Traning fish: Dwarf puffers

[dannypd]

I like to train my fish to do off things, or eat certain foods, or hunt them a certain way, but I did my best recently:

Train a dwarf puffer to actually hunt in the sand, pull out a malaysian trumpet snail, wait...wait...attack!

I love it...for 1 full year these snails were safe, not any more!!

It involved glueing a piece of rope to the snail and pulling it around the tank and into the sand...once the fish knew it was "under" the sand, it would search.  The tricky part was getting it to wait for it to open up the trap door to eat it...I had to use a breeding net with the fish and a bunch of mts at the bottom...

Now he happily hunts all day and doesn't bug me for food

[gonzobluefuzz]

hmmmmm trying to picture this snail on a leash   Any pictures 

[dannypd]

hmmmmm trying to picture this snail on a leash   Any pictures 

oh god no, peta activists would hunt me down!

I just took a dab of hot glue and some string, GLUED to the snails end...and a long tooth pic thingy attached to the string.

[oenology]

your endevours never cease to amaze me!

[dannypd]

your endevours never cease to amaze me!

You can tell THREE things with me:
1-I was raised without a lot of money...
2-I was very curious as a kid...
3-I did not have a lot of toys...

So I like to try new things out.  The thing that got me to training was the fact I used a white spoon to always feed my dwarf puffer, and now he follows IT around more then the actual food!

[married2OVASmember]

Has anybody in the group successfully trained Dwarf Puffers to swim backwards before? 

[Vizerdrix]

ROFL!!!  You have WAY too much time on your hands!

And here my hubby and son were ready to call the Men In White Coats for me hand-feeding my betta!

[KatarinaH]

Oh dear god..... you KNOW that I'll be gluing stuff to the Snail shells now that I read that... it's sorta mean but funny none the less... I can't wait to start a dwarf puffer tank.

I'm gonna train mine to swim through hoops 

[beowulf]

Very interesting kind of reminds of the episode of myth busters in which they attempt to train gold fish.

[renadia]

ha ha ha to funny 

Have you thought of putting this in the Guiness World Records

Don't think anyone else has trained Dwarf puffers with a snail 

[married2OVASmember]

So, it seems like the idea is not so far-fetched.  Others have tried.  That reassures me. 

Very interesting kind of reminds of the episode of myth busters in which they attempt to train gold fish.

Gold fish too?  I will look that episode up.  Thanks! 

ROFL!!!  You have WAY too much time on your hands!

Actually, the truth is that I am not the one who is trying to do the training.  I am just the one who is worrying. 

[beowulf]

So, it seems like the idea is not so far-fetched.  Others have tried.  That reassures me. 
Gold fish too?  I will look that episode up.  Thanks!  Actually, the truth is that I am not the one who is trying to do the training.  I am just the one who is worrying. 

Ya, if I remember well they took a large tank and divided it into section.  Each divider had a hole the fish could fit threw at different heights etc.  They trained they fish to go from one section to the other.

[KatarinaH]

Well So Far No Luck On Getting Dwarf Puffer To Jump Through Hoops
(I guess I sorta need to find a few to bring home first)
But I've Got My Betty & Veronica Doing It! 
<~~~~~~~~~