Urgent

[bollands]

its always had a lop-sided mouth and now its not eating what it should i bought some cuticle pliers and im going to do it with that just grab in cloth nose out water a clip. simple. any0ne see fault with this please stop me now im pretty nervous, and im not the fish id rather let him have a fighting chance at eating then giving up and letting him starve coz he wont eat my clams. BTW he had this condition when i got him and its just got worse, it wasnt my ill-feeding, ive supplied him with loads of shelly meat etc. i heard clove oil helps but i dont think itll do any good especially with marine fish so im making this quick with 6 hands at my aid im ready to do surgery

 

[bollands]

ok i did a bit well the worst of it theres still a little bit but i think that'd wear down in time his top seems a bit big too but i dont know how ill get round those gnashers. my mum held him lightly whilst i cut and he puffed up! i didnt think he would i heard it only happened on the big puffers not the small ones sorry bucky (his name) he's now recovering in the tank on a rock. he deflated quick which was good. his tooth was such a problem he'd spend all day swimming against the glass to brake it off (that probably stress him out too) guys i'd like to hear if i did the right thing coz i saw an outline of his bone on his back

 

[seffieuk]

1) Put 2-4 drops of clove oil into a 1-litre tub of water, and stir well

2) Catch your pufferfish in a soft net

3) Gently place the puffer into the tub of water

4) Wait for the pufferfish to settle down; this usually takes about a minute

5) Make sure your hands are completely wet

6) Grasp the puffer gently but firmly, taking care not to sqeeze it too hard

7) The puffer should be quite relaxed; if it ‘puffs up’ then the sedative needs longer to work and you should leave the fish in the water for another 30-60 seconds

8) Hold the pufferfish upside down, and use the cuticle clippers to trim off the points from the teeth in the upper jaw

9) Turn the puffer over and trim the teeth in the lower jaw if required (for some reason these don’t grow as fast); trimming the teeth should only take a few seconds

10) Place the puffer back in the net and then place the net in the aquarium, preferably near the filter outflow or an airstone; after a minute or so the pufferfish should be breathing and moving about normally, and you can release him from the net into the aquarium


Seffie x

 

[bollands]

ill do that next time coz i think hes still a bit big (top teeth about 4mm) he puffed unfortunately

 

[Gallagher]

#### did it puff out of water?

 

[seffieuk]

how is he now?

Make sure you don't put too much of the oil in though - as it can kill them

Seffie x



ps I think you were very brave

 

[bollands]

he seems fine now seffie and gallagher now he's blinding my snails lol. he did puff slightly out the water yes but it went down almost immediatly he went big for such a little guy. poor thing. i was scared i was going to get bitten seffie!!!! honestly tho id prefer to give the puffer a fighting chance at living then painfully slowly starving

 

[Gallagher]

he seems fine now seffie and gallagher now he's blinding my snails lol. he did puff slightly out the water yes but it went down almost immediatly he went big for such a little guy. poor thing. i was scared i was going to get bitten seffie!!!! honestly tho id prefer to give the puffer a fighting chance at living then painfully slowly starving

at least its all over now

 

[seffieuk]

good for you - must have been nerve racking

Seffie x

 

[youngfisher]

Do they have really bad bites?

YF

 

[seffieuk]

Probably less than a one foot long mantis shrimp


Seffie x

 

[youngfisher]

YF

 

[bollands]

lol well hes had a go at my finger didnt hurt but animals do all sorts when stressed. i hear people keep mantis shrimp for pets in their aquarium, i wonder why
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