So my oscar wont eat the pellets i got him. i got the oscar two days ago. i have a pond in my backyard and i few minutes ago i fed him two feeders. he wouldnt chase them so i used the "thump in the head" technique. you thump the minnow in the head one time and it slows it down as it is dazed for a few minutes. my oscar went right for them and ate them both whole. the oscar is abour 2inches in length. so the question is should i continue feeding him one or two minnows a day until he starts eating the pellets? will he ever eat the pellets? thanks in advance for your help.

hey man give it time its simple your o wont eat cause he is stressed the whole prosess of getting him and stuff he will eat soon but for now buy other foods see if he eats that and feeders are meant only as a treat because they can cause hole in the head diseas (HITH) good luck man MATT OUT------------------------

Matt there is no evidence that feeders are even remotely linked to HITH...Please Stop giving people false advice. People who ask questions on this forum need truthful and correct answers ..

I explained before matt HITH is a result of poor water quality.....

you could try (frozen) bloodworms or small mealworms.
these wil usually tempt your oscar into eating.
Please do mix some small pellets with the worms to make sure the oscar doesn't get spoiled.
Mine only ate mealworms for over a year, until he finally started with pellets again.
On the other hand changing the brand of pellets may help as well.
Or a different size pellet, like ciclid sticks.
it may be helpfull to ask the LFS what your oscar ate at the store.
Hikari gold are excellent food and these pellets have an atractive taste , and helped my fish start to show interest in pellets.

Give your fish some more time, i'm sure he'll come around.
make sure you remove any leftover uneaten food.

i agree noddy the Hikari gold is great. i shake the bag at Ozzie and he comes swimmin up to us like a puppy. its a great food.

I'll give my standard response here and recommend you stop using feeders altogether.

Oscars are omnivores, and there are many things you can feed them...try and offer different varieties of thiaminase-free foods, like hikari ciclid pellets, worms, cooked peas, insects, etc. If you would like to include fish try frozen oceanic fish. There are a lot of options readily available that involve less risk and are far, far more nutritious. In the wild their main diet is insects so you generally can't go wrong with that (although if you catch them yourself like I do make sure you know what it is and it's not potentially poisonous).

Oscars are notorious for going from hogs to all of a sudden becoming picky eaters and going on 'hunger strikes,' and the best way to get them eating again is a variation in diet and withholding food for a day up to several days. They can go a long, long time without food so its not a health issue. I usually have at least one day a week I don't feed my O at all. After that you'll see them come zooming over to you when you come in the room, opening and closing their mouths and generally 'begging.' They get good at that and after a while they figure out they can train you to feed them if they beg. Remember to keep feedings on a schedule though, as they will eventually beg all the time, even if they're not necessarily hungry. Less is more in most cases i.e. several smaller feedings a day as opposed to 1 or 2 large ones.

Thing is, if you get them a 'treat' that they really like but don't use often, and you feed them that and that only for a few days until it's gone and then go back to pellets they can get snarky about it. It's like feeding a child McDonald's for a while and then telling him they have to go back to Brussell sprouts. There's going to be a sulking/refusal period. You have to think of them as petulant little kids sometimes....cause that, to me, is pretty dead on in how they behave.

You really want pellets to be the 'staple' diet, so I would attempt to use those consistently in some capacity. I always use pellets in the morning on a schedule, and then whatever I have else in the evening.

You starve him for a few days he should have no problem gobbling up the pellets, eventually.

If your goal is to get him on pellets don't feed him anything except pellets eventually he will be hungry enough to eat them, i used this method when i used to raise piranhas sometimes it took a couple weeks but generally fish wont starve them self's to death if there is food being offered its pretty much a waiting game.

just thought id let everyone know my oscar ate one pellet today! not much but its a start!

You have had your oscar for only 2/3 days so him not eating is nothing to worry about. It can take some time for an oscar to get settled in a new tank

Dont spoil your oscar yet. If you do, you oscar may never eat pellets. Keep feeding the pellets (remove any uneaten) for a week. If your oscar isnt eating them after a week then repost and we will help you

I feed my oscars minnows out of the neighbors pond quite often. Partially to vary their diet and it is also fun for me. I feed them minnows quite often (about once of twice a week) but also supplement their diet with pellets, crickets, and bloodworms. They still eat all of the foods I give them. Like Matt said they are stressed and thy will eat more after a few days to a couple weeks depending on the situation. No worries