# Stuffing Nightcrawlers?



## JeFFLo

has anyone tried stuffing pellets in nightcrawlers? if so how?


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## CLUSTER ONE

With night crawlers it would probably be hard and messy so I probably wouldn't try. IF you want to stuff food with pellets i'd do something like shrimp. I've used shrimp and smelt and they can both be stuffed with pellets farily easily if you cut a little pocket for the pellets


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## JeFFLo

CLUSTER ONE said:


> With night crawlers it would probably be hard and messy so I probably wouldn't try. IF you want to stuff food with pellets i'd do something like shrimp. I've used shrimp and smelt and they can both be stuffed with pellets farily easily if you cut a little pocket for the pellets


my p is only eating live foods at the moment. i haven't had any luck in getting him to eat anything else. i've read that feeding nightcrawlers vegetables and soak them in vitamins for a week or two would be beneficial. is this true?


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## CLUSTER ONE

Gutloading is for live foods, vitamin enrichment liquids are for dead foods


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## FEEFA

How long did you starve the p for? It will eventually eat anything but you will have to starve him possibly a week or more.
Try a variety of foods daily ie shrimp tilapia haddock etc, leave it in for 20min and if he doesnt eat than remove it. Try this every night with frozen food and it will be eating in notime.

How big is the fish? The bigger they are the harder it will be to get them on pellets so just focus on having him eat frozen thawed food for now


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## JeFFLo

the fish is 6" i starved him for about a week. i tried feeding him silversides every night on a BBQ stick but he wouldnt eat it. yesterday i found a earthworm so i left it in there and it was gone when i came back. so i purchased some nitecrawlers and now im thinking to stuff em with pellets and soak the dirt that their in with vitamins.


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## Smoke

It's not really clear what you're trying to accomplish by stuffing nightcrawlers with pellets, or the vitamins... Are you trying to get him to eat non-live-fish and processed-foods all in one shot? Sounds like you should first try to get him to eat non-live-fish/non-live, then once he's used to it, try incorporating the processed foods if that's what you want. First of all, I can't even imagine trying to stuff a pellet into a nightcrawler...have you really looked at nightcrawlers?







But stuffing a pellet into a shrimp or piece of tilapia sounds more realistic to me.

And trying to feed it with a BBQ skewer? I doubt that the P will willingly do that initially, even if starved... If provoked, I can see it taking a couple snaps at it, but I don't see it just coming up out of the blue and eating off a skewer... I think you should first get it used to eating those foods, and then slowly incorporate the skewer feeding method over time... At least that's what I would do.

Also, just because the nightcrawler disappeared when you left and came back doesn't mean it was eaten. IF you have substrate, they will dig into the substrate and go hiding in there... and they can last for quite a few days believe it or not.

Good luck.


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## JeFFLo

yeah i definitely gotta get him on the non-live foods. my goal at the moment was to get him the best nutrition as possible while feeding him live food since that's all hes eating at the moment.

actually what i did with the worm was stuck a needle w/ thread through it and hung it from the top. when i came back nothing was attached except the tip where the thread had been attached.

i think im gonna try this method with the silversides because i dont think my fish will eat from the bottom. are there any other methods for feeding non-live?


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## Da' Manster!

Jefflo,
It's really not necessary to stuff nightcrawlers..It's one of the best natural foods you can give to your piranhas...More than enough protein and nutrients!...







...I've never had a problem getting my fish to devour them!..Just about 99.9% of all piranhas absolutely love them!..


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## CLUSTER ONE

When feeding non live foods just drop it in. Trying to feed it non live for the first time on a skewer is probably enough to scare it off. Just drop it in, leave and come back in an hour to see if its gone. If not remove it and try again in a day or so.


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## jp80911

can't you feed nightcrawler crushed pellets to try to gut load them? I never done this before with nightcrawler but I have done it with superworms.


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## BRUNER247

Da said:


> Jefflo,
> It's really not necessary to stuff nightcrawlers..It's one of the best natural foods you can give to your piranhas...More than enough protein and nutrients!...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...I've never had a problem getting my fish to devour them!..Just about 99.9% of all piranhas absolutely love them!..


I agree! Imo you can't find a better food.


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## marilynmonroe

This is what I use to gut load my nightcrawlers, liquid zoe and shoot-up the worm. I got the syringe at the Pharm for about a $1.00.


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## Smoke

marilynmonroe said:


> This is what I use to gut load my nightcrawlers, liquid zoe and shoot-up the worm. I got the syringe at the Pharm for about a $1.00.


WoW


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## BRUNER247

DAMN bangn Zoe. Your hardcore!better watch it you'll give your fish AIDS doing that.


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## JeFFLo

marilynmonroe said:


> This is what I use to gut load my nightcrawlers, liquid zoe and shoot-up the worm. I got the syringe at the Pharm for about a $1.00.


did you have to squeeze the liquid out of the nightcrawler before you shot it up with the zoe?


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## JeFFLo

ok so what i did was instead of stuffing em, i went out and bought hikari cichlid gold pellets, crushed them up and mixed it with the mulch that the nightcrawlers are in along with some veggies and a vitamin supplement. im not sure what effect this will have on the worms but i assume it could be nothing but beneficial. thanks for your guys' input


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## Inflade

marilynmonroe said:


> This is what I use to gut load my nightcrawlers, liquid zoe and shoot-up the worm. I got the syringe at the Pharm for about a $1.00.


excellent idea.


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## Redruckus

i know if you gut load worms with garlic they turn neon green/chartruse in a week or 2


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## Briaan

Could I mash some pellets in a sludge n shoot it into the worms? Or would the vitamin supp better?


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## JeFFLo

i thought about that too brian, it should work if the pellets are crushed up fine enough. let me know how it works out if you decide to try it.


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## Briaan

My idea is to make a sludge, but we will need a liquid, and instead of water i was thinking of usig the vitamin supplement? And finely grinded pellets (powder, the magic bullet or food processor would work) with vitamin supplement to make it sludgy(more liquidly, not so thick but not so liquidly) and then injected into a night crawler, best of both worlds, but I would think you need a thicker syringe, and a thicker needle or injecting would be more difficult then it should be.


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