn't want to eat scented mice, just wait it out until it realizes there are no other food sources. Captive herps are typically overfed, and 2 weeks without food in no way constitues an urgent correction.
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

sara h. Oct 09, 2004 09:33 PM

goldfish have no nutritional value whatsoever. that is what causes vitamin deficiency. if you're going to give them feeder fish, atleast try rosey reds.

FRAN Sep 28, 2004 11:39 PM

Scenting works as well as descenting. What I mean is that you must remove as much rodent scent from the pinkie as possible. That mean freezing a pinkie, thawing it out and wash it under tap water for several minutes. Also, freeze a frog because the frog will secrete a goo on its skin and a hognose cannot resist this goo. Get a green tree frog if possible because they work well. When you feed the hognose, get another frog, kill it and present both at the same time to the hog and it should eat both. Of course have a small cage at first so he can come across the food item and do not hold your snake at all until it has eaten pinks several times as holding a hog places much stress on it and it effects its feeding response. You can scent the pink with the fish also, so give that a try first but you will have better results if both the pink and frog/fish are defrosted.

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