Is it just mine, or are Kuda just extraordinarily stupid?

[taijiguy]

This is largely a rhetorical question, but it is nagging me. I had some erectus that picked up on the feeding trough/tapping routine very quickly. No matter where they were, if I tapped on the side of the glass with the feeding baster, they would come a runnin'. This took only a few times for them to pick up. When they heard the sound, they knew it was feedin' time in the H2o ranch. But now I have this kuda (just one for now anyway unless they are all this dumb) but it is impossible to feed! I've had her for several months, and she just don't get it. It's bad enough that she locates herself in the most remote part of the ranch, but I could bang on the side of the tank with a hammer and she wouldn't move. I've been trying to condition her from day one, but she just won't respond to the noise. The only way she'll move an inch is if she actually sees the food in the water, and even then, if it settles to the bottom at all, she won't eat it anyway.
This thing may starve to death because she's too dumb to come up off the bottom of the tank (or out of hiding) to be fed!

 

[rayjay]

If this kuda is in the same tank as the erectus, it's possible that it is reacting to pathogens that it has been exposed to that it hasn't had previously.
Mixing seahorses from differing breeding sources can be a crap shoot with sometimes loosing all.
Or, it may just be intimidated by the presence of the original inhabitants

 

[mtc1966]

any chance the kuda was wild caught ? might explain not going after food once its out of the water column

 

[pledosophy]

Just you

Sorry to easy had to.

In reference to the sound, you are trying to train an animal to form a behavior based off of an unnatural sound to it. It takes time. Maybe try clicker training instead of just the "feeding sound" you are used to. I have even scene corals clicker trained and it is a closer mimick to the snicking sound of a horse.

Good Luck

 

[DanU]

I find H. kuda as a group, rather aggressive feeders. Sometimes even more so than H. erectus.

Dan

 

[taijiguy]

Just you

Sorry to easy had to.

In reference to the sound, you are trying to train an animal to form a behavior based off of an unnatural sound to it. It takes time. Maybe try clicker training instead of just the "feeding sound" you are used to. I have even scene corals clicker trained and it is a closer mimick to the snicking sound of a horse.

Good Luck

That's true, but the point was, that all of my erectus took to it almost immediately. Not only did the sound get their attention, but they learned right away (within a matter of days) to congregate at the feeding trough. This kuda on the other hand doesn't even seem to notice when I tap on the glass, so it sure doesn't make any effort to move to a feeding place. I'm afraid the thing is going to starve to death because it doesn't know to come out of the corner to be fed, and if it doesn't actually see the food in the water it won't budge. It's very frustrating and double the work to feed the thing, I have to be watching for her to be in a spot where I can get to her or where she may notice the food, and I can't always operate on her schedule.

BTW, there's only one seahorse in this tank, although I'm going to add more, I was just debating on whether to add more kuda or give her away and get a different species. If kuda in general are this dumb I don't think I can keep them.