HELP! MY BICHIR SWALLOWED A PEBBLE!

[hobojoe141]

am i freaking out over nothing or is my senegal gonna die?!? he is only about 3 1/4 inches and he swallowed a pebble (my substrate) that was a little smaller than his mouth.. is he going to die? I know there isnt anyhting i can do, but any experience that you share will definently help out...

he must have mistaken it for a blood worm

ugh i can already hear Taps playing in my head..

 

[elbeatch]

I'm not an expert but here's something anyways. Sometimes they'll pass the stones, mine did but it was a bit larger, 3'' I can't say what will happen. I think too if you use the search on this site you'll find some forums about that, I'm pretty sure I've started a thread about it, it's relatively common, although does not always turn out well, some go as far as risking getting it for themselves.... but def. do a forum search. Good luck!

 

[messiner]

GET SAND, i had one do it and cough it back up fine. depends.

 

[beblondie]

here the possibilities
It could pass it thru the digestive system
It could just stay in the stomach forever
It could block the digestive tract (worse case scenerio)
it could hack the pebble out in a day or 2
-Anne

bichirs like many fish are suction feeders not really biters this is the best example and reason to use sand or fine crushed gravel instead of normal size gravel for the substrate

 

[deangelo]

Beblondie is right lets pray that it passes the pebble smoothly..and get some sand to avoid further problems...goodluck

 

[fishcatch22]

it's up to fate now. all you can do now is hope that he passes it or barfs it up.

 

[elbeatch]

Any updates on the fish's status? I'm hoping it worked its way back out the front end, best scenario, sometimes takes a few days for the food to digest around it.

 

[Sarcosuchus]

Get pebbles that are big enough for him not to swallow. Don't get sand or any tiny gravels, I had mine sucking around for food that some of the gravels / sand was sucked into her mouth and pouring out of her gills, still I would see her tummy slightly bigger as if she ate some of it. That really freaked me out and made me lost my hope on her.

I changed the substrate quickly to large pebbles that she couldn't swallow. She would angrily push and dig them looking for food, even at night as Polys are nocturnals. Now I have moved her into a 50gal tank as she is 11 inches in length. No more substrates, just rocks and bogwoods. She's doing great and is a beauty!

 

[hobojoe141]

yeah, he seems to be perfectly fine, he must have passed it because he is acting completly normal

 

[Razman]

good to hear.