Snowflake Eel

Alright, so we got our snowflake, Kobayashi the beginning of October. He had been (up until a few days ago) eating 3-4 decent size silversides once every five days or so.
We tried all kinds of other stuff on him. Table shrimp, krill, scallops, squid, all he ever wanted were silversides. He'd take the other stuff off the feeding stick and spit it out.

We would feed him when he came out of hiding. His favorite "cave" was all the way in the back of the tank, under the largest piece of rock. Whenever he would come to his front caves (unless I had fed him the day before) I would feed him (or a least offer food).
He also ate my flame angel (who would sleep on the sand bed, right in the front, out in the open). Stupid fish.

So here's the deal. He hasn't eaten for the past two weeks. I don't see him as much as I did before. When he does come to the front, I thaw some food and offer it to him and he doesn't take it. I don't even know how skinny he's getting because he's only been sticking his head out lately (he has, on a regular basis, come almost all the way out of his cave almost every night).

I've tried different kinds of food... but now I'm soaking silversides in garlic and offering to him whenever I see him. So far it's not working. Does anyone else have any suggestions?

If he's not accepting anything you've tryed,then there really isnt much you can do unless he does decide to eat.
We run into that problem more often than not at the LFS.Try feeding him some live ghost shrimp and see if he'll go after those.

Thanks yote. The thought didn't even cross my mind. At least if he doesn't eat those it'll be a nice treat for the trigger...

Erin, sometimes eels will go weeks to months without eating.. its normal behavior for them (:

Kona my eel went for 3 months eating NOTHING but squid (which got really expensive) and he finally started eating silversides again a week ago.

i would actually advise against live food... it teaches them your other critters are edible.

are you sure he ate your flame angel? how big is your eel? Typically eels won't just got out and munch on a fish-especially a snowie. they are the most docile eels you can get and I pet mine all the time! lol. (jokers eel was a blue ribbon and are known to be more aggressive and fish eaters) What else is in the tank?

https://www.livingreefs.com/care-and-keeping-snowflake-moray-eel-t23011.html

Thanks Sharkie.
I already read your article. And I threw two ghost shrimp in, but the trigger ate them both... so we're good there.
I am almost 100% sure he ate the flame. I know it's uncommon but it's not unheard of. One day he was there, the next he was gone. I never saw a spike in ammonia so I assume he got eaten. The flame was only about 1 1/2" or so... the eel is about 20" or so...
The other inhabitants in my tank are a sailfin, a tomini tang, a pair of maroons, a black oscillaris, a niger trigger, a sleeper goby and a lawnmower blenny.

I just recently read up on the snowflake eel as I have just recently purchased one. The article said that it is not uncommon for them to go into a hibernation period and go into hiding and not eat for weeks at a time.

ahh... yea it could've been the eel. I don't think theres much you could do to stop him from trying ot go after the other tank mates except try to stuff him full of food. since he won't eat anything you have try going and grabbing a REAL crab leg from the market and seeing if he will eat the crab meat. Thats finally what got kona back into eating and i just fed him the meat from the leg for a while. beware of imitation crab though. Ask and if they don't know or say there isn't a difference-don't buy it. Imitation is NOT real crab nor what will attract lil eely.

Could it be like a snake and just doesn't need to eat for a while after a big feast? :dunno:

Kind of... but constrictors can go months and months between eating anything. But they can also eat things that are a lot bigger than something an eel can take down.

I saw his tail last night... so at least I know he's still alive/in the tank.

there was an eel at the LFS that didn't eat for 2 months. its an eel thing... sometimes they just don't wanna eat *shrugs* kona went a month without eating when I left and when i came back it took a few weeks to get him eating again... and then he would only eat squid. for the past 3 months thats all he's eaten. i finally got him back to eating silversides a few days ago

Thanks Sharkie. You are a fountain of eel knowledge. :)

Mine would eat pieces of shrimp. Here he is

I tried shrimp. He would take them off the stick and spit it out. He's not much of a crustacean fan, apparently.
Thanks though!

So here he is today...



Not a very good picture... but this is the first time in weeks I haven't had to go looking for him. He also seemed somewhat interested when I stuck the feeding stick in the tank (not to feed him, to wave some shrimp over to my frogspawn).
If he's still out and alert looking tomorrow I'm going to give feeding shot.
I'm just glad he's out again!

He's looking at you with those crazy eyes!! He looks healthy though. Cute!

He's just looked dazed and out of it these past few weeks.
I'm glad he's (hopefully) coming around. I do love the little stinker.
Plus the kids think it's the coolest thing EVER when we feed him.

Glad to hear he's coming out again, hopefully he'll eat for you tomorrow.

Kona looks at me like that from time to time!! LOL. givin' us that eel stare ;)

glad to hear he's out and about.. eels are tough lil guys and pretty much nada can kill them. Konas been through 2 tank crashes (one broken tank and a power outage), way too low pH levels, who knows what else... heck, they can even exist outta water for 12+ hrs. They are tough lil boogers (: You could always try the whole "wave your finger around in the tank and make him come out to almost eat your finger" trick ;) it works with kona from time to time LOL

Well he didn't eat the next day...
But he ate today!! Hooray!!