Maybe This Is A Stupid Question. . .

[tabbycat89]

Can fish choke to death? I have a small female betta (Dory) and sometimes the pellets are too big for her mouth. She got a pretty big one today and struggled to swallow it before kind of throwing it up. I'm gonna start crushing them before I give them too her but I'm still curioius about what would happen if one got stuck.

 

[Luke_emma_23]

i have read conflicting evidence on this subject, some say no as the fish doesnt breath through the throat, only the gills and will die from starvation rather than choking.
others say yes and have exprienced it.
i ususlly crush pellets for my little ones, although most commercial pellets go soft in water and will break down anyway.

 

[lilacamy931]

I would probably say yes or at least it is going to be very hazardous that it could damage the fish or drown her. Crushing sounds a good idea until she has grown a little x

 

[betta fish]

This thread reminds me of something very curious that happened to one of my young bettas a while ago. I noticed one day the fish wasn't itself as it seemed very quiet and was refusing food although there was nothing outwardly wrong with it and all the other fish seemed fine. A few days later I then saw something sticking out of its mouth, whatever it was it was stuck and the fish just swam around with it stuck there still unable to eat. I decided to remove the fish from the water and take a tooth pick to try and remove it, it was rock solid and turned out to be a small stone! it had obviously been swallowed a few days before but was then brought back up as he couldn't digest it but got wedged in his mouth, the stone was successfully removed and he is still alive and well. So no I don't think they can choke in the same way we can and certainly not with food which softens in water and then becomes easy to spit out if it's too large.

 

[adasca]

To be honest. No idea. I wouldnt have of thought so. As a previous peron wrote they breath through gills etc....but anythings possible!!

Adam

 

[Amberleaf]

No, I don't think they can choke. But I had to stop feeding Mr. Wimpy Fish pellets because on one occasion something peculiar happened!

I gave Mr. Wimpy Fish a pellet and he grabbed it. He found out that he couldn't swallow it, and it got somewhat stuck. So he was desperately trying to swallow it, swimming around the tank and flapping his gills maniacally. He *FINALLY* managed to eat the pellet, although he wasn't quite so happy to eat them again.... He would reluctantly eat them and then I tried him on a new brand (because I had run out of his current one but my Mom was too lazy to take me to Big Al's where they sell Betta Bio-Gold), and he refused them all together. And then, I started feeding him flakes and he absolutely LOVED them!

Fish can't choke on flakes.... I've seen Mr. Wimpy Fish do the same thing that he did with a pellet to a freeze-dried bloodworm in his food (I feed him Nutrafin MAX for Bettas :3), but he still loves them as much as ever, so. I guess that they are just IRRESISTIBLE!

 

[GuppyGoddess]

My small betta needs her peletts crushed up to. It's better safe than sorry. Just takes a second to crush one up. Also, once it is crushed, it takes a bit longer for the fish to eat the pieces, which gives them the impression they've gotten more food. lol

 

[kelly528]

I believe many species of fish grind their food in their throat, which for obvious reasons reduces the likelihood of choking considerably. Also, I don't think they actually have a windpipe for it to get stuck in (maybe for labyrinth fish). Still, food lodged in the throat definitely spells trouble if it is in there for too long.