Man...Where do I start
...
So I was using rubber insulation tape between the custom glass tops I had cut for my odd ball 300 gallon tank. As I was feeding my rays and aro, a piece of the rubber must have been hanging because all I heard was a huge splash!
As I took a gander to investigate, I discovered my prized high shine aro with 10 inches of rubber stripping hanging out of his mouth...which meant that the other 8 inches was already on its way down. I waited patiently for him to swim by so that I could grab the hanging piece from his mouth...thinking that at any moment, he would recognize that it wasn't food. BIG MISTAKE!
While I was being so passive, I had no idea that my aro was adjusting and preparing to swallow the 18in piece of rubber, no doubt mistaking it for a snake of some sort. Then I noticed him trying to release it and I was starting to breathe a sigh of relief...only to discover he was making one last major adjustment to get the whole thing down.
So, as I then began to panic, seeing that he had swallowed the entire thing with no visible signs of the rubber when his mouth was opened, and observing him proceed to continue eating the food sticks that I put in for him, I began to call trusted MFKers who I thought would have more experience with aros...even though I have been keeping them for over ten years.
The consensus was as you might imagine, the rubber would not be 100% digestable and inevitably, I could lose my prized fish if I did not do something about it. So I called an exotic veterinary clinic, who then refered me to the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Veterinary School. Sometimes it pays to live in a research university town as in they gladly took on the challenge and my high shine aro became the center of focus and study for the day at the vet school.
To make a long story short, this is part of the report from the doctors and doctors in training:
"Fred was anesthetized using MS-222 and radiographs were taken. The rubber was seen within the stomach on radiographs, so the fish was taken to endoscopy. The rubber tape was seen via endoscopy immediately upon entering the stomach. The tape was grasped with forceps and slowly removed from the stomach and out through the mouth. Fred was then placed in a recovery tank of water and recovered well from anesthesia."
Since pictures are worth a thousand words, I'll let them tell the story...(the latter pictures are taken from inside the aro's stomach)
http://s1040.photobucket.com/albums...gical Procedure May 2010/?albumview=slideshow
...So I was using rubber insulation tape between the custom glass tops I had cut for my odd ball 300 gallon tank. As I was feeding my rays and aro, a piece of the rubber must have been hanging because all I heard was a huge splash!
As I took a gander to investigate, I discovered my prized high shine aro with 10 inches of rubber stripping hanging out of his mouth...which meant that the other 8 inches was already on its way down. I waited patiently for him to swim by so that I could grab the hanging piece from his mouth...thinking that at any moment, he would recognize that it wasn't food. BIG MISTAKE!
While I was being so passive, I had no idea that my aro was adjusting and preparing to swallow the 18in piece of rubber, no doubt mistaking it for a snake of some sort. Then I noticed him trying to release it and I was starting to breathe a sigh of relief...only to discover he was making one last major adjustment to get the whole thing down.
So, as I then began to panic, seeing that he had swallowed the entire thing with no visible signs of the rubber when his mouth was opened, and observing him proceed to continue eating the food sticks that I put in for him, I began to call trusted MFKers who I thought would have more experience with aros...even though I have been keeping them for over ten years.
The consensus was as you might imagine, the rubber would not be 100% digestable and inevitably, I could lose my prized fish if I did not do something about it. So I called an exotic veterinary clinic, who then refered me to the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Veterinary School. Sometimes it pays to live in a research university town as in they gladly took on the challenge and my high shine aro became the center of focus and study for the day at the vet school.
To make a long story short, this is part of the report from the doctors and doctors in training:
"Fred was anesthetized using MS-222 and radiographs were taken. The rubber was seen within the stomach on radiographs, so the fish was taken to endoscopy. The rubber tape was seen via endoscopy immediately upon entering the stomach. The tape was grasped with forceps and slowly removed from the stomach and out through the mouth. Fred was then placed in a recovery tank of water and recovered well from anesthesia."
Since pictures are worth a thousand words, I'll let them tell the story...(the latter pictures are taken from inside the aro's stomach)
http://s1040.photobucket.com/albums...gical Procedure May 2010/?albumview=slideshow
