Can Dino Eels Eat Fish Food?

Dinosaur eels, also called bichers, require specialized diets. While individual dinosaur eels' preferences vary, most will not eat regular flake food. Most will not eat anything but live or frozen foods. You will have to go out of your way and feed these unique fish a unique diet.

  1. Dried Foods

    • A dinosaur eel almost never will even acknowledge fish flakes. However, if you're lucky, you might be able to find one willing to eat fish pellets. If this works out, you probably can use pellet foods as a staple food. However, even then you should supplement their diet with meaty foods. In any case, plan on feeding your dinosaur eel live and frozen meaty foods.

    Grocery Store Foods

    • Dinosaur eels love grocery store seafoods.

      Your dinosaur eel can be fed a number of types of grocery store seafood. For example, dinosaur eels love to eat prawns and mussels. If necessary, cut or shave these to an appropriate size for your dinosaur eel. However, make sure you include the shell of any crustaceans, since these tend to have a lot of vitamins and minerals in them. Always thaw the foods first, since frozen foods may damage the digestive tract of your pet fish.

    Frozen Fish Food

    • Pet shops also sell frozen foods your dinosaur eels will love. This includes meaty foods, like bloodworms, brine shrimp and mysids. Frozen foods usually come in the form of single blocks or cubes in blister packs resembling medication packets. To feed, pop out a cube and shave off enough for your dinosaur eel. Thaw out enough for a single serving. However, never try to re-freeze frozen food after it thaws, since this can sicken fish.

    Live Foods

    • Feeder goldfish can sicken fish.

      In the wild, dinosaur eels mostly eat live foods, so feeding them such foods in captivity can help simulate their natural diet. Dinosaur eels readily eat earthworms, ghost shrimp and small feeder fish. However, you should never use feeder goldfish. Goldfish contain a compound called thiaminase, which contributes to poor health in most fish. Thiaminase breaks down various B vitamins. Goldfish also have a high fat content. However, you can purchase other species of feeder fish at most pet shops, as well as the ghost shrimp.