Another eel problem.uggggg!

[tigriss]

It seems that my eel (i guess) flipped out in my tank. He is in a tank alone with rocks. The bottom of his mouth has a chunk missing , his bottom mouth does not reach his top mouth anymore. It looks to be crooked almost like he broke his jaw. I assume he is in pain and my aggressive eating eel is not eating his food, he is only sticking his head out of the rocks ,looks interested in the food but then lets it sit there. he used to be more active. How can I entice him to eat? His bottom lip has a scab of sorts. Should I put in medicine? or am I going to have to sit and watch him die. I feel sooooo bad . Is there anything I can do to help? Not like he is a dog or cat to take him to a vet. I am sooo sad, I really love him hes so cute!
THANKS

 

[snakes'n'fish]

I would be seriously curious on how he got hurt. But there is very little you can do. You could add melafix to the tank and that will help prevent secondary infections. (I know some folk don't like the stuff and never add anything to there tanks, I have used it in my tanks a number of times and it has always helped with injured fish) But beyond that i do not know. If his jaw is broke , there is little you can do. He would not be able to eat.
Thats a hard choice , but you may have to consider the humaine choice and put him down. But fish have an amazing ability to come back from things like this. Give him some time ! I hope it gets better for you.

 

[tigriss]

Honestly, I dont know how he was hurt, He is alone as any fish I had in a tank with him did not live. He only has alot of rocks in the tank. I know its strange that I feel for him like I do my cats and dog but I do. How exactly do you humainly put a fish down? I don't know what to do.
I guess I will medicate and keep trying to feed, hopefully he will live up to an eels reputation of being strong. I have read so many posts of eels being out of the water for hours and lived , hopefully mine will pull through.

 

[snakes'n'fish]

Tigriss
I thought about it a little , and it is possible that he was digging a burrow and a rock fell on him. But that is my only guess. I hope he pulls thru !!

 

[tigriss]

maybe . wish I knew!
I hope he pulls through too.
thanks

 

[tigriss]

My poor eel is still not eating. He is a meaty eel but I don't know how much longer he will hold on without. I know he is hungry because he seems interested but he just pushes it with his nose.
I guess with a piece of his booom lip missing and pushed to the side (broken jaw) he will not heal in time or at all, to eat before he starves to death. I wish I knew how to help him.

 

[imo]

I hope you don't take offense to this, but maybe you should put him out of his missery. I would prefer that, then slowly starving to death. If his jaw is "BROKEN", I highly dought he is going to recover before he starves. It would be more humane to put him down, I'm sure he is in a lot of pain.

 

[tigriss]

I don't understand how you put a fish down though, I cannot take him to a vet to be euthinised. So what is a humane way of puting a fish down. I am not a cruel person at all and I am already saddened that he is suffering. So how do you put a fish down?

 

[clschaefer23]

I has a Serpent-Star once and it had a nasty wound from my bully CBShrimp. I isolated the star but he was pretty bad off. I did a search on this site and was told to put the poor guy in a container and put him in the freezer. I am not sure if this is the most "human" way but it sounded a lot better than flushing him. Anyways, I hope this helps and sorry about your loss.

 

[tigriss]

Well I am starting to get a little happy. With his bottom lip all a mess he managed to eat 4 pieces of krill. , He had a little of a hard time but he did it.
I hope he can manage to live with his disability.