Feeding Cockatoo Dwarves's

[Spank]

Right,
I've had a pair of Cockatoo dwarves now for 8 months or so, when buying them from the LFS, the shopkeeper said that he's managed to train his own pair to accept flake food. Has anyone else managed this? because try as I might, my pair just plain don't like it!! Both male and female will have a nibble at the falling flake, then simply spit it back out, I've tried high quality flake as well but they seem to dislike this even more 'cos it's much harder!!
At the moment they relish frozen blood worm, white worm, "Dutch Select" mix for tropical fish and they nibble at the various bit's of Lettuce or cucumber that I put in, they just won't accept flake. I've read that constantly feeding them such a high protein (apart from the Veg) diet isn't a good idea, is thie true? feeding them lots of frozen food also makes the tank a mess that I have to clean up afterwards.

Any help is greatly appreciated, Thanks
Hank

 

[jayjay]

have you tried sinking pellets of any kind ?

 

[a.d.wood]

Hi there,

I gave up on flake food for my Apisto's a long time ago and now use frozen and live foods (for both the adults and juveniles), I would class them as primarily carnivorous so wouldn't worry about not getting any veggies in the diet.

One thing to bear in mind though, they are related to the geophagus family of cichlids so consider them to be 'miniature eartheaters'. In terms of feeding they will spend a lot of time sifting the substrate looking for food to eat, so I wouldn't be too quick removing the food that has sunk to the bottom.

Andrew

 

[Spank]

thanks for the advice,

Looks like I'll try the cichlid pellets for a while and see if I get any joy with them

I gave up on flake food for my Apisto's a long time ago and now use frozen and live foods (for both the adults and juveniles), I would class them as primarily carnivorous so wouldn't worry about not getting any veggies in the diet.

What live food do you feed?

 

[Griz]

Mine eat flake regularly, always have. They do prefer frozen brine shrimp and bloodworm however. They will sometimes nibble at spirulina discs too which are really meant for their tankmates.

 

[Spank]

Mine eat flake regularly, always have. They do prefer frozen brine shrimp and bloodworm however. They will sometimes nibble at spirulina discs too which are really meant for their tankmates.

I've tried the spirulina discs, they'll take more of an interest in them than normal flake but just end up spitting it out after a good chew.

Wow, just seen your avatar, he looks lovely what type is he? Mine has orange finage with black dots

 

[a.d.wood]

What live food do you feed?

I have a small 'wildlife' pond in the back garden, from that I get daphnia and various mosquito type larvae. I then feed baby brine shrimp daily to all my apisto's (adults and juveniles).

Wow, just seen your avatar, he looks lovely what type is he? Mine has orange finage with black dots

It's the same species that you have (Apisto cacatuoides), just a different colour morph.

Andrew

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i think mine take flake. I feed a good mixture of frozen, live, flake, sinking food, pellets and green's to the tank they're in. Can't say I've particularly noticed them eating any/none of them but they all seem to be doing fine so I assume they're eating something!!

 

[Griz]

Wow, just seen your avatar, he looks lovely what type is he? Mine has orange finage with black dots

Orion , was a standard Cockatoo, Apistogramma cacatuoides. He was bought as a very young juvenile and turned out looking closer to a wild fish than the triple-reds, etc. I've seen since.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Wow, just seen your avatar, he looks lovely what type is he? Mine has orange finage with black dots

Orion , was a standard Cockatoo, Apistogramma cacatuoides. He was bought as a very young juvenile and turned out looking closer to a wild fish than the triple-reds, etc. I've seen since.

very nice, i've got wild caughts, juvi's though, can't wait for they're colours to come through properly