Trust me it is. Put it in human pespective, try tilting your head about 60 degree to your right. And now fix it there permenantly. Thats what my bichir looks like.
Wait ill try to get another picture. This time without puting the krills in first or he'll go into a feeding frenzy again
I had the same problem with my sen before. Sadly, he died. He probably had that spine curvature for more than 6 months and did well.. eating.. swimming.. I think of it like "scoliosis" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoliosis). One guy said that it might be an infection earlier in his life. Well, the spine is not a joint so you can "put it back" by bending it straight. You'll just most probably kill or paralyze it. But anyway, take good care of him/her. And if there's no apparent "suffering" I think euthanizing can be put off. But, have clover oil on hand just in case (hate to say that). Good luck. Hope he gets well
I've seen scoliosis in kois. The main cause is electrical current in the water. You may want to check your heater or submersible pump. Scoliosis is not reversible.
I don't believe your bichir has sustained an injury, but has a genetic deificiency that he has carried since being hatched. This is fairly common in CB bichirs where the overall quality is very poor. Like scoliosis it's an unnatural curvature of the spine. In this case, I feel somehow related to the use of hormonal injections into the parents that disrupts the genetic code that they pass on to their offspring. The far east breeders and wholesalers are only interested in quantity not quality, so they are willing to speed up the process tru injections, with who knows what type of ramifications. They're like "puppy mills" in the dog world. All puppy's are cute, but an inferior quality one will only lead to health problems for most of it's life. I've never seen spinal problems in WC bichirs and I've kept bichirs for 43 yrs. IMHO- Johnathan
I don't believe your bichir has sustained an injury, but has a genetic deificiency that he has carried since being hatched. This is fairly common in CB bichirs where the overall quality is very poor. Like scoliosis it's an unnatural curvature of the spine. In this case, I feel somehow related to the use of hormonal injections into the parents that disrupts the genetic code that they pass on to their offspring. The far east breeders and wholesalers are only interested in quantity not quality, so they are willing to speed up the process tru injections, with who knows what type of ramifications. They're like "puppy mills" in the dog world. All puppy's are cute, but an inferior quality one will only lead to health problems for most of it's life. I've never seen spinal problems in WC bichirs and I've kept bichirs for 43 yrs. IMHO- Johnathan
Yeah... It does sound like breeding issues. I hate it when they mess up with nature. But as much as I hate subpar breeding; I dont like wild-caught either. I guess we just hope that there'll be some kind of stricter law for quality control over these issues. We dont like them pets suffering
