Injured alligator gar wont eat

[suneth]

Hi everyone,
I have a aligator gar about 1.5ft in size and I keep it in my pond but I recently noticed that it has a bent in its back so I transferred it to a hospital tank and now it seems like the spine is recovering but my problem is this gar haven't eaten anything in like 8 days I tried everything, I tried deworming, different food types and live fish feeding like guppies but nothing seems to work Pleas help

 

[AR1]

I have a aligator gar about 1.5ft in size and I keep it in my pond but I recently noticed that it has a bent in its back so I transferred it to a hospital tank

First of all, it was a excellent decision to move it to a hospital tank and treat it.

now it seems like the spine is recovering

Thats great news!

but my problem is this gar haven't eaten anything in like 8 days I tried everything, I tried deworming, different food types and live fish feeding like guppies but nothing seems to work

First of all, catching and putting this large of a fish in a new tank usually stresses it out. a fish won't eat if stressed. secondly, medication also tends to stress fish out and i won't give it unnecessarily, not if there are any symtoms . If you were feeding different types of food and if the gar wasn't eating then i hope you netted out the left food quickly since it really tends to foul up the water and increase the nitrates. So i advice checking the water parameters and keeping up with water changes. lastly, a fish should NEVER be fed feeder fish, unless they have been quarantined properly or have been bred in home, since feeder fish from petshops often contain parasites which can get transferred into your fish. If there are no other visible signs, then i advice to give your fish some time and provide some shade for it to feel comfortable. I won't worry, especially since alligator gars can go extremely long periods without any food, like months.

 

[suneth]

Thank you for the quick response

I constantly check water parameters and I keep pH at about 7.2 my biggest concern is the feeding

 

[AR1]

Just give it time and it will soon eat. Don't stress out too much.