HELP!?!? Volitan just won't open his mouth!

jennlegend

jennlegend

Member
My Volitan won't eat. He looks at the krill and bumps into it. His mouth moves a little like he is trying to open it, but it just won't open. He has been eating fine since I got him last summer. He looks fine, no white spots or anything. He is also acting normal other than the eating. I have read before about Lions dislocating their jaw. Sometimes he grabs a chunk of food longways, so I guess it is possible for his jaw to be dislocated. Any suggestions what I can do for him??? Could this problem fix itself?? HELP!!
Thanks...
 
jennlegend

jennlegend

Member
UPDATE--Just examined the lion...no sign of any trauma or any fungus or anthing at all...looks completely normal. I did notice his mouth is open a tiny bit. Just enough to see his 2 little teeth/fangs. I went to LFS and got some feeders. He chased the goldfish for few seconds, tried to eat it, but just bumped into it. Then, he stopped trying altoghet and hid behind his favorite rock. Please help, don't know what to do now! Thanks!
 
jennlegend

jennlegend

Member
^bump
I have not had the lion that long. I got him this past September and he is now about 5-6" long. He has always acted normal and still is swimming around like normal with normal coloring. I just tried to feed him again--no luck. He did strike at the frozen clams, but his mouth barely opened. He tried a few times and then did the fish "yawn." He did the yawn two times. If he can open his mouth to yawn, why wouldn't he be able to open to eat?? If there was a broken jaw, would he be able to open it at all?
I do not feed him live food. I started giving him frozen food a few days after I brought him home. He usually eats every 2-3 days. Normally frozen krill--2 chunks, each about the size of a quarter. Also feed him frozen scallops and clams. Occasionally frozen pieces of shrimp.
I was trying to examine his throat. I don't really see any lump, but I never examined so close before, so not sure of what to compare it to. I will post a pic if that will help.
As far as water quality, last test was on Saturday right before he was fed and everything looked fine. Trates and Trites 0, ammonia 0, pH-7.4...I really appreiate your help! Thanks!
 
stacyt

stacyt

Active Member
I had the same problem with a lion back a couple of months ago. I posted this in the aggressive forum. You might try to do a search for the post. It was suggested to me to do a freshwater dip to see if I could get the lion to have a bowl movement. Unfortunately my lion eventually past. I beleive that my problem was the result of overfeeding, leading to an internal infection of some sort.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Try target feeding with fresh, small pieces of chopped food using a turkey baster for the target feeding.
 
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