Force Feeding In General

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Candiru
MFK Member
May 5, 2006
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So this is not about Gar, but there are a couple of people in this forum who's opinion I respect. So I figured I'd post my journey here.

I recently sold a fish that I shouldn't have. I regreted selling it. I later found out that the fish was in very bad shape with it's current owner. It had been trashed by a few other fish, and was being kept in a seperate container, that was not really a liveable situation. The owner put him up for sale in order to try to save the fish. I bought him back.

He was in very bad shape. It is a 15 inch Curupira, and had been torn up pretty badly by a Jardini. Fins were destroyed, and it had open wounds in several places on its body. This was about a month ago. Since then it had somewhat recovered, but would not eat.

Today I was forced to make a decision. Either euthanize, or force feed. I recently had to euthanize an Aimara, so I decided to go the other way with this guy, and feed him.

I basicaly ground up about 30 Hikari pellets, and mixed with water to form a loose paste. I then took a syringe and attached a section of RO tubing to the tip. Loaded the tubing and syringe with the liquid food. Removed fish from tank and got him into a wet towel. Use a larger diameter flex tubing and got the fish to bite. Then inserted the RO tubing into his mouth, and gently about 1 inch past his esophogus (sp?). Pushed about 10ml of the food into his stomach. Returned him to the water and watched for a few minutes to make sure he didnt reject the food.

So, here is the question. How long should I continue this? The obvious answer is untill the fish eats, or dies. But I am wondering how often I should do this also. I know is stesses the fish each time, and most likely will cause him not to eat due to stress. Not sure if Im caught in a vicious circle here or what.

Anyone knowledgeable with this? Im sure Im not the first to do this to try to save a fish......... right?

MOD (Xander) please let this stay in the Gar forum for a few days at least. I understand the inclination to move it, but I think this forum has a couple of the most knowledgeable folks around, and I would like ot hear what they have to say.

Sorry for the spelling issues, and the run-ons. Im stessed a bit myself right now. lol.
 
It wouldn't even take live food? That seems like the next step in the process if it refuses to take pellets since you can't afford to let it starve since it's in bad shape. You could always keep a bunch of quarantined rosy reds in with the fish so that it can resume normal feeding if it so chooses.

I would think that it would be better to avoid stressing the fish as much as possible at this point, so force feeding may do more harm then good in the long run if continued for too long. Quarantined gut-loaded feeders will be better for it than the stress caused by removing it from the aquarium in order to force-feeding it and the force-feeding itself.
 
Would not accept ANY form of food. Including feeders.
 
will leave this here for a few days before moving. duplicated the thread over to the wolf forum too
 
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?437865-Force-Feeding-In-General

also, is the wolf alone now? a month without eating for a 15" fish isn't too bad in some cases. i would be more concerned with whether or not the fish is recovering from its injuries. you mentioned that it was either force feed or euthanize; will you share why you felt it was this way? from what i gather from the OP its injuries are what one should be worrying about and not starvation.

fingers crossed for you.
 
Trust me, theis guy is very emactiated. He is at the point where his eyes are starting to cloud, and very listless. The wounds are a concern, but the biggest battle now is to get food into him. The body can't heal with no energy to do so. My real question is more about the harm of this type of feeding. I am afraid that either way Im going to lose this guy. The overall damage from feeding this way may be too much for him to take in this state.
 
if you force feeding the fish, you might have to do that for a really long time! leave a few small feeders in the tank, it will eventually get back to its predator instinct!
 
I havent had any experience in this, but I am a nurse, and I think that 10ml is too much volume for that fish's stomach. I know your gut instinct is to pump as much food as possible into the little guy, but if he's not having proper gut motility (which is possible since he hasnt been eating on his own) you may cause a bowel obstruction force feeding too much volume of food. (this happens to people with feeding tubes) Try less food, maybe every other day, more like 1-2ml, I wouldnt do more than 3 or 4ml. I think less harm is possible if you feed too little than too much at this point. Also, maybe try mashing up earthworms? They are high in protein, and living creatures need protein to heal. I hope your wolf pulls through.
 
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