Lionfish cannot close mouth

dougedoug

Member
My lionfish took two pops at a tube I use for cleaning. Maybe he saw a reflection in there or something but now he cannot close his jaw. It is stuck open. Any ideas on how he can get it closed?
 

dougedoug

Member
Well good news is I checked and he had his mouth shut this morning. he also was able to eat. There has to be some damage, but he is acting pretty good. I will monitor it.
 
S

saxman

Guest
What you just saw is lockjaw, and it can be caused by physical injury, such as striking a hard object. I've seen this happen when lionfishes smack their mouths on the rockwork while chasing live prey. If this is the cause, it should be OK, altho once a lion's jaw has been dislocated, it's sometimes easier for it to pop back out of place.
That being said, most of the time, lockjaw in predatory species (esp. lionfishes) is a result of malnutrition, particularly deficiencies in Vitamins C and B1 (thiamine), as well as the wrong types of fatty acids. This can be avoided by feeding your fish a good, varied diet of SW fish flesh, shrimp, bivalve meat, squid, etc. Foods that are particularly bad for the fish include Cyprinid fishes (goldfish, rosy reds, other carp) and krill (freeze-dried or fresh).
HTH
 

dougedoug

Member
Hey he seems good. Eating regularly. I feed my predator fish silversides and prawn. Every other month they chase around a few goldfish. Have you ever injected a little selcon into thawed silversides? I was thinking of doing that for some added nutrition.
 

gemmy

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by dougedoug http:///t/395893/lionfish-cannot-close-mouth#post_3526010
What do you recommend Besides silversides and prawn?
I recommend what saxman recommended in the previous post. It is best to feed a variety and alternate foods.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saxman http:///t/395893/lionfish-cannot-close-mouth#post_3525853
What you just saw is lockjaw, and it can be caused by physical injury, such as striking a hard object. I've seen this happen when lionfishes smack their mouths on the rockwork while chasing live prey. If this is the cause, it should be OK, altho once a lion's jaw has been dislocated, it's sometimes easier for it to pop back out of place.
That being said, most of the time, lockjaw in predatory species (esp. lionfishes) is a result of malnutrition, particularly deficiencies in Vitamins C and B1 (thiamine), as well as the wrong types of fatty acids. This can be avoided by feeding your fish a good, varied diet of SW fish flesh, shrimp, bivalve meat, squid, etc.
Foods that are particularly bad for the fish include Cyprinid fishes (goldfish, rosy reds, other carp) and krill (freeze-dried or fresh).
HTH
 
S

saxman

Guest
Actually, some silversides are Cyprinids, so you'd need to dig a bit into that, or at least tell us which brand you use (we may already know what the species is based on brand, altho some brands won't tell us).
Our feeding schedule is M-W-F, with weekends off...each fish gets about 6 pieces of food about the size of its eye. Salmon is a favorite of our fish.
You can actually stuff silversides with food additives like pellets, powders (beta glucan, vitamins C and B1, astaxanthin, spirulina, etc.). Here's a "how-to" video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOJdDlHD_mY
 

dougedoug

Member
The ones I use are pro-salt.com. By trying to feed my dragon I have started to vary my diet for my predators. Very mixed up diet starting this week. Shrimp, smelt, scallops. Thanks for the video I'm going to follow that advice
 
S

saxman

Guest
Pro-salt looks like it has a really good line of foods...we're going to evaluate some of their products.
 
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