Florida Gar..health issue.

[BmW1680]

Ok, I did a bit of research but couldn't find anything, so here it goes..

This morning I woke up to find my gar not in the tank, I looked around all the decor and what not..but nothing. I then noticed the top had been shifted just a little to allow a passage to jump through..and that's when I began to look around my floor. Next thing you know.. I have my 7 in gar flopping across my feet. I quickly picked it up and tossed him in the tank, he was VERY dry.

After floating for awhile he fell to the bottom but after 20-30 min he's swimming again so I hope he's going to recover.

My concern is that he had crippled his bottom right front fin..it looks torn and it curls in. Also, there looked to be blood from the gills when I picked him up, will that be a problem? That..and he has lost his coating completely..

His tail also has red lines now and are sheared a bit..

What I've done so far is to pour a generous amount of stress coat+ into the tank and upped the temperature a little. Is this sufficient?

Thanks for any help!

 

[purplecandle]

Aww poor fella!

I don't know about the specific injuries, but a dried out fish is similar to a sunburned human. Probably painful, and it is possible to recover from.

You could try some melafix to aid in healing.

If he last awhile, he might just pull through. I'll cross my fingers for you!!

 

[Rara12]

I agree with the use of melafix. Gars jumping out of tanks is very commonly. Lucky for gars, the breath from the surface so they can survive longer periods out of water then most fish. I wouldnt worry too much. His eyes might cloud up a bit but he should be fine. The melafix will help his fins and scales heal a little faster. The only other thing i would recommend is soaking his food in vitamin C. That will help the fish boost its own immune system to fight off any infections