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Is this the way a baby should behave?

loulouwho

Hatchling
Registered
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Oct 23, 2010
Messages
4
I really want my baby to live--he's a week and a half old, and I really don't see him eat. I've only seen him shoot out the tentacle a few times, but he never seems to be eating any of the bigger bait--just something small I assume. I've heard they are supposed to eat huge quantities of food, but if he is, it must be only once I've gone away. He is swimming about in the tank a lot though in the last 2 days--a good sign I hope? Please advise if this seems normal to you, thank you!
 
I am not a cuttlefish keeper so I can't give first hand knowledge but we have a collection of journals written by people observing and recording cuttle activities from new hatch that you can find by going to the Journals and Photos forum and clicking on the sticky List of Our Cuttlefish 2009-2010. Each of the journals is linked to the basic information listed. I have read the journals and do know that getting them eating is often difficult and usually takes a couple of weeks but having the properly sized food is critical.

Two questions you might answer to help with understanding the environment:
What are you trying to feed?
What size container are you using for the cuttle and where is it located?
 
It's a good sign if you see your cuttlefish shooting out it's tentacles, it means that it is interested in the food. Sometimes it takes awhile for them to eat, but by 1.5 weeks they should be eating mysids or pods.
 
He's a sepia bandensis, and I have him in a plastic breeder box. Please don't yell at me but I can't find mysid or amphipods anywhere in my area--so I'm feeding live brine, and at the same time putting in tiny frozen mysis or tiny pieces of raw table shrimp. I've seen him eat a couple of brine, definite interest in and a tentacle strike at the table shrimp, and the mysis seem to disappear when I'm not around (especially if he was sitting near one when I left the room). So there is interest and some eating--I'm just concerned that according to what I read they are supposed to be putting away 100 mysids a week at some point in their youth and I'm not seeing that. But he's swimming around a fair amount now, and I assume he wouldn't if he was on the edge of starvation, right?
 
I'm a little concerned about keeping the food alive once I get it if I order it--I have a store about 40 minutes away that sells live ghost shrimp--will those work? Thanks Cuttle girl, Lindsay
 
loulouwho;165260 said:
I'm a little concerned about keeping the food alive once I get it if I order it--I have a store about 40 minutes away that sells live ghost shrimp--will those work? Thanks Cuttle girl, Lindsay

Nope - too big. You need small food that is good for them to eat for the first month or so.
 
I ordered some amphipods and copepods for him, and he seems very enthusiastic about the amphipods. Another question: Today is his 2 week birthday. I think he was around 1/4 of an inch when born--today he is probably just over 1/3 inch. Does this seem like the right rate of growth? Thank you!!
 

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