Feeding Oscar Fish

Feed your Oscar on a varied diet to keep it healthy. Like a lot of creatures that prey on live food, Oscars have got very big eyes. They rely purely on their excellent eyesight to locate and hunt food. Their eyesight is so good, they can even see things behind them because of the way the eyes protrude. Oscars will feed at any depth so they will readily accept floating, or sinking food.

So, what do Oscars eat? Just about anything if you give them the chance. If you want to keep your Oscars healthy then you must feed them the correct food. It's very much like humans really, if you eat lots of crap, you will have problems in the future. Oscars are very much in the same boat. If you feed them an unsuitable diet, you run the risk of them having problems in the future.

In the wild the Oscars diet consists mainly of insects and small fish. It is important that you feed your Oscar on a healthy and varied diet. An unhealthy diet could well lead to your Oscar developing disease or picking up parasites. If you want to try and replicate an Oscars natural diet than you could harvest insects and critters from your garden. Beetles, spiders, cricket's, worms, will all be a tasty and healthy snack for your Oscar fish.

Nowadays, there are absolutely loads of fish food available. We are lucky enough to be able to purchase food for virtually any type of fish that you may keep in an aquarium. If you are looking for food for your Oscars, then you should be looking for cichlid food, because as you already know, the Oscar is part of the cichlid family. I would recommend that the staple diet of an Oscar should be mainly pellet based. There are loads of different types of pellet on the market. They come in all shapes and sizes and are manufactured by various companies. Two of my favourite brands are made by Hikari and Tetra. These being Hikari Cichlid Gold which has a colour enhancing agent added. I also always have a supply of Tetra DorImin. They come in various sizes that should suit the very smallest, to the very largest Oscar. If you have a medium to large Oscar, I would suggest that you always purchase a larger size in these products.

Now, what other things can be feed to our river dog? If you ask your fish shop what they have, they normally supply a variety of frozen foods. Once again, they are absolutely dozens and dozens of products available, which is why I am not going to give you a long list on here. Some very common frozen foods will include bloodworm, shrimps, krill (these look like little shrimps), cockles and mussels, small fish, beef heart and much more. There is something that you must take into account when using frozen food. We all know that eating food that has been thawed and then frozen again is not recommended for consumption. There should be no exception when it comes to fish. The problem with buying frozen food is you don't know whether it has been thawed out accidentally before you have bought it. If you suspect that you have bought food that has been thawed and then refrozen again, don't use it.

Oscars Absolutely Love Prawns or Shrimps

Let's take a look at various other foods that are available. You may have seen foods that are described as "freeze-dried" Freeze-drying is a process that preserves food, whole and in its original condition and most importantly, it retains all its essential nutrients which of course is very good for our fish. Shrimps and krill are often freeze-dried so these can be very good as food. On the downside, freeze-dried food can be often more expensive than its frozen counterparts. You may want to make your own food. There is already a recipe for beef heart on this website, so check that out. You can also make home-made food that can be frozen using fish-based products. There is a recipe for beef heart on this website, why not check that out. You can also put things like fish and shellfish in a blender, mix it all up and then freeze it, Oscars will really relish this. Making your own food means that you can add exactly what you want, you can add nutrients and vitamins if you like, it's nice to be all to make a nice healthy food for your pet.

Most Oscars will accept live food with relish. The most well-known live food are probably small fish, often referred to as feeders. Whereas feeders (if they are large enough) can be good for Oscars because they have all the nutrients contained in them, you must tread cautiously. Fish that are bought from the shops are often from shops are often bred in huge numbers. These are often transported many miles which stresses them out. Stressed fish often develop diseases which can be passed on to anything that eats them. Just be aware. You are probably better off breeding your own feeders if you wish to feed live food. Whereas feeding frozen or freeze-dried food is perfectly okay, it is by no means as good as feeding live food. If you can obtain safe live food, then this will be an excellent healthy supplement to your Oscars diet.

            

You may have seen mealworms in your local pet shop. These are normally purchased by people who keep lizards or birds, however they're excellent food for Oscars. However, what Oscars love more than mealworms,are mealworms beetles. They just can't get enough of them. This is probably a little bit more natural to them, in the wilds, you will always get insects dropping into the water. If you want to try a mealworms beetles, it is quite easy. Get yourself a box of mealworms and just leave them standing for a couple of weeks. Before too long, metamorphose will take place and the little worm will turn into a small black beetle. Go ahead and try it, your Oscars will thank you for it.

I've decided to rewrite some of the information that you may have read here recently. The information wasn't erroneous in anyway, I just had the feeling that it could confuse people so I've decided to simplify things a little so that when you feed your Oscars, you can do so without worrying. So let's talk about feeding your Oscar. Baby/juvenile Oscars grow very quickly, you should be feeding them around three times a day. Once you're Oscar reaches 7 inches, you can reduce the feeding down to twice a day. Once the Oscar reaches maturity, at 7 inches onwards, you needn't feed your Oscar anymore than once a day. 

How Much Food and How Often?

If you have got a baby Oscar less than 4 inches then you should be feeding it at least three times a day for three minutes at a time, or until their bellies become slightly rounded. As the Oscar gets bigger it's not so easy to judge how much a fish has eaten by looking at its belly. Once you Oscar reaches 4 inches you can reduce the feeding to a couple of times a day. Feed them as much as they will eat in three minutes. An adult Oscar of over one year doesn't need to be fed any more than once a day. Although most people enjoy feeding their fish, an adult Oscar doesn't necessarily need to be fed on a daily basis. You could actually reduce feeding to four times a week without causing any harm to your fish whatsoever. Remember that in the wild fish haven't got a reliable food source like they do in an aquarium, they have got to actively hunt for their food so they are not going to be fed on a regular basis. In the dry season when the waters recede fish can often go without food for weeks, or even months at a time. Fish do not need calories so they can go without food for a long time.

When you feed your fish I would advise you not to just pile handfuls of pellets in. If you put too much food in then you may find that your fish become lazy and don't eat all of the food, or they will just chew it up and spit it out. If you put five or six pellets in at a time you will find that your fish compete for the food and will be much more eager to feed.

If you are feeding other foods such as shrimp, small fish such as frozen lance, cockles & muscles, then use your discretion and give your fish enough food to keep it happy. For example, a small 4 inch Oscar is not going to be able to eat four or five large shrimp or lance fish. I find that a 12 inch Oscar is quite happy if you give it a couple of 4 inch lance fish, they really don't need anymore. Shrimps come in various sizes so again, use a bit of common sense and don't give them too much because they probably will not eat all of it and you'll just end up with a complete mess in your tank.

Hand Feeding Your Oscar Fish

Many people ask about hand feeding Oscars, when you give them food such as shrimp and fish, you can often entice the fish to feed from your hand with these type of food, hold the fish or shrimp by its tail and hold it just above, or just under the surface of the water and when your fish get used to you, they will take the food from your hand. However, don't be surprised if you get your fingers nipped when you hand feed your Oscars. When your Oscars really get used to you, they will often leap out of the water as soon as they see your hand above the water.

Picky Eater

It is not uncommon for Oscars to suddenly go off their food for no apparent reason. Feeding your Oscar on a varied diet will help prevent your fish from becoming hooked on one type of food. If your fish suddenly decides it doesn't want to eat and there are no obvious signs of ill health than try withdrawing food for a couple of days. Starving a fish for a few days can often get them back into eating again but it's certainly not guaranteed. Oscars sometimes take a complete dislike to a certain type of food and will not eat under any circumstances, not even if you try starving them for days upon a time. If you find that your fish will not eat a certain type of food and starvation hasn't worked for you, try various other types of food, you're sure to find something that your fish will eat.

Oscars Do Have Teeth

Like most fish, oscars need some way of chewing their food up. If you listen carefully when an Oscar is eating pellets, you may hear a crunching sound. An Oscar is equipped with a pair of pharyngeal teeth that are located at the back of the throat. These teeth are powerful which is why an Oscar will make mincemeat out of even fairly large fish. Oscars are incredibly greedy and will eat almost anything that they can get in their mouths, which is why it is not advisable to put small fish in with them. Another question a lot of people ask is have oscars got teeth in their mouths? The answer to this question is, sort of. They aren't teeth like you'd find in a piranha's mouth, they are a little bit what you would find in a mackerel's mouth, more a rough surface. they probably only have this so that prey can't escape. They are actually capable of drawing blood if they catch you on a sensitive part of your finger, for example just above your nail. Having said this, don't let that stop you hand feeding them because that is one of the joys of keeping Oscars.

Hand feeding 

Oscars is always fun. If you do buy a new Oscar, and a big one particularly. Be very careful when you feed it for the very first time. A lot of Oscars will lurch at food. It matters not to them that your hand and fingers may be in the way, they want the food and they can really go for it. Although Oscars haven't really got teeth, they can still draw blood as I have already mentioned on this page. I would strongly advise you to not let young children put their fingers near an Oscar's mouth when it is being fed. As you will see by the video below, an Oscar could very well cause a very nasty injury to small fingers.

Try and establish how your Oscar feeds. He may well be very shy and will not except food straight from your hand. Fish learn by repetition. The more you do something, the more the fish will get used to it. If your fish will not take from your hand, start off by just feeding pellets on the surface, or sinking food, whatever it you want. Once the Oscar is comfortable with taking food from the surface, don't let go of the food until the Oscar is comfortable to come towards you. He still may not take food straight from you, you will just have to bide your time. Hopefully, once has really got used to you and knows you are not a threat, he may take food straight from your fingers, or just open his mouth and you can drop food in. Having said that, some Oscars are very very gentle, and some Oscars are just pigs and they will literally jump out of the water to get to the food. I would avoid trying to hand feed these sort of fish, unless you want sore fingers.

Juvenile Oscars are often very excitable at feeding time. My young Oscar would eat everything in the tank if he could get away with it. It's very difficult with these sort of fish. A lot of people get worried that the rest of their fish are going to go hungry. Unfortunately, this is a possibility with a greedy Oscar. In cases like this, try feeding your greedy fish at one end of the tank while dropping food in at the other end. This may work, it may not. Your other option is to drop food in after the lights have gone out, this often works. If all else fails, try feeding frozen blocks of bloodworm. I have found that the Oscars will not eat all of the bloodworm so that at least there is something left for the rest of the fish. Obviously, thaw it out before you put it in because the Oscar will just eat the whole block if it gets the chance.

Beware of Some Foods

I think it's very important to mention that feeding certain foods to your oscar could compromise their health. Don't be tempted to feed catfood or dog food. Your Oscars may well love it but unfortunately this type of pet food is not at all suitable for fish. It contains far too much fat for a fish's liver to handle. If you continue to feed this type of food to your fish, you run a very high risk of it developing liver problems which would more than likely end in a fatality. Don't feed your fish on bacon, steak, or any meat that contains lots of fat. I would strongly advise you to go to your fish shop and purchase food that is specially prepared for fish. Beef heart is very popular, it is prepared especially for fish and is very lean and contains virtually no fat at all. You can also make your own beef heart recipe if you want. Doing this means that you know exactly what is going into your recipe. You can introduce extra vitamins into your Oscars diet by soaking bloodworm in liquid vitamins.

Alternatively, you could always ask your fish shop if they sell live river shrimp, your Oscar will go mad for these. They are also very healthy and good for your Oscar. You could also feed them live prawn from the sea. Even though prawns live in saltwater, they will stay alive for quite a while before they start dying. If like me, you live by the coast, these can be harvested very easily by using a dropnet and a fish bait. If you live near a harbour, go down just after dark and fish off the wall, you should catch loads. These can often be used to trigger an Oscars eating instinct again after they have stopped eating.

Growing Oscars

People often ask how they can make their Oscar grow big. Fish grow big by eating lots of live food, it's as simple as that. Take trout and Pike for instance, you often find them in huge lakes where they have plenty to eat, in this sort of environment, you will often find huge pike and trout, whereas in the small rivers, they don't go quite as big. An Oscar is not going to grow huge on a diet of a few pellets every day. An Oscar will grow big on a diet of fish, shrimps, beef heart, and seafood, all of which are quite high in protein. Having said all of this, overfeeding fish must be avoided as it can lead to obesity, so take my advice, stick to a healthy diet and be happy with your Oscar at whatever size it grows to naturally.. 

Bright Colours Can Frighten Fish

Fish DO see colour. Occasionally, some people can't understand why their fish are reluctant to feed, they often shy away and won't come to the front of the class. Fish are often frightened by bright clothing, especially if they only see it occasionally. If you find that your fish do get frightened when you wear bright clothing, try wearing more subdued colour clothing when you feed your fish, you might be surprised to find they completely change and will be their same old selves again. 

Obesity

No I'm not joking, if you feed your fish an unsuitable diet for a long period of time, it could put on weight which can be bad for its health. If you do feed your fish on high protein foods such as beef heart then do it sparingly, don't feed it on this type of food two or three times a day every day or you could end up with problems. A prime example of this happening was on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The fish actually started putting on weight because of the amount of food that was being fed to them by tourists. The fish were actually put on a diet believe it or not.

Feeding Live Food

There is no specific law in the UK regarding feeding live food to your pets. However what is illegal is cruelty to animals. Vertebrates can suffer pain whereas invertebrates do not, this is accepted by most authorities. Therefore it is acceptable to feed live food such as worms, crickets and other insects. However, feeding live rodents or lizards will cause them stress and pain, in this case you will be committing a criminal offence and if anyone sees you doing it can report you. In theory the RSPCA could take you to court for animal cruelty.

(Article Source : http://www.oscarfishlover.com)