Snowflake Eel Not Eating and Jaw dislocated

[Hauck1]

Hello!
Our snowflake eel is 2.5 years old and I noticed about a month ago his lower jaw is not lining up with his upper jaw, and he hasn’t eaten in at least 3 months. We were in the process of moving and he was being kept in a temp tank and just would not eat, and now that we’re moved in and he’s in his regular tank again, we thought he would come back around to eating but he hasn’t. I’m afraid his outcome is not going to be good. We’ve medicated his water with vitamins weekly (vitachem) but that doesn’t seem to be helping. What should I do?

 

[beth]

Not sure that the fish could have gone 3 mos without eating. Can you post some quality pictures of him? How long has he been in the permanent tank setup?

 

[Hauck1]

Not sure that the fish could have gone 3 mos without eating. Can you post some quality pictures of him? How long has he been in the permanent tank setup?

If he’s eaten anything it wasn’t something we gave him. I haven’t been able to feed him for three months. So that’s what I have to go off of. We’ve had a chocolate chip starfish die and was devoured by the other fish in the tank and he may have gotten in on that but I didn’t see him eat. He’s been in his regular tank for 31 days now. I’ll get some pictures and post them here.

 

[beth]

So the upper "mouth" seems to be significantly protruding forward and the forehead actually looks bumped. Did this happen suddenly? I'm wondering it was an injury or perhaps an internal tumor of some sort. Its pretty common for eels to go on hunger strikes due to disruptions, however, the added problem is the obvious mouth issue. I see no remedy for that.

Are you attempting to hand feed? If so, perhaps you could try to lodge food in a rock nearby where he hangs out and see if he'll go for it on his own. That may take several days of trying that if you haven't already tried it.

What is the possibility of aggression from other tank inhabitants being a problem?

 

[Hauck1]

So the upper "mouth" seems to be significantly protruding forward and the forehead actually looks bumped. Did this happen suddenly? I'm wondering it was an injury or perhaps an internal tumor of some sort. Its pretty common for eels to go on hunger strikes due to disruptions, however, the added problem is the obvious mouth issue. I see no remedy for that.

Are you attempting to hand feed? If so, perhaps you could try to lodge food in a rock nearby where he hangs out and see if he'll go for it on his own. That may take several days of trying that if you haven't already tried it.

What is the possibility of aggression from other tank inhabitants being a problem?

I hate to say this but while he was in his temp tank we didn’t get to keep an eye on him as well because it was more of a barrel enclosure without glass to view him. But I can say 2 months ago when he went into it he was fine. And when he came out a month later he wasn’t. Hes the biggest and most aggressive animal in the tank so I don’t believe he could have been injured that way. And he was transported so maybe during that he was injured but we took awful good care to keep it as smooth as possible.
He is hand fed. I’ll try leaving some food lodged in a rock he hides in and see if he goes for it.
I’m so sad for him, it makes me sick. I just don’t want him to suffer if this is ultimately going to end in him passing. I don’t know what to do. It’s horrible.

 

[beth]

Yep, pretty miserable to have a thing like this happen. But, I don't see much hope if his mouth distortion is keeping him from eating. You hand fed him in the barrel? You don't mean an actual barrel do you?

 

[Hauck1]

Yep, pretty miserable to have a thing like this happen. But, I don't see much hope if his mouth distortion is keeping him from eating. You hand fed him in the barrel? You don't mean an actual barrel do you?

No not an actual barrel, a plastic bin shaped like a barrel with viewing only on the top. I tried to feed him while he was in it but he wouldn’t eat. I was hoping he could still eat even though his jaw was like that. That it was just a vitamin deficiency or something. What would you do? Is there a humane way to end his suffering? Or just let him pass on his own?

 

[SALTWAT3RFISH]

Kinda looks like his head was squished in perhaps a rock shift or something. Doesn't look good at all.

 

[beth]

I've never euthenized. If he hasn't gotten nurishment for 3 mos, it can't be for too much longer. Is he emaciated?

 

[SALTWAT3RFISH]

I have euthanized thousands of fish. It's an unfortunate aspect of fish farming. I used a product called hypno on the farm. I will take a look around the web and see if it's available to the public anywhere. Super sorry for your eel. This is a crappy situation, but I think ending this guys suffering may be the right thing to do short of an expensive vet that I'm not even sure exists in your area.

 

[SALTWAT3RFISH]

Side note. Saltwaterfishco does not euthanize animals. My experience was with a very large scale fish farm.

 

[beth]

Not even sure a marine vet would be able to do anything with the deformed jaw and bumped head. And transporting the fish around would just entail more stress and suffering.

 

[SALTWAT3RFISH]

Not even sure a marine vet would be able to do anything with the deformed jaw and bumped head. And transporting the fish around would just entail more stress and suffering.

I feel the same.

 

[SALTWAT3RFISH]

It appears that clove oil concentrate is the active ingredient in commercial euthanasia products. I would do a 1.1 ratio of clove oil concentrate and tank water.

Amazon.com : clove oil concentrate

 

[SALTWAT3RFISH]

That's a high concentration, but I imagine it would be better to overdose than not have enough to do the dirty deed swiftly and cause more suffering.

 

[Hauck1]

I've never euthenized. If he hasn't gotten nurishment for 3 mos, it can't be for too much longer. Is he emaciated?

No he actually looks quite healthy in his body. I’ve never euthanized either and I have no idea a humane solution to that.

 

[Hauck1]

That's a high concentration, but I imagine it would be better to overdose than not have enough to do the dirty deed swiftly and cause more suffering.

Okay thank you for the information. Really not looking forward to doing this. But thank you. I can’t stand to see him suffer.

 

[Hauck1]

Okay thank you for the information. Really not looking forward to doing this. But thank you. I can’t stand to see him suffer.

I’ve ordered some clove oil and it’ll be in tomorrow. Thanks again. : (

 

[SALTWAT3RFISH]

Perhaps you can find a cool jar and preserve the eel in an alcohol solution? After the clove oil of coarse. That may be macabre to some, my wife collects weird dead stuff in jars. It's a thing.

 

[Hauck1]

@SALTWAT3RFISH My husband might just do that. I told him that it was a suggestion and he thinks it's a cool idea. We did the sad task of euthanizing Wizard this afternoon and he went quickly. I tried feeding him two more times before we made the final decision and he just straight up refused. I left some wedged and he didn't even touch it. So I feel like we did the right thing. Thanks for both of your help with the information and giving me the assurance I needed. @beth

On a side note, in case you unfortunately ever have to advise this to someone else, or do it at home on your own, I did some research on this form of euthanasia and found that the clove oil will not combine with the water if you just drop it in, it needs an emulsifier. Denatured alcohol found at the hardware store, or tapioca flour will mix well with the clove oil and be a blender for the oil and water. I did 2.5ml clove oil to 18 ml denatured alcohol, and then added that to the 5 gallon bucket with tank water. It worked quickly, within 5 minutes he was gone.