Do They Actually Puff?

[Hayleamorgan]

Hi im just wondering if Figures 8's actually puff coz i have never seen mine puff at all. Just gets fat when he eats.
Thanks

 

[kewskills]

yes they can puff. but if they do then they are very scared because its a defensive/fear reaction.

EDITpelling

 

[Hayleamorgan]

yes they can puff. but if they do then they are very scared because its a defensive/fear reaction.

EDITpelling

So mine must be happy and comfortable then as he does not flinch if i put my hand in while cleaning the tank. He did try and bite me once but that was just my finger.
Ha ha

 

[kewskills]

if he does not run away he probably is quite happy, watch out when hes full size, i reckon a nip from one would hurt a little bit

 

[jennybugs]

It's good not to see your puffs puff up

The way puffs find out if something is edible is to take a bite of something. Nice to know they were giving you a taste test eh?

 

[DarkEntity]

Puffing is a total last resort by the fish to make itself look too big to eat.

 

[Tommo]

They can also puff up as a result of a contest or display with their own species, although i dont know if that applies to figure 8s.

 

[groovitudedude]

From what I understand, only Saltwater Puffers puff up just for fun or some other reason unbeknownst to man. All Puffers puff, but I am happy to say that I have never seen my Silus or DP puff.

 

[ronanphilip]

nice video of a puffer here click here . some other nice videos aswell.

 

[andywg]

There's myriad reasons why a puffer will puff. Martha used to puff to the minions when they had the lights were on too long without her being fed. Quite a few puffers develop a habit of puffing for food and attention (one would assume there is some element of Pavlov in there) while others will do it as a practice.

It's not always that bad and even if they take in some air, it is not as fatal as many would have you believe (at least for my porcupinefish it isn't).

 

[clos]

my figure 8 puffed once it was quite odd i beleive it was a puff he didnt get too big though he swam fast into the wall of the tank and i think it startled him he then puffed up a lil and hugged his tail if that makes sense