No hope? ready to euthanize.
- Thread starter RangerBlue381
- Start date
Yes, fish are very VERY resilient and can recover from things we'd never imagine. Agree, don't jump the gun
Try adding stress coat and 1 Tablespoon of tablesalt per 5 gallons of water, it will help him be more comfortable in the meantime, relieve stress, promote healing, fight infection, bacteria, etc.
he's swimming around still, tries digging in the sand every once in a while, sticking his nose/lips/now i guess its like a trunk. can't tell if he's looking for food. no sunken stomach at this point but no change in the lip. i've been sticking to my normal 30% every other day water changes and add aquarium salt with the water changes.
so outside of not being able to eat, which i know is a big thing, there hasn't been a change in behavior.
mouth is still stuck out. the swelling is down but you can see where one bone is out of place by a good amount. he did try to eat some chopped shrimp. couldnt tell how effective it was but he is making an effort to eat. almost looks more like how a stingray eats where it just chomps and grinds the food but he ended up spitting some out. almost more digs around in the sand.
my biggest concern is if the bone breaks through the skin at the upper jaw but if it doesnt he may end up being ok (or as ok can be...just won't be gracing the covers of any fish magazines in his future).
stomach doesn't appear sunken though.
my biggest concern is if the bone breaks through the skin at the upper jaw but if it doesnt he may end up being ok (or as ok can be...just won't be gracing the covers of any fish magazines in his future).
stomach doesn't appear sunken though.
If you are concerned as to it eating you can always force feed. I dealt with a fish with 'duck lips' and it could not eat so I went to a local pharmacy and got a baby medicine syringe and attached a small piece of silicone airline tubing to it. I would make a mix of foo/medicine and force feed it. Brought it back from the brink. Anyway here is what it looks like.
An option to consider is to sedate the fish and manually pop the jaw back in place. Some people use a light dose of clove oil to put a fish to sleep and operate but thats not a great way since clove oil basically stops the breathing process altogether. You could get MS-22 or Tricaine Methanesulfonate which puts the fish to sleep but it still is breathing and then try the pop the mouth in place. just an idea.
An option to consider is to sedate the fish and manually pop the jaw back in place. Some people use a light dose of clove oil to put a fish to sleep and operate but thats not a great way since clove oil basically stops the breathing process altogether. You could get MS-22 or Tricaine Methanesulfonate which puts the fish to sleep but it still is breathing and then try the pop the mouth in place. just an idea.
good advice.....i'll have to hold on to this one for myselfIf you are concerned as to it eating you can always force feed. I dealt with a fish with 'duck lips' and it could not eat so I went to a local pharmacy and got a baby medicine syringe and attached a small piece of silicone airline tubing to it. I would make a mix of foo/medicine and force feed it. Brought it back from the brink. Anyway here is what it looks like.
An option to consider is to sedate the fish and manually pop the jaw back in place. Some people use a light dose of clove oil to put a fish to sleep and operate but thats not a great way since clove oil basically stops the breathing process altogether. You could get MS-22 or Tricaine Methanesulfonate which puts the fish to sleep but it still is breathing and then try the pop the mouth in place. just an idea.
Give the fish a chance to recover. Is he able to eat? You could always take the fish to an exotic pet vet. I would not euthanize until you have exhausted all treatment options.
