Oscar not eating pellets

[NavSat]

Ill keep this short and to the point.
How long can I humanely starve my baby Oscar to get him to eat pellets before offering an alternative like shrimp?

I've tried three different kinds of pellets and blood worms. I got him 6 days ago and he's in with two other baby Severums in a 75 gallon. He does come up to the surface when I have to feed the baby Severums but he takes one good look at the pellets and ignores them.

Ammonia : 0 ppm
Nitrite : 0 ppm
Nitrate : 10 ppm

He's about 2-2.5 inches long

 

[Colin_T]

You don't want to starve him for more than 2 days because he is still a baby. If it was an adult you could starve it for a couple of weeks.

Can you ask the supplier what they were feeding the fish before you got it?

If the fish was brought up on meat foods (prawn, fish, squid), then it might prefer flake foods over pellets. After it has been on flakes for a few weeks it might start eating pellets.

Also try it on small pellets and floating pellets, they are usually softer than sinking pellets and might be accepted sooner.

 

[Guyb93]

I’m also a new Oscar owner mine is around 6 inches so I have a little more starve room n mine is a real fussy bugger , mine was bought from an owner rather than a pet store so already used to food so I had to adapt to it rather than it adapt to me , mine will sometimes go a day without eating but that’s only because I change his food or I assume he would go longer , some times he will go days eating turkey then just stop il then give him prawns he will eat one or two then want turkey again , at the moment it has boycotted both turkey and prawns and will only eat peas and locust lava , my partner calls it king Oscar the first lol I would say you might just hve to spoil it and keep pandering to it until it’s larger I don’t know I’m a sucker for fish and just give way all the time

 

[Colin_T]

Try not to feed fish on bird or mammal meat because it is harder for them to digest. Use marine based meats instead. Stuff like prawn/ shrimp, fish, squid, octopus, etc are all good foods to try.

Adult Oscars are ambush predators and can go for days without food, so if he doesn't eat a couple of days each week, that is perfectly fine and similar to what happens in the wild.

 

[itiwhetu]

Ox heart frozen then grated through a fine cheese grater. Or garden worms chopped up. I have never known an Oscar that would turn down either of those.

 

[Guyb93]

Try not to feed fish on bird or mammal meat because it is harder for them to digest. Use marine based meats instead. Stuff like prawn/ shrimp, fish, squid, octopus, etc are all good foods to try.
I have heard about animal flesh being bad for fish that’s why I opted for turkey as it’s low in fat and high in protein but I thought it was because meats hve high fats and stuff had no idea it was bad for digestion, and I must admit it is easy to over feed it because he always seems so hungry probably the reason it’s so fussy
Adult Oscars are ambush predators and can go for days without food, so if he doesn't eat a couple of days each week, that is perfectly fine and similar to what happens in the wild.

 

[utahfish]

I've found that Oscars do better eating small children, cheeseburgers, and wild boar

 

[Back in the fold]

I've found that Oscars do better eating small children, cheeseburgers, and wild boar

They'll give you a pretty good nip sometimes when you have your hand in the tank. It doesn't hurt, just gives you a pretty good scare.

 

[Fishmanic]

I've found that Oscars do better eating small children, cheeseburgers, and wild boar

I think you're talking about @Colin_T . He eats small children and neighborhood cats.