feather dusters head fell off

[Jaynie1028]

hey I bought a feather duster on sat and he was doing great in my tank until last nightwhen I tried to move him and I pulled off his head (feathers) by mistake. Will they grow back? Or did I kill him? Im so sad.

 

[Deanos]

It will grow back, assuming it was a healthy feather duster in a system suitable for its growth and reproduction. Otherwise, it'll die.

 

[Jaynie1028]

how do I know if it was healthy? Like i said I just got him on Sat.

 

[Deanos]

If it lives, it was probably healthy enough to regenerate that which was pulled off.

 

[skene]

usually takes about a week or so to grow a new head. Mine fell off a few weeks back and it took him like 2 weeks give or take to grow a new smaller head.
Stress will lead to the worm abandoning his head... so provided that he is healthy you will see it in no time... continue to target feed the worm during this time so he can at least eat.

 

[masterswimmer]

Agreed. If your system is healthy and conducive to supporting a feather duster, the crown will grow back. When stressed or feeling threatened, they sometimes 'drop' the crown as a diversion to the attacker.

swimmer

 

[Jaynie1028]

Ok, I will traget feed him tonight when I get home and will do so every other day for the next few weeks. I dont even see him in his shell though. How do I know if he is in there? Should I move him to the sand? right now he is in the rocks.

 

[nanoreefer22]

The more you move it, the more likely you are to kill it. Just leave it where it is, every move just equals into more stress for it. If you don't see it in it's shell it may have already abandoned it .

 

[JHOV2324]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULUiV_tj1DI

 

[Lenny718]

:funnypost LMAO

 

[Reef Reaper]

Don't worry, it will grow back!

 

[georgelc86]

I have to respectfully disagree with the target feeding becuase feather dusters use the crown to filter feed through the water column. If you decided to feed just make sure not to over do it becuase you dont want to start polluting the water by overfeeding. The crown will hopefully grow back. You also dont want to move it. Leave it where it is and be patient. One I had fell off and it took about a week and a half to grown back to about a quarter of its size. It was doing fine until my pincushion urchin decided to eat it. I guess the worm wasnt doing well because the urchin always avoided it until the crown fell off. Anyway, be patient and good luck.

 

[Jaynie1028]

LOLOL.... And thanks George