What Do Rice Field Eels Eat? Introduction to Their Diet and Key Points for Scientific Feeding

The rice field eel (Monopterus albus) is a carnivorous fish that feeds mainly on animal-based food. In its natural environment, it prefers live bait and often preys on aquatic insects and their larvae, aquatic earthworms, river snails, small fish, small shrimp, tadpoles and so on, and occasionally also consumes a small amount of zooplankton and organic debris. When food is scarce, it will also take some plant-based feed, but its overall diet still consists mainly of animal-based bait.

The rice field eel has poor eyesight and relies mainly on smell and touch to find food. It is accustomed to resting by day and emerging at night, and mostly comes out of its burrow to forage in the evening and at night. Its food intake is closely related to water temperature. When the water temperature is suitable, its appetite is strong; after the weather turns cooler, its food intake gradually decreases; and in winter it basically stops eating and enters a state of overwintering.

Under artificial farming conditions, the baits that can be fed include earthworms, fly maggots, small trash fish, minced snail and mussel meat, and specially formulated compound feed, etc. In the early stage of stocking, food training should be carried out to guide the rice field eel into forming the habit of feeding at fixed times and fixed locations, which makes daily management easier. The feeding amount should be adjusted flexibly according to water temperature, weather and feeding conditions, following the principle of small amounts given frequently, with the amount eaten up on the same day being appropriate, so as to avoid leftover bait rotting and polluting the water quality.

It should be noted that the rice field eel is relatively sensitive to spoiled and deteriorated bait, and feeding it non-fresh feed can easily cause digestive problems, so the bait must be kept fresh. Whether it is pond farming or cage farming, only by mastering the feeding characteristics of the rice field eel and combining this with water quality management and overwintering management can the rice field eel eat well and grow well, thereby improving farming efficiency.