My stupid fish swallowed a marble!

[Angel Lady]

that is sad I hope he pulls threw it I will call my vet in the morning and see what she says she keeps fish like that in her office mabey she will know what to do in a matter like this. are you from Ky if so I am to what part of ky are you from.

 

[Mogo]

Junk,

I wasn't joking about checking out the buccal cavity, upper throat. Large items like marbles, or large gravel, aquarium equipment..etc can get lodged on the way down. You mant want to ask someone to help you do this. You'll have to dampen a towel with aquarium water and do this over top of the towel, just incase the fish squirms out of your hands. You'll want to make sure you're holding the fish securely but without too much pressure. Use your finger nail to gently pull down the lower jaw to open the mouth. You should try to do this as quickly as possible (no more than 30 secs for the whole process) as you want to keep stress to a minimum. If the marble is lodged, surgical forcepts can be used to gently remove it. This is quite serious, and perhaps you may want to do further reading on the internet on how to safely handle your fish, and safely open its mouth. You can probably find loads of articles by searching for how to strip an african mouthbrooder of her eggs. And please, in the future, no more marbles.

 

[Feline]

OMG, poor thing! Sori cant help u here. Mogo has given u great advice, I think u should check on it, or mayb if u can't find anything, call in a vet n do an X-ray!

 

[val]

I'd have a fish vet take a look and see what he thinks. Maybe there's some kind of fish laxative.

Valerie

 

[Angel Lady]

I talked to my vet today and she told me that the marble has to come back out its mouth she said to wet a towel with the tank water and start massaging from the lower part of it belly and find the marble and very easy try to push the marble back towards the front when you get the marble to its throat take a pair of hemostats and gently pull the marble out.you may have to do this in three or four seprate tries.

 

[impur]

That sux. Well i know with some catfish you can overfeed them and they will throw up all thats in their stomach. If he isn't eating that sorta rules that out. He may vomit it back up in time i donno. If not try whats suggested above. If all fails and he dies i guess you have dinner eh?

 

[junk250]

Thank's to everybody for the info.Well 48 hours later and he's not belly up!SHARKS AND MOLLIES,that was very nice of you to go out of your way like that!That is what I thought was the only solution,short of surgery.I just fed him a minnow,he wasn't begging as usual but he did eat it in a hurry,so I guess I'll wait a while and see what happens.I'm going to vacume the tank in a minute,so maybe I can determine if he's poopin'.If he's eatin' and poopin',he might be ok with the marble?It would be pretty radical to try to force it out since it's pretty large,I dont know how I would be able to push it up far enough to get a grip on it!I wonder if he would make it.Here's a couple of more pics of the poor fellow,in the second pic you can clearly see the marble in his dumb little belly .It went down to that point immediatly after he ate it,and hasn't moved since.Again thank's to everybody,keep the ideas/comments coming.
Chris
Louisville Ky

 

[junk250]

 

[sandyd]

Wow great pics, i wish i could help you with this, but i am clueless about what to do. Do you have a local vet who deals with fish? If you do, you may be able to contact them and see waht they can do. I know my sister used to have a snake and her vet made house calls. I dont know what that would cost, but it is free to call and check it out. You seem really attached to your fish, as most fish people are, so i would check into it.
Kind of makes you wonder what else that fish is hiding in there. LOL Sorry but any fish that could swollow a marble and not care, could probably eat lots of other things. Keep us posted. Sandy

 

[junk250]

 

[smb]

That is such a beautiful fish.

I wouldn't leave the marble in there. If you can't get it out, do as suggested and call around to some vets and see if they can. It might just be a couple minute job for them.

Keep us updated.

 

[Jesse]

Um I have one question - did you catch that fish from a lake or river? If you did, I thought it was illegal to catch fish and keep them in an aquarium - at least it is here. If it is there, I would advise not going to the vet unless you want to be fined.

 

[Angel Lady]

hey junk just keep a close eye on him and if he starts to act ill in any way let me know and i will have my vet call you and sorta see you threw with getting the marble out she did tell me that they wasnt any way that will come out the other end it had to come out the way it went in is what she said. I am only a couple of hours away from where you are at. That fish is cool I hope it gets ok for you.did you catch him out of the river or what I would love to have me one. Just send me a email if you want me to have her call you she is a great vet. she really cares about fish and animals that makes a big difference when they are not in it just for the money.

 

[junk250]

Jessie,A good point,It came from a private lake(my pond).It is illegal to keep fish from public waters(unless you kill it).And definately illegal to sell.But you could obtain from a private pond.It is legal to keep native fish if obtained from a private pond in my state.Definately check your state laws.The fish adapted very well,really more active/curious than a tropical fish.

 

[junk250]

Sharks and mollies,yes looks like I need to try and retrieve it.A tough call,fish seems ok right now.