Snowflake Rapid Jaw movement

[tarhull87]

Hey all, I have a snowflake eel thats about 10 inches, He is perfectly healthy and one of the best things in my 75gallon tank. When I feed my fish live ghost shrimp/glass shrimp my eel sometimes goes after them. He slowly approaches it, and then snaps its mouth open and closed really fast as if to intimidate the shrimp, but I was wondering if it is something else going on?

 

[moraym]

Doesn't sound like there's anything unhealthy going on there, just keep an eye on him if you're worried. But i think that's pretty normal, my SFE has an odd habit of yawning a lot.

 

[chandler04]

Im guessing that wen animals are stuck in a glass cube all day, they tend to want to do sumthing with their food. Maybe it is checking to see if the food is alive, or maybe trying to make it run so it could chase it, or maybe stunning it with the noise? such a small animal COULD be stunned by the snapping noise. If so, then you have one smart eel.

 

[tarhull87]

I thought so too, the way it was snapping at it, it kinda made the shrimp shift into the eel's lair... Cool habit indeed.

 

[tarhull87]

Another question, My Volitan lion has been eating ghost shrimp steadily for 2 weeks, but I have read that they aren't the healthiest thing to feed him. How do I get him off the shrimp and on to like squid and fresh seafood?... if thats what he should eat?

 

[chandler04]

As long as the lion knows where the food is coming from, you should try tossing in other frozen foods. Id start out with silversides. Mine chomps at anything that smells like food, even chopped coktail shrimp (uncooked of course) maybe small pieces of frozen prawn. If he doesnt take it at first, start putting in like a ghost shrimp, then something frozen. Hell think that another ghost shrim is coming into the water, so hell snap at it, and if he likes it, then yer set.

 

[moraym]

Try tossing in krill as well, some people have more luck with krill, especially larger krill (I don't know if your LFS has different options of frozen).
My lions all lived on silversides and krill for a long time, it's a good combo, especially when soaked in nutrients.