is too large of a food a problem?

nixer

lets say if a fish eats a shrimp that is bigger than it can swallow but it fits in its mouth can it choke or would there be any concern?

1077

Have caught Largemouth Bass that often times have large crayfish,perch,or shad down their throats. Always amused that they still hit my lure.
I might consider chopping the shrimp up into smaller pieces for the fish.

Fishin Pole

Thats a good question can a fish choke?..........I have a container of dehydrated krill shrimp i feed to my african cichlids on occasion.........After being soaked for a few minutes i drop them in and it seems all the fish swim around with half the krill hanging out its mouth...........Its rather comical to see........Never had any issues with them choking that i noticed...............1077, i know what you mean about bass and food down their throats...........It seems alot of times, they instinctively will eat something even if they are not hungry, especially during their spawning time.........Another observation, i used to work for a seafood company filleting fish........Striped Bass are unbelievable with what they can consume.......I remember a certain fish that we got in to process, in its stomach was 11 menhaden (a schooling baitfish) none smaller than 7 inches, and about a pound of squid.......Just showed me the amount of food a fish can consume in a very small amount of time

1077

I too have found many things inside fish. I once caught a rather large Blue Catfish that upon cleaning the fish for fish fry,, I discovered one Approx two pound carp AND a softshelled turtle.
On a somewhat related matter,, Many small fish such as Bettas,Tetras,guppies,etc have considerable trouble with foods such as krill,shrimp,and bloodworms.Their mouths can accomodate these foods but their throats are quite small. Often times these foods can become lodged and cause the fish problems. I recall one gentleman who performed necropsy on Betta and discovered that the fish ,who relished the freezedried shrimp ,had actual scarring where this food had damaged its throat. The fish tried to eat but kept spitting the food and eventually died. Also have heard or read that bloodworms can cause si milar problems.
I try to soak the foods offered to small fish before feeding ,and I use razorblade to chop up these foods. I am not real keen on frozen bloodworms or tubifex worms in any form. I have no concrete proof ,,but all other things being normal,, I have lost fish feeding these to them. Could have been a batch that was not properly stored or perhaps some parasite. But I stopped feeding these foods (bloodworms,tubifex.) and mortality rates were reduced significantly.

aunt kymmie

Are you referring to just the worms, or all frozen foods (shrimp, daphnia, krill, mysis, beefheart)? I feed a variety of frozen foods and my fish especially love the worms. I would be crushed if I unknowingly introduced a parasite into my display tank. I'm being a touch anthropomorphic in that I look at their foods and decide I'd rather eat the frozen than the dry as the frozen looks much more appetizing. Maybe I need to rethink my feeding regimen??

1077

No, I am speaking only of frozen blood worms,and freeze dried tubifex worms. And in all honesty ,, I still on occasion ,offer the bloodworms to large fish. It is the small fish,, that I have ceased to offer these foods to.