My Goldfish Developed This Weird Habit

[Noreun]

My shubie has developed a habit of eating poops straight from others bums. If she sees one of them in the middle of a poop she will chase them around and eat it and if no one is pooping she will swim around nipping at their bums.

Erm, is this normal? It's probably nothing to worry about, but I was just curious if there were other goldies that do this.

[enesta]

I've never heard of this, but just had to chime in on how hysterical that sounds.

[Chrissy_Bee]

It may be that your fish is lacking nutrition. What do you feed them and how often?

[Wendy]

I've seen mine do that but not regularly.

[koko]

Do you feed them a verity of foods? what kind of food are you feeding?

[Noreun]

I feed them twice a day. The staple is Hikari Lionhead and I feed them peas once a week. They also get spinach, zucchini or cos lettuce if it's in my fridge.

It's odd because I've increased the amount they get fed and the variety of foods they get to try and fill any nutritional gaps. Maybe I should get on the gel food train?

[Sakura]

I wonder if the food is so packed with nutrition that it's going through the fish without being fully digested. I think this would explain why the other fish keeps eating them. You're sure he doesn't spit them out? Sometimes my fish try to eat poos, but when they realize it's poo, they spit it out right away.

[teetsymomo]

Mine do this all the time. They bite it off, then realize what they did, spit it out, then say, "oh look some new food floating" eat it then spit it out again. After the 3rd time, they finally figure it out. I love my goldies!

[Noreun]

I wonder if the food is so packed with nutrition that it's going through the fish without being fully digested. I think this would explain why the other fish keeps eating them. You're sure he doesn't spit them out? Sometimes my fish try to eat poos, but when they realize it's poo, they spit it out right away.

I think you're right about the food not being fully digested. I suppose the poo kinda looks pellet-y too? Especially when it's short and thick. She definitely swallows them. She used to spit out the thinner ones but recently she's making a habit out of them too.

[nicoleauryn]

Mine do this all the time. They bite it off, then realize what they did, spit it out, then say, "oh look some new food floating" eat it then spit it out again. After the 3rd time, they finally figure it out. I love my goldies!

Mine the same! They are just piggies My one goldie would eat till he pops if he had that chance to. (Heck, same with my cat!)

[Chrissy_Bee]

I wonder if the food is so packed with nutrition that it's going through the fish without being fully digested. I think this would explain why the other fish keeps eating them. You're sure he doesn't spit them out? Sometimes my fish try to eat poos, but when they realize it's poo, they spit it out right away.

I think you're right about the food not being fully digested. I suppose the poo kinda looks pellet-y too? Especially when it's short and thick. She definitely swallows them. She used to spit out the thinner ones but recently she's making a habit out of them too.

Do you pre-soak the pellets? That can help a lot with digestion.

[nicoleauryn]

I never thought to presoak myself.... I will try that. Thing is, once the the pellet hits the gravel, my goldfish gets baffled and it's "gone".