Pics Of My New Red Dragon Zz *pic Heavy*

[GShorty1981]

I don't think it was duck lips at all, i think it was down to his heater, it had burnt out and had water inside of it when i checked today, so i replaced it immediately, i have wacked his temp back up to the 28c he has been used to since i have had him, his lips and mouth seem normal again, but he still isn't eating, thats 5 days now, hopefully he will come round.
 
I'm glad i didn't rush out and buy more needless medications with money i don't have.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Do you have a thermometer on the tank? Glad his lips are looking better, hope he makes a full recovery

 

[Ch4rlie]

Sounding hopeful. 
 
That could be a good spot in time if the cause is the temp in tank and water gets back to normal.
 
Oh, man, I sure hope thats turning a corner now and soon he'll be back with a vengence and giving you headbutts on your knuckles again!
 
Keep us posted!

 

[GShorty1981]

Do you have a thermometer on the tank? Glad his lips are looking better, hope he makes a full recovery

 
Yeh i did but it was out of reach and i didnt think to check it......derrrrr

 

[Ninjouzata]

 

Do you have a thermometer on the tank? Glad his lips are looking better, hope he makes a full recovery

 
Yeh i did but it was out of reach and i didnt think to check it......derrrrr

 

Lol! Perhaps put it towards the front of the tank?

 

[Shelster]

Or buy a digital one, I picked one up for £2 from amazon, then put the reader on the front of the tank.

C'mon Rex, you're a tough guy, you can make it

 

[GShorty1981]

 

 


Do you have a thermometer on the tank? Glad his lips are looking better, hope he makes a full recovery

 
Yeh i did but it was out of reach and i didnt think to check it......derrrrr

 

Lol! Perhaps put it towards the front of the tank?
 


 
Lol it was one of those stick in glass ones, but the sucker wont stick anymore so it had floated away, i had only checked it last week and everything was fine, didnt notice till today that he was swimming in 20c water, thats back up now, i'm hoping that was the problem after all, i didnt check until i noticed the heater was broken, i used to check it everyday years ago, but because everything was always fine i got lazy with it
 
I had a electronic one before but it gave bad readings.

 

[GShorty1981]

Hmmm still not good its like his jaw is broken because he can't shut his mouth at all, the swelling has gone down, but i'm guessing whilst stressed with the heater breaking, he has some how smashed his mouth to hard on something, he trys to play still, but gives up after a few seconds, he can't shut his mouth at all, and not eaten for 6 days, he is starting to look a bit smaller, his kok has shrunk a little and his body looks thinner.
 
I'm thinking if this carrys on for another week, i may have to take his life into my own hands and put him to sleep my whole family are upset about this, because everyone loves him, even friends that come over are sad about it bnecause he was such a character

 

[Shelster]

Even I'm sad about this!!!! poor Rex, how old is he again?

 

[GShorty1981]

He was 8 months old when i bought him in April so i have had him for 4/5 months, so about a year old

 

[Ninjouzata]

Would maybe mashing up his food and using a pipette or something to squirt into his mouth work? So all he'd have to do is swallow?

 

[GShorty1981]

He won't accept anything, if i put it in his mouth he just spits it out, i fished him out earlier and had a look down his mouth to see if i could see anything wrong and i can 90% confirm that his jaw is broken, I'm guessing he smashed my heater and broke his jaw in the process because its weird both things happened at once, there was water inside my heater, so it deffo had a crack somewhere.
 
OK guys...
 
How do i put him out of his misery? freezer? vodka? cloves oil? i can't let him go on like this, he looks in pain, he hasn't eaten for nearly 7 days and is losing weight rapidly.
 
I have never been so upset about losing a fish in all the years of fish keeping, one plus thing is i managed to cure his worms with that chemical his remaining faeces was brown.
 
I'm going to sell his tank hes in now and not replace him, he is irreplaceable
 
I'm just going to run my smaller tank in my living room now and keep smaller fish

 

[Ch4rlie]

Oh man! 

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Your fish can likely survive for much more than a week with no food. I've done a quick google search and this is common with oscar fish and other large cichlids. It seems likely to be a dislocation instead of a break although it would appear that fish with hexamita are prone to broken bones in the jaw. Some fish recover with time and some do not. There are people who even massage the jaw back into place. It usually happens when they eat something too large or lip lock with another fish.
 
I recommend searching the oscar fish sites for advice on this as this is where I found the most examples of the problem. Or google "large fish with dislocated jaw" - I got quite a few results that way. It seems pretty hit and miss as to if they recover or not.

 

[DRB]

Just read this entire thread, don't let him go yet mate!
Give Emily's advice a go, would you perhaps (and i've no idea if they even help fish) but take him to a local Vet, and explain what the issue could be?
I mean it's worth a chance.. what if they are like Yeah we've actually seen this before, here ya go, pop and it's back to normal?