HELP My lion has a silver side in it's mouth, seems stuck part in n part out

femmeartist51

femmeartist51

Member
Hi, I put a long silver side into the tank for all the other fish to nibble on. The puffer, trigger loves to nibble on these. Also my clown and damsel will nibble. Then I remove what they didn't finish. Never had to worry as the lion doesn't go after dead food yet.
Well today he grabbed it as it was falling into the tank. I would of made it smaller if I knew the lion would go after the dead silver side. So my question the head is in the lions mouth and up to the gill. The rest is sticking out. Will this fish keep on trying to eat it, or can it do that??? Seems to be moving it's belly in and out so it must bed trying to chew or absorb it. Do lion have teeth. I know koi do, they have baby size molars inside their mouth, way down inside. So wonder if a lion has teeth??? I don't think it will give it up. I tried to take my net and push against the silver side and the rock, figured the lion would back away then, with my holding the silver side down. Does that make sense?? Thanks for any help
 
S

saxman

Guest
Just let the lionfish be. It will either use its pharyngeal teeth to soften/position the silverside so it can be swallowed (that's the "choking" you're seeing), or it will spit it out, at which point you can remove it from the tank.
Lionfish also have small teeth in their mouths, but they are not for chewing or tearing.
Obviously, you now see the importance of feeding your fish appropriately-sized food items. Take note of the size of the fish chunk in this video:
 
femmeartist51

femmeartist51

Member
Thank you. Never thought he would eat it, he didn't eat anything dead before that day. He did spit out the whole thing and I removed it. He is taking smaller pieces of silver side. Feeding every other day, sometimes I will go for two days. Usually feed Sun, Tues skip wed n thurs then fri and back to sun. Hope that is enough for feeding. Thanks
 
S

saxman

Guest
Great job! The hard part is pretty much over!
Once the fish is super receptive to the silversides, try adding other foods: SW fish flesh (salmon, tuna, snapper, shark, swordfish, etc), table shrimp (uncooked), squid, clams, scallops. All of these foods can be had very inexpensively when bought in small amounts at the grocer's meat/seafood counter or local fish market.
 
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