my new kuda pony

[Terri]

they went thru a fresh water dip for 8min. i have done this many times in the past but i have never seen them twist so bad. Dan said they have alot of parasites when that happens.(didn't get these from Dan) i worried last night they might not get thru the night. they Did. i've hung around their Q T tank all day making sure their both eating. ones seams a little weaker then the other. both are eating and checking out the tank and seam to be getting stronger. their so cute.

 

[panmanmatt]

Very nice. Where did you get them from?

Most kuda available right now are coming in from Vietnam or Sri Lanka. They are being raised in open net pens in the ocean so health wise you are getting wild caught seahorses. I would run them through a deworming process and QT for 6-8 weeks.

Deworming instructions can be found here if you need them:

Deworming - Seahorse.org

 

[Melanie]

Crazy! Deworming seahorses! I never knew.

 

[panmanmatt]

Crazy! Deworming seahorses! I never knew.

Yup, intestinal worms and parasites are a very common and dangerous thing. Especially with wild caught or seahorses from an unknown source.


Seahorses don't have a true stomach so most of their digestion happens in the intestinal tract. If there are worms there, they will absorb the nutrients before the horse can, leading to the horse slowly starving to death.

 

[caitrina]

Guess that kind of makes sense, after all oysters have worms too, so why can't other sea creatures.....:invisible

 

[Dentoid]

Cool, learn something new everyday. Seahorses are not my thing, but they're certainly fascinating creatures. I admire anyone who has the patience and understanding to keep this species. Good luck with your new friends!

 

[Terri]

I don't know where they originally came from a friend got 4 two weeks ago along with shipment of dwarfs. and let me buy 2. i have them in formalin can i deworm them at the same time.

 

[panmanmatt]

I would do the formalin first and then move onto deworming. Deworming is going to be done over a period of a couple weeks as you are only going to use one medication at a time. Each med does a different thing so we run each one separately. If you need any of the meds, let me know. I have all 3 on hand.


I would definitely try to find out their source. The only dwarf suppliers I know of are the collectors down in Florida. Kuda are not native to US waters so need to be bred here or imported. All the breeders I know of in the states aren't doing kuda as they can't compete with the pricing on the imported ones. Stores/wholesalers aren't going to pay $30-40 each for CB horses when they can import the net pen raised for $3-5 each.

 

[Terri]

I might need deworming i only have praziquantel /metronidazole. it said for worms. i'll ask pete where he got them. I know he paid 80.00 each for them. . I have another problem, i got a new gfi plug strip so i unpluged the tank today only for 5min now im showing 0.5 nitrite i had tested the water at 12 today and i had 0 then but nitrate 20 so i did about 15% wc i had never seen it go up like that. Thanks for your help

 

[panmanmatt]

I have the panacur, not a problem with that. Prazi and Metro are the other 2 you will need.

As for the nirites, I'd do another water change to bring them down and then re-test.

I would definitely be interested in where he got them from. Unfortunately price isn't really a good indicator anymore as the wholesalers have found that people are willing to pay that price for any seahorse regardless of it's source.

 

[lcstorc]

Congrats on the new ponys. Kuda were the first kind I kept. They were lots of fun.

 

[Terri]

Well today was a good day for the kudas. they are all over the tank and they learned to dance for their meals. i stand there and watch them eat so there is no waste. they are eating 12 to 14 mysis each per day and wants more. can i over feed them? i test the water every day and 10% water change every 2nd day. so far ok.

 

[panmanmatt]

Yes you can over feed them. If you start noticing full mysis in their feces then you are over feeding them.

They don't have a true stomach so feeding too much forces the food through them before they get a chance to digest it.

 

[jg2269jg]

hey sorry for the interuption can you use the meds in the display horse tank or do they have to be in a qt tank to do this

 

[panmanmatt]

QT tank. All of these meds are dewormers and will kill any and all worms you have in the tank, including any ornamentals such as cocco worms and feather dusters.

Actually all meds should be used in a QT/hospital tank and not in a display tank.

 

[Tim A]

very nice ponies.
how is the deworming going?

 

[Tim A]

are they eating frozen full time?