can this be possible for a baby bamboo?

[oncebitten]

Is this ok to use? a plastic shoe box made into a cave. instead of pvc pipe. and put the live rock on top. ihe shoe box would be the type you can get at walmart. would plastic degrade the water. my shark just hatched 1 day ago, and seems to wedge itself into the small cave i made. so trying to feed is very differcult to see. i am using a feeding stick, it did chomp on a small strip of shrimp and then spit it out, so i can see feeding is the hardest part of this. she is in a 180 all by her lonesome. i would like to use some other type of method of making a cave.

 

[john a]

agrocrete baby

 

[mitzel]

I wouldn't use the shoe box . Just let her Hide where she wants. Even if you do make the shoebox cave she might never use it . It's best just to let them go to where they feel safe . and this is usually wedged in the rock work.
Also don't try to force feed her , You'll be more likely to have a happy healthy shark if you let her go at her own pace . soak the food in garlic or selcor and wave it infront of the hole she's hiding in she'll learn it dinner time by smelling it and then eventually she'll become more active and will come out when she see's you . If she doesn't seam to want to eat try stimulating apatite with some ghost shrimp. just a dozen or so drop them in and leave them for her to find on her own. More then likely she will be very timed at first . She doesn't know your there to feed her not feed on her. to her your a big predator thats swiming by . soon as she realizes your not going to hurt her she will come around.

 

[oncebitten]

thanks. after much thought i decided against the shoe box idea. she is trying to eat, small small pieces of shrimp. she takes it chomps it and then spits it out, so im not to sure if that means she is getting anything injested. i have not been able to get to my lfs to pick up some squid. but i will try that tommorow. she does look very healthy, stomach not convave. i do have the garlic here i will try that to.

 

[mitzel]

Oncebitten what part of mass are you from ? I have inlaws that live in welsly. Try the fresh fish markets for squid.

 

[oncebitten]

i live 30 min from there. i will try that type of squid. i thought that if i got the frozen packs of squid, the vitimens are all ready in the pack. i was going to switch to market seafood after she was eating something, and soak them. right now the only vitimens i have is vita-chem. and the garlic. i do think this is the most differcult part of taking care of this type of shark. oh and by the way i hope denver wins the super bowl this year. i do like the pats, but i want denver to take it.

 

[mitzel]

Originally Posted by oncebitten
i live 30 min from there. i will try that type of squid. i thought that if i got the frozen packs of squid, the vitimens are all ready in the pack. i was going to switch to market seafood after she was eating something, and soak them. right now the only vitimens i have is vita-chem. and the garlic. i do think this is the most differcult part of taking care of this type of shark. oh and by the way i hope denver wins the super bowl this year. i do like the pats, but i want denver to take it.
Try some fresh it might work be sure to soak it in the vitamans first . It might help. and size of pieces is very important. for a fresh hatch no bigger then 1/4 inch by a 1/2. You really don't want them to strugle with eatting at first
Well To be honest I'm not a bronco fan at all. I'm originaly from california and the Raiders are my team . All though I'm very tired of seeing the PAT's I'm still holding a grudge from the "tuck" rule during the ice bowl a few years back.

 

[oncebitten]

ok i went and got squid and soaked it . i cut into very small peices she took it then chomped it and then spit it out. so i tried brine soaked in the vita-chem, and put into a very clean eye dropper,and slowly let some out and she ate that, she seemed to do alright with this. do i keep trying to give her the squid also. the last bamboo i have years ago did not have this problem. i had cut up market shrimp, and took that right away no spiting out i know no two sharks are alike.also i do not want to rush it either.i want to give a wide array of foods. also i am a oakland fan. but they did not do so well this year.

 

[mitzel]

Ghost shrimp? some times live food will stimulate them.

 

[oncebitten]

i have not tried that yet because the fish stores in the area do not have any and dont get them often. i would have to mail order. she has been eating the brine for now and hopefully she will switch over, as she is only 3 days since she hatched. she does go for most of the food i have tried and has intrest in it. im just a little on edgebecause i know she needs to eat the proper foods. should i feed her every day while she is this small? like my last one i was feeding 2 to 3 times a week because she was getting the proper foods. thank you again for your help.

 

[unleashed]

from what I see your biggest problem is the depth of your tank.its impossible to hand feed your shark at this dept.I have a spotted bamboo he hand feeds when I first purchased him I had to litterally put the food to his mouth to get him to eat it.we started out with mysis shrimp soaked with 2 drops of garlic extreme I had him in my 48x12x18 refuge for 2 months after hand feeding like this for a couple months he now comes to the top of the tank for his food( 300 gal) as soon as he smells it in the water.his diet consist of chopped squid(squid yum yums) mysis shrimp ,small krill,small silver slides(the tiny ones) and chopped shrimp.he wont touch minced clams.if you have a smaller shallower tank oto start him off in this might be helpful also make sure your ph is perfect sharks are very sensitive to ph levels along with nitrates and amonias.dont worry about being bit mine has gotten me a couple times now that hes bigger its more like a suction cup than an accual bite.hope this helps ps he need to be 2-4 times a day for the first couple months then he can be cut back to 1-2 a day make sure you give him a varied diet and live food is not the anser for a captive birth fish.what makes captive birth so much easier than wild caught is its ability to eat prepared foods if you start him with live you might have well baught a wild caught baby IMO then you will have to teach him to eat prepared which isnt that easy to get them to convert

 

[mitzel]

Well said unleashed . I agree fully. I was only sugesting with the live food it might ignite some kind of natural pray drive. My bamboo was captive born and excepted prepared foods but as soon as the ghost shrimp hit the water it was a whole new game. I fully agree to feed your baby more often and smaller meals. as it gets older you can cut the meals back a bit . But it's my opinion to feed at least a small amount everyday no matter how old they are. A lot of people will feed every other day or every three days, this is manily to keep the sharks from growing too fast

 

[oncebitten]

thank you for all your help. as of last night she was eating, squid, small pieces soaked in vita chem. i dont have the selcon yet. and the brine shrimp and had a small belly when she was done. she seems content as she was digging her spot in her cave. the tank is 72x24x24 so i do at times have a small step stool to reach her for now. and i know i will need upgrading in the future. my tank parameters are PH 8.2 NITRITE 0 AMMONIA 0 NITRATE 0 SALT 1.024 and water changes every week. also i test for copper and none found. tank temp at 76. my first bamboo that i had a few years ago was eating great for some time and then only took shrimp would refuse all other stuff that was offered. she then began having sezures and i had to put her to sleep, to end her suffering in the end an autospy was done and i had found she had a tumor in her brain. so you can see why im on edge but getting a little better as she continues to eat a vaired diet.

 

[mitzel]

Wow thats great . glade to hear she's feeding . Keep us updated. And pictures would be great .