# feeding piranhas - cooked food or raw?



## vacantjane (Feb 16, 2004)

tomorrow is the day. after school, i am going to the local petshop to buy a piranha, but i have one final question before doing so. when i start to feed them live/meaty foods, should the food be raw or cooked? i know that they eat raw meat in their natural habitat, but would it be ok to feed them meat from a store? (ie. deli sliced meats, chicken, etc)
thanks.


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## badforthesport (Jan 8, 2004)

not cooked.


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## Guest (Feb 19, 2004)

Sliced deli meats probably contain alot of fats, so I would feed them sparingly(bologne, salami, ham, head-cheese). Personally, I don't even feed those to myself. :smile:

Raw food contain more usable vitamins than the cooked meats.

There's a good article with alot of information on feeding your piranha in the information section of this forum.
Here's a link to one of the articles:
Feeding & Nutrition, B. Scott


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

Raw to preserve natural nutrients :nod: ...!


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## Noe (Aug 22, 2003)

badforthesport said:


> not cooked.


 raw..........








If you cook it you will lose the protein.


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## Zarathustra (Nov 9, 2003)

Again...do we really know how much loss of protein??? We eat always cooked and get protein...how come piranhas don't?

I keep hearing over and over that protein is lost in cooking/boiling, but no fact about how much...anyone with factual knowledge?


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## Guest (Feb 20, 2004)

Zarathustra said:


> Again...do we really know how much loss of protein??? We eat always cooked and get protein...how come piranhas don't?
> 
> I keep hearing over and over that protein is lost in cooking/boiling, but no fact about how much...anyone with factual knowledge?


Proteins and enzymes are denatured, -rendered useless (without function) by heat, but your (and your fishs') body doesn't absorb whole proteins and put them to work, anyway.

Proteins and enzymes are made of amino acids. Your body's enzymes break the protein down into amino acids and then absorbs them. Then the amino acids are used as fuel or to build new proteins as your body needs them.

So, I would say cooking does not affect the availablity of the protein to the organism digesting it.

What cooking does destroy is many of the vitamins, especially the anti-oxidants that tend to oxidize when heated.


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## sdottucker211 (4 mo ago)

Do not feed your piranha any raw meat they contain bacteria that will get in your tank and ruin it and kill them. Trust me.


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