Delhezi with broken neck?

[Slippery K]

Tonight during feeding, my bichir struck a pellet HARD and missed. He instantly began to frantically spazz around the tank, freaking out pretty bad and even flipping out of the water a few times. Once he settled down (a good 3-5min later) I noticed he was breathing extremely hard, and has his head, right at the base of his skull cranked to one side. He cant seem to straighten his neck at all, it seems if he tries, it hurts and he spazzes again.

So is it possible my bichir broke his neck? It is possible to correct in anyway? Is there a chance he may grow out of it? Iv grown very fond of this fish, hes become a favorite with the family, and I even had plans to try and breed him next year. I took some pics, not the best as he was at the back of the tank, and still only about 8" so the camera wouldnt quite focus right. I can try for better pics tomorrow once the lights turn on.

 

[strollo22]

It's quite possible he could have. I would monitor him over the course of the next couple of days and see what happens


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[lix.ma14]

Sadly, it is very possible it did. There are many incident of this happening to many other bichir keepers. When I do waterchanges, my delhezi charges into the glass at full impact. Thankfully, mine hasn't suffered any injuries. Good luck to you and I hope your del makes a reasonable recovery if it indeed is a broken neck.

How is it swimming?

 

[Slippery K]

Sadly, it is very possible it did. There are many incident of this happening to many other bichir keepers. When I do waterchanges, my delhezi charges into the glass at full impact. Thankfully, mine hasn't suffered any injuries. Good luck to you and I hope your del makes a reasonable recovery if it indeed is a broken neck.

How is it swimming?

He hasnt moved in about 2 hours, just sitting in his rock cave thingy looking out towards the room im in. When he swam earlier when it happend, he was spinng around in circles, going up and down. It looked like a helicopter going down, just spinning and twisting out of control.

 

[Catfish Pownage 63]

poor guy i hope he is ok i have had the same thing happen to one of my baby sens so i sadly know its possible but mine grew out of it but i had to give him away about 1 year later because i had to move to AZ

 

[Slippery K]

This morning I peeked in the tank with the lights off. Hes still basicly in the same spot from last night. I couldnt really get a good view of him without spooking the armatus. But hes alive, just not too active and couldnt see how his condition was. Ill have to check again later when im home and the lights are on.

 

[Slippery K]

Just got some better pics. Neck is still cranked to one side, hes not too active either. When he does try and move, he cant swim properly and also spazzes out like it hurts to even try. So im going to feed the Armatus, then turn off the lights early today to let the bichir rest with no distractions.

 

[Fogs]

hope he gets better. its very sad seeing any animal injured

 

[lix.ma14]

No way it's going to straighten. sorry.

 

[Slippery K]

No way it's going to straighten. sorry.

I was thinking the same thing, but I just looked in the tank with a flashlight and hes cruising around the bottom as usual, but still has his neck off to one side. I did notice he has tried to move it straight, couldnt tell if he actually did or not.

So im hoping that its just jammed or a sprain, but I guess only time will tell for sure. Either way theres no way id get rid of him, even if he has a deformity for life hes always got a home in my basement lol. Im going to take pics everyday to compare with previous days to see if the crank in his neck is improving or not.