porcupine puffer

jimdogs

jimdogs

New Member
Hello,
I have a saltwater 75gal setup. All levels in tank are good but the nitrates are a little bit high, i'm working on this now. My porcupine pufferfish has been in my tank for 6 months and has been the healthiest and biggest eater in the tank. For about 5 days now he is not eating hardly anything at all. He looks healthy, his color is good and he doesn't appear to have ick. I have tried changing his food from frozen krill to silverfish to squid and freeze-dried plankton. All the food he ate in the past. When he does eat some plankton he looks like his throat hurts, kind of like you swallowing with a soar throat. He used to attack his food now he slowly looks and very tentatively takes small bites. Any suggestions?
Thanks Jim :confused:
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Have you been feeding this fish regularly with hard shelled foods? If puffers are not fed "shelled" foods, their teeth start to grow too long. If this happens then they will have a hard time eating, stop eating altogether and eventually parish.
I'm going to COPY this thread over to our Aggressive Forum so that members who keep aggressive fish may have some more insights for you on this particualar fish. This thread will remain open here.
 
cincyreefer

cincyreefer

Active Member
Do you have any rock in tank? Is the beak on the puffer starting to curl down and look real big? Have you had the water tested?
 
sheracr123

sheracr123

Member
Hi Jim
Does your puffer look like he's having a hard time opening his mouth? I had a problem with my puffer several months ago and did quite a bit of research on it.
There is a nurse in Kentucky named Kelli Jedlicki. She is quite the puffer authority. (She does puffer dentistry and has also inserted feeding tubes in puffers.) She says Porcs generally do not have the issue with overgrown teeth. (It's usually dogface.) What we figured out with my puffer is that he had a form of lock jaw. He couldn't open his mouth to eat. He would try, but just couldnt get the food into his mouth. I think he went 3 months just eating miniscule pieces for Krill.
Anyway, a guy at my LFS agreed to try massaging my porc's jaw to try to free it up. And after he was there a week, I brought him home and the next day he was eating. :jumping: I couldn't believe it! It also took me another month to get him to eat other foods besides Krill, but now all is well. I get him the frozen sea food mix from walmart and he loves it! He also eats frozen peas. (A suggestion from Kelli.)
Keep trying diffrent things for your puffer to eat. It will take a while for him to realize the new stuff is food, but DON'T GIVE IN!! I know it's hard but when he gets hungry enough, he will eat.
If he's having a problem moving his jaw, you might try massaging it. (Or find someone who will. I was a chicken.)
HTH and GOOD LUCK!!
:cheer:
Mendee
 
green

green

New Member
sheracr123
I have the same "lockjaw" problem with my puffer. I have been researching this forever and you are the only one who feels my pain!. My puffer hasn't eaten in weeks. I have tried every drug in the world and it's like he just can't open his mouth. He's hungry and goes for the food but just can't get it. Is the jaw massage the only treatment? This is the Second puffer I've had that came down with this. I wonder if it's something in the water. All my other fish are healthy... Anyway, any more advice?
 
sheracr123

sheracr123

Member
Well, if it makes you feel any better, my puffer went that way for almost 2 months and he's still alive. :cheer:
As far as the massaging thing, I can't say 100% thats what worked. I was to chicken to do it myself. He spent about a week at my LFS having this done. While he was there, and even the 1st 12 hours home, he still couldn't eat. Then all of a sudden BAM!
I am fairly certain my LFS treats their water for diseases. So I suppose it's possible that something in their water did the trick. It all started right after I moved his tank to a new home and used tap water to fill part of it. It got a pretty good case of algae.
I want to believe it was the massage that worked because thats what makes the most sense.
Do several large water changes over the next few days to see it that helps.
(It was right after a water change that mine started eating again.)
Keep me posted!!!!
HTH
Mendee
PS: I also lost another puffer to this as well. You HAVE to get them off krill!
Mine only eats raw seafood now.
 
leopard_babe

leopard_babe

Active Member
i have a porcupine puffer also. I keep reading that people give ther puffers "human" food. Like you said peas, and sea mix. My puffer is a pig. I was wondering what is ok to give him? Like cocktail shrimp? Just thought I could give spike a little treat.
Thanks,
Leopard
 
I

irenicus

Guest
My pork loves uncooked cocktail shrimp. It's his favorite nummy.:happyfish
 
sheracr123

sheracr123

Member
Leopard,
I buy a seafood mix that is frozen in a bag from WalMart. It runs about 5 bucks and lasts about 4 months. A mix of squid, shrimp, clams.... Great stuff :joy:
The rest of my fish love it too. I will say it took me a while to convince my puffer that he would like it if he would try it. He was worse that my kids!
Now he's a pig and eats anything I put in there, including an occasional sacrificed damsel. :eek:
HTH
Mendee
 
leopard_babe

leopard_babe

Active Member
I hope he likes it, because I am not a fan of sea food. He is a picky little punk. It must be wardley krill, not river shrimp. Oh well whats another 5 dollars here or there.
Thanks
Leopard
 
armageddon

armageddon

Member
I try to feed my aggressive fish a varied diet. What i feed consists of shrimp, clams, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, krill, chopped scallop, silversides, mega marine algae, and another mix with mussels and urchin. You can try some of those if you want to expand his diet.
Andrew
 
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