Florida gar...What to do?

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H

H.GEE

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 27, 2010
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I have a 12"+ Florida gar, and and about 2 weeks ago when i went to go check on him/her I heard a splash and a thud. Thinking it was ok, the next night when i checked on it..:swear: So i've been monitoring my fld gar, and I started to notice it dosn't eat as much. It also seems to have trouble to see its food when i drop it in the tank (market shrimp). It's bend seems to have gotten worse. Heres a few pix.
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I'm afraid it might have to put my gar down. What do u guys think?
 
Ouch!
 
Since my gar has been in my oval shaped pond he no longers hits the walls square. He ha sonly banged the wall once to my knowledge. Hardest part of owning gars, I was in constant fear of comiong home to what happened to you. Good luck! Ive seen gars live with bends but yours is pretty bad. Its up to you, do you think it can live a decent life?
 
i think in a tank on its own it could lead a happy life - but with other fish competing for food its always going to lose unfortunately. it really is up to you to make the decision as your gar cant make the decision itself... good luck
 
Not to sure if it can live a decent life,sad to say.
In a tank of its own, I think he'll still have a hard time.I tried feeding it last night and it coulld not see the shrimp i dropped in the tank. My gar only noticed the shrimp if I dropped it in front of it. This will be a hard decision:irked:...
 
i think you should put the gar in a separate tank and feed it by dropping the food near it. if its eating i dont think you should put it down. also add some salt and bump the temperature. the gar has broken its back, in some cases it does heal with time..one of my gars broke its back but it healed after a month or so..you need to keep the water really clean and frequent water changes will be good..
 
have dealt with many gars with back damage of varying degrees over the years (as has richard/pejelajarto), this is a pretty bad case and we would not hesitate to euthanize the fish. i know it seems cruel, but honestly a fish like this will not recover and will only struggle to survive (moreso than animals already have to) for the rest of its life. there are serious sections of damage on the fish from which it will not recover. an unfortunate drawback to keeping fishes from this group. best of luck in your decision, and hopefully you are able to get a new gar down the line--
--solomon
 
thnx for the response guys. i have removed the dehlz from the tank so its on its own. when feeding it, i need to drop the shrimp right in front of it for it to even know food is in the tank. if it dosnt see it drop he won't eat. i happen to pick up another fld gar( 5") a few days befor this happened. i was planning to mix them together as soon as the newer gar put some size on. i got lucky finding another 1, not easy finding 1 where i'm @.
 
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