Rescue operation-poor little Puffer. (Cookie)

SirMinion

Sexy Martha Fahaka
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East coast of England.
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UPDATE! New pictures and final update from us added 7th June. 2005 Click here.
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As is well known on this forum, we have a Fahaka Pufferfish called Martha whom we bought at three inches in August 2004.
Martha is now pushing eight inches and is as fat as mud.

Today we re-visited the store where Martha came from and found that most of her tank mates are still there..and still two to three inches long.

Clearly the store has no clue as to how to keep Fahakas, how aggresive & competative they are, and how much food they require.
There were about eight of them in a 20 gallon tank, all were quite thin, but reasonably healthy looking... except one.

This poor little chap was so thin we could see his ribs & the shape of his skull. The skin was hanging on him in folds where he's just wasting away. He's barely two inches long, has bites taken from his tailfin and one pectoral fin and has a touch of ick.

I called for the manager of the store and spent twenty minutes giving him a piece of my mind and a crash course in puffer husbandry. I likened the poor thing to a puppy that was left to starve because it's siblings ate all it's food. I asked him if he thought that that would be acceptable. He agreed that it wasn't, and promised to spend more time making sure that each fish got enough to eat.
He thanked me for bringing it to his attention.

I offered to take on the sickly fish and he agreed.. obviously I wasn't going to pay for it, but I guess it was no loss to him as it would have died anyway.
So now we have a second fahaka puffer. God knows what we're going to do with him if he survives, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, for now it's just one day at a time. He's in our hospital tank right now, and has already eaten a river shrimp that was bigger than him. Already his belly looks more rounded and he's perked up. Fingers crossed.

Here he is with an AA battery for size reference.
This is after his shrimp dinner.
tinyfahaka1.jpg

tinyfahaka2.jpg


And a picture of Martha, who came from the same batch of fish four months ago with the same AA battery for comparison.
tinyfahaka3.jpg


UPDATE! New pictures added 17th May. 2005 Click here.
 
I should just stop looking at all your threads in the pictures forum--so much jealousy. :lol:

I really hope the little guy gets better. :nod:
 
handsomeboy said:
isnt it true that you have to ffeed little food at a time or the stomache will explode?
Not that I'm aware.

Puffers have incredibly elastic skin (to allow them to puff) and can therefore eat very large meals.

However, they can overeat just like most fish, but 'exploding' is unlikely unless there is some other underlying problem that weakens the skin or makes them bloat.
 
Poor guy :sad: He's lucky though, probably better off than his siblings atleast :thumbs: Good luck with him :) Maybe you can get him/her up to good health and give it to a good fishkeeper who could take care of it :nod: Or you can keep it and just have an extra tank around :whistle: :p
 
dwarfs said:
Or you can keep it and just have an extra tank around :whistle: :p
Now let me see. What large piece of furniture can we get rid of next to accomodate the fish?

Ah! I know! The dining table. We'll just do what they do in Japan and eat on the floor. :lol:
 
oh Gosh, poor little guy, just look at the difference! Fingers are crossed for sure, I'm positive that this situation will turn out right. :) Good luck!! :nod:
 
LadyMinion said:
dwarfs said:
Or you can keep it and just have an extra tank around :whistle: :p
Now let me see. What large piece of furniture can we get rid of next to accomodate the fish?

Ah! I know! The dining table. We'll just do what they do in Japan and eat on the floor. :lol:
Your house must be packed :p Maybe not as densely as my room though, if it makes you feel better, I have 9 fish tanks and 3 other animal tank/cages in my room :crazy:
 
dwarfs said:
Your house must be packed :p Maybe not as densely as my room though, if it makes you feel better, I have 9 fish tanks and 3 other animal tank/cages in my room :crazy:
lol, we have four in the living room and three in the bedrooms plus several small/quarantine tanks dotted where we can squeeze them in.

That's in addition to the 11 parrots (in a large aviary), 7 cats, turtle, hamster and gecko. All in our 2 bed terrace. :D
 
LadyMinion said:
dwarfs said:
Your house must be packed :p Maybe not as densely as my room though, if it makes you feel better, I have 9 fish tanks and 3 other animal tank/cages in my room :crazy:
lol, we have four in the living room and three in the bedrooms plus several small/quarantine tanks dotted where we can squeeze them in.

That's in addition to the 11 parrots (in a large aviary), 7 cats, turtle, hamster and gecko. All in our 2 bed terrace. :D
Charge admission for the neighborhood to come and see your Zoo :nod: Then buy another tank for the new Fahaka with the money you raise :)
 
good god marthas huge! She needs to go on a diet or is it the opposit in puffer world to get a date lol
 
Poor little baby... :crazy: :-( Hope all goes well with his recovery! :thumbs: Thank you for educating that LFS owner as well! Too many people see these situations and don't do anything about them. :(
 
LadyMinion said:
dwarfs said:
Or you can keep it and just have an extra tank around :whistle: :p
Now let me see. What large piece of furniture can we get rid of next to accomodate the fish?

Ah! I know! The dining table. We'll just do what they do in Japan and eat on the floor. :lol:
:lol: :lol: :lol:

And my husband thinks I'm bad with wanting my 29-gallon and the 10-gallon set up <shakes head> :p

Awww, poor little guy! He couldn't have found a better home, though :thumbs: He's a lucky little guy. Glad you educated the lfs guy - sometimes they just don't know. Good job :thumbs:

Pamela
aka Married Lizard :wub:
 
sir n ladyminion, you guys rock! any puffer or fish that comes to live with you is obviously one of the most lucky fish in world! I was just freaked out at the difference between the lovely Martha and your new fahaka!

you know what, u guys need to get a bajillion more tanks and rescue all those puffers being treated horribly in lfs! btw whatcha gonna name him?
 

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