Puffers Teeth

[patthecat12]

Hi I am really hoping for some expert advice, i have had my Red eyed, Red tailed puffers for half a year and i never knew about there teeth growing and needing to be feed snails and shrimp to counter act this. I have gone to my LFS and asked them if they sell feeder snails or shrimp. they didn't have any feeder snails and the shrimp were like pet shrimp. £5.00 for two or something ridiculous and really big, the guy at the shop said that he will ring suppliers and ask for and ask for any food that will help the puffers teeth.
the only thing they did have was frozen or dried stuff. there was some frozen cockles that were to big but for a temporary basis do you think i could get them and crush them up or would the shell be too hard for my puffers?
Is there any other way to file down there teeth as she is struggling to feed, i know about trimming them with nail clippers but she only a inch long and i don't feel confident to do that.
she is in with a male puffer, they get along really and i mean REALLY well he rips the food open and she eats the little bits, his teeth are not bad as he is the one that eats or the snails that come from the plants i put in and he eats the other food i put in the tank E.g. Mealworms and the beetles that have hard shells, but she is not big enough to get hold of them and now she is struggling with blood worms.

Cheers patrick

 

[Davo86]

Hi, your best bet is to contact your vet to see if they or another vet they know can trim them,

I would personally try adding a whole cockle or something like mussels or clams and see if they have any effect

If you do want to attempt to cut them yourself here is a good guide how to do it safely

Fill 2 containers with tankwater. Put 3 drops of clove oil in 1 container. Add the fish.
wait for 1 minute or until the fish looks dead. (think of clove oil like a sleeping pill for fish)
take the fish out & clip it's teeth
place it in the 2nd container of fresh tankwater until it comes around
Transfer back to tank

 

[patthecat12]

Thank you davo il try adding a few clams and cockles to see if she can do it naturally, then consider the filling possibility

 

[nmonks]

There's nothing sufficiently crunchy much beyond tiny snails that Carinotetraodon irrubesco could eat whole.

I'd recommend just cutting the teeth. It is NOT NEARLY as difficult as you might imagine. I've detailed my method on my web page, on the Pufferfish Dentistry page.

I'm actually surprised this has become a problem at all: on the whole Carinotetraodon aren't particularly prone to overgrown teeth, perhaps because they eat softer foods than some of the other species.

Cheers, Neale

 

[patthecat12]

Thanks a lot neal

I think its because I have only been feeding them bloodworms and a staple, and it has had negative effects

 

[iSnail]

I had always thought that dwarf puffers don't get overgrown teeth until one of my older females developed a little spike on her beak and had trouble eating a little while ago. I had been a bit slack on picking out snails from my hatcheries for my DPs back then. I bought the clippers and clove oil and was on the verge of performing "micro" dentistry on her (she's only size of a peanut) but decided not to. Just too nervous that I would end up killing her
Here's a blurry pic of her "spiky tooth"

At the time, she could only eat very small size food so I chopped up bloodworms for her. And started feeding her a few small size (smaller than her eyeball) baby red ramshorn snails that she could crunch whole every day for as long as I could. Now she can eat a lot better Glad that I didn't have to clip her tooth It really does help having a snail hatchery even though it's a bit more work.

Hope your new diet plan works out for your little puffer. Good luck