Please help, Puffer's beak too big

[stickle]

Please help me eith some advice.

I have three Spotted puffers, had them for about a year now...they are great! But one had got very thin..even anorexic because her beak has got too big.. i don't know what to do. I've talked to various places and they say pull her out of the water and cut it!!!

She is only about 2 inces big and i really don't think that can be the only option. It is obviously really sad coz she looks so thin!!! Now i have separated her from the other two so at least she has time to eat.. I feed her on red blood worm and cockle (not shelled) I try to get hold of snails but no where sells them.

What can i do to prevent her from dying? Any ideas greatly appreciated!!!!

 

[Puffer_freak]

First things first...don't take your puffer out of the water. If it breathes in air, you could kill it. Most people - if they've gone for the trimming option - hold them in the water, and trim their beaks.

However, I don't think theres any other option once they get too long. You have to cut them, as they won't grind down.

Foods you could give them is sea food still in their shells. Such as cockle, mussel etc. I also know that a lot of shops have snail problems and would be happy to just give you them.

HTH.

 

[LadyMinion]

If you do need to trim the beak, a fellow member posted their experience here.

 

[SirMinion]

Pufferpack is the only member I know who has succesfully trimmed the teeth on a small pufferfish. I understand that he does it regularly.

Perhaps you could ask him directly for some help.

<edit> Ok and Rory as well it would seem

 

[TorPeteO]

Once you get the current situation controlled, there are a few proactive solutions you can do;

a) Feed lot of pest snails. Most LFS' do have them, but they don't sell them because they are a pest to most aquarists. If your LFS sells plants, chances are they have these little snails. They look brown, but make sure you don't get the ones with 'ice-cream cone' shaped shells. They're too hard and can break the teeth. Or you can try;

B) placing food on a rock. I'm not sure who suggested this, but I believe it worked. When the puffers went to eat off the rock, they grind their teeth on it.

Good luck!

 

[SirMinion]

placing food on a rock. I'm not sure who suggested this, but I believe it worked. When the puffers went to eat off the rock, they grind their teeth on it.

I believe it was PufferPack. And a damn good idea it is too.

 

[GP]

I heard that the trick with trimming puffer's beaks is with clove oil. It acts as an anastectic with only a couple of drops. After you have the fish to sleep, you can take him/her out of the water and trim their teeth. However, do not attempt to do this until you get the full details from someone else.

 

[stickle]

Well we tried this today....unsucessfully.....it's really upsetting and you feel so guity...it had to be my favourite one too!

I spent about an hour last night reading stuff on here and the puffer forum, i went out bought the sissors and oil!

We put her in the oil and she DIDN'T float to the top so we weren't sure if she was under or not...but when we realised she wasn't moving we tried to do it.. My boyfriend was in charge of the operation but found it really hard to even cut her teeth.. it was partly our fault i guess coz we took her out of the water to try to get them. When we put her in the clean water she just never moved again.

So thank you for your help, and this is just for anybody else thinking of cutting puffer's beaks... please read up on how to do it properly without just jumping in and it really isn't as easy as it sounds...the consequences can be faital!

I'm really upset and wonder why i even attempted to try!

 

[LadyMinion]

I'm so very sorry to hear that stickle.

I agree that it was probably taking him out of the water for too long that killed him. From reading the article that Rory posted, his puffer wasn't removed from the water while being trimmed - the process was done holding him in the net but under the water. Although the fish is unconscious, he still needs to "breath".

GP - I wouldn't have suggested taking the puffer out of the water if I were you. You should know better than to do something like that. I hope it wasn't because of you that stickle did so.

 

[Puffer_freak]

Hey - LadyM thats not very nice...bit it is true.

To Stickle

I'm very sad to hear about the loss of your puffer. Next time, don't bother with scissors and try something else. Hold your puffer underwater, and wear gloves, so you don't hurt or infect the fish and the fish doesn't poison you. Good luck for the future.

Keep smiling!

 

[LadyMinion]

Hey - LadyM thats not very nice...bit it is true.

Sorry Puffer_freak

It just really upsets me when I see something that may not have happened had the wrong advice not been given. Especially as GP likes to give the impression he knows what he's talking about when it comes to puffers..

 

[Puffer_freak]

Hakuna matata!

And, sorry GP, but I know what you mean LadyM, on my first ever thread he tod me that I should have researched them more when I'd researched them for months. But hey, no worries.

I've also heard of it being done with the oil, but I really wouldn't have put it in a post like this, with a first time trimmer.

 

[Jenny514b]

Although it seems that some of you guys have some sort of history here, and even though im new here, I would just like to say that I dont feel that you all putting the blame on GP is right. The last thing he said in his post was "do not try this untill you get full details from someone else". I dont think he is a part of a message board just to put out damaging advice. Actually, Im willing to guess that he was probably trying to help. I know that if I was blamed for killing someones favorite two year old puffer when i wasnt even present when it happened, i would be rather confused. A message board is meant to serve as a means of discussing a shared interest, and i know that i would not take any advice from here without doing full research on it first, just to check the information out, especially if it involved my favorite fish. And Im also willing to bet that this is something that Sickle did.
What im trying to say is that sometimes things dont always work out the way we planned, And pointing blame around never helped solve or change anything.

Before pointing blame at anyone i think its important to remember the persons intentions. I doubt that what happened was either GP's or Sickle's intentions, therefore no one should feel, or be made to feel, guilty over this.

Sickle, we know you did what you thought was best, you were only trying help your fish. I'm just sorry it didnt work out the way you planned.

 

[Puffer_freak]

I was just adding my part of a story...no bad things from me...sorta...I'm sorry.

And I added things about next time!

Oh well, no worries!

 

[LadyMinion]

I wasn't accusing GP of being at fault, I said I hoped it was not just on his advice that the action was taken. And he really should know better than to say things like that anyway.

Sorry for any confusion.