Bolivian Ram Has Food Stuck...

[JasonMichael]

Hey guys,

Yesterday I fed my fish the usual bloodworms and pallets for my bottom feeders... My Bolivian ram sometimes gets a pallet in his mouth and swims around for a bit then drops it....

This morning I found to see my bolivan ram has still got some of the pallet in his mouth as his mouth is still open and there is some redness appearing towards the top.. I've tried to take a picture so you can see what I'm talking about. I'm freaking out a little, does anyone know what I can do?

Thanks.

 

[snazy]

Is the pellet stuck in his mouth? Not a great idea but sedating with very little clove oil(not the dosage to kill him of course) and taking it out manually? Sorry, couldn't figure out anything else.

 

[JasonMichael]

Is the pellet stuck in his mouth? Not a great idea but sedating with very little clove oil(not the dosage to kill him of course) and taking it out manually? Sorry, couldn't figure out anything else.

Yep it's in his mouth. How on earth do I do what u said lol

 

[snazy]

Is the pellet stuck in his mouth? Not a great idea but sedating with very little clove oil(not the dosage to kill him of course) and taking it out manually? Sorry, couldn't figure out anything else.

Yep it's in his mouth. How on earth do I do what u said lol

Clove oil in certain dosage is used to humanely euthanize fish but in lower dosages it's a sedative(makes them kind of drowsy). I think yu can buy it from a pharmacy under the name Eugenol or from fish shops. In the UK the available one is Koi Calm by Nt labs. I am not sure about Australia though.
Is there a vet you can bring the fish to that can do that for you, once sedated, taking the food out shouldn't be that hard. If you are doing it yourself make sure the skin of the fish doesn't dry out during the procedure, either keep it wrapped in something soaked in tank water or in the water.

 

[JasonMichael]

Is the pellet stuck in his mouth? Not a great idea but sedating with very little clove oil(not the dosage to kill him of course) and taking it out manually? Sorry, couldn't figure out anything else.

Yep it's in his mouth. How on earth do I do what u said lol

Clove oil in certain dosage is used to humanely euthanize fish but in lower dosages it's a sedative(makes them kind of drowsy). I think yu can buy it from a pharmacy under the name Eugenol or from fish shops. In the UK the available one is Koi Calm by Nt labs. I am not sure about Australia though.
Is there a vet you can bring the fish to that can do that for you, once sedated, taking the food out shouldn't be that hard.

Okay thanks for that. Do I take him out and put him in a bucket with some tank water and do it? What do u think I should use to get the food out...

 

[snazy]

Take him out of the tank of course with some tank water. I wouldn't use clove oil on the fish in the tank as they will all fall asleep. The bottle you buy should say the dose for just making the fish drowsy, make sure you don't overdose!!!
Not sure what to use to open it's mouth, something like small flat tweezers if you have it. Take out as much as you can, if just a tiny bit left the fish may be able to swallow it later.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Maybe an eyedropper could suck the food out? I'd worry about using tweezers as maybe they could cut him.

 

[LucyB]

I was thinking maybe the end of a sewing needle where the string goes through (not the sharp end, obviously) and try to dislodge the pellet? maybe break the pellet up? Good luck with him.

 

[JasonMichael]

I was thinking maybe the end of a sewing needle where the string goes through (not the sharp end, obviously) and try to dislodge the pellet? maybe break the pellet up? Good luck with him.

Maybe an eyedropper could suck the food out? I'd worry about using tweezers as maybe they could cut him.

Take him out of the tank of course with some tank water. I wouldn't use clove oil on the fish in the tank as they will all fall asleep. The bottle you buy should say the dose for just making the fish drowsy, make sure you don't overdose!!!
Not sure what to use to open it's mouth, something like small flat tweezers if you have it. Take out as much as you can, if just a tiny bit left the fish may be able to swallow it later.

Great ideas, thanks everyone. Extremely lucky that the food is no longer in his mouth, somehow it was removed, there isn't anything there anymore and his moving his mouth again (he looks happy now lol), apart from redness he should be okay

Good to know for future reference (although hope it doesn't happen again!)

 

[MrsM]

it probably disolved a little so he could spit it out, or swallow it, poor fishy, glad its out

 

[JasonMichael]

it probably disolved a little so he could spit it out, or swallow it, poor fishy, glad its out

That's what I was thinking, poor lil guy!! haha, thanks so am i

 

[LucyB]

Great news

 

[snazy]

Great news!!

 

[Flute]

Brilliant stuff! Always worrying when they get themselves into trouble, nice to hear a happy ending with this one

 

[Jam Jam]

Great news,happy fish again.