Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All,
For all of you keeping this species, is there a common consensus as to what you feed them and how often? Blackworms, earthworms, artificial diets, etc., please let me know what the popular diets are.
Best...
Jim

Hey, What id recomend as a food diet is Earthworms (I prefer to cut them into 3 sections) and keep feeder guppies or someother livebearer in the tank. These fish are some of the cleanest eaters and will keep your bacteria levels up (can feed them easily off Javamoss at no expense of your own). These fish are also surprisingly healthy as food. By haveing these cheap fish you wont lose anything of value as the caecilians slowly eat them when their hungry. But keep them on a staple of earthworms. Hope this helps.

Thanks, I figured some sort of worm would be the staple but wasn't sure if anyone else is feeding other things besides worms.
Best...
Jim

How big are your eels? Freeze-dried tubifex worms, earthworms, wax worms (in moderation, of course), defrosted frozen feeder fish or pieces of cooked shrimp or frozen krill (in moderation), or even defrosted frozen pinkie mice, depending on the size of your eels. Give crickets and other insects a try, too. Each animal has it's own preferences, although mine never did like superworms (I pre-killed those, too).

Katrina

We've 8 eels ranging in size from 5" to 10". Previously, we tried blackworms, earthworms, and Repto-Min sticks. They really grew fast under the Repto-Min regimen, however some died after 3 years and after looking at a number of reasons ie, water quality, amphibian diseases, etc, we figured that we possibly fed them to much of the Repto-min sticks. Eels that I thought were gravid, under necropsy, showed them to be just fat. We possibly fed them to death. Anyway, the reason for my query is to find out what others are feeding with or without artificially made products and how often during a weeks time you feed them. Right now we feed our 8, 2 times a week on the blackworms and earthworms.
Best...
Jim

When mine were that size, I was feeding primarily pieces of earthworms every other day or every three days (I think two earthworms cut in half for two eels) and an occasional cube of tubifex worms - I'd stick the cube to the glass underwater and they'd find it. I also had frozen glassworms (fry of some sort of fish I think?) and bloodworms, although it wasn't more than a nibble for the eels. I would buy rosy reds and freeze them, and offer those occasionally, too. They also ate any fish that died in the tank. I kept small schools of various tetras in with the eels, and lots of plants. Mine grew to 14-18 inches before I gave them away, and were eating primarily pinkies by that size.

Where any parasites were found in the necropsy?

Katrina

Katrina,
We sent tissue samples out to see what could have been the cause of death, but on the gross necropsy, no parasites were seen. Have you had experience with any parasites?
Best....
Jim

Hey Jim,
Did the natans show any changes in the skin before death?
Did you get the liver analyzed to check for vitamin toxicity?

I have had natans at work for more than 12 years which are fed at least 2 times a week (juveniles are fed to satiation daily until at least a year old) on earthworms and I have had them in enclosures with red-eye tree frogs where they would fed daily on any uneaten crickets (including the supplements) that were fed the frogs (I have also had them eat sick or dead retfs that were unable to get out of the water (in the morning you find a stripped frog skeleton in the tank). I have also fed them pinks, and pieces of beef heart.

Ed