Hello everyone. I have a problem with my Jaguar cichlid that I hope someone could help me with. 3 weeks ago my female jaguar got stuck inside an ornament it has been living under for the last year. She was roughed up a bit and rather weak after being in that position for a few hours. After removing her from the ornament I isolated her from my other cichlids for a week to let her heal and de-stress. After a week she healed up and I introduced her back into the tank. The only physical signs of her ordeal is some light scaring/scale discoloration about an inch behind her left gill. Here is my real problem: Since her ordeal she has not eaten and her behavior has changed dramatically. She will not eat flakes, pellets (sinking or floating), live ghost shrimp, and she even ignores beef hearts. I have even noticed on several occasions when one of my convicts brings food to her and spits sinking pellets out at her face and she will still ignore the food. She will also hide when she sees me. This is very odd since she used to swim against the glass/explore the whole tank whenever I was near the tank, (which was often as it's next to my PC). She would also eat from my hands and let me put my hand in the tank and touch her. She still controls the tank and is friendly with other fish and bosses around others that get to close to her home. My water is within all acceptable parameters and all of my other cichlids are in good health. What can I do to help encourage my Jaguar to return to her normal self? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Jaguar Injury Problems
- Thread starter jaguarlover
- Start date
It seems you're doing all that you can do and that you're doing the right things..I have had similar problems with my jag and what I have noticed is that jags are one of the most tempermental large cichlids and they get traumatized easy.... I think your jag will come back around and its own due time... I once unintentionally scared my jag making a loud noise by the tank and it took about a week 4 him too to get back to normal..... Recently because I have a lot of algae I started turning the lights off more in the tank... I came by the tank wearing a black jacket and my jag nearly jumped out the tank..and afterwards became reclusive and skittish... I went back to my normal lighting and added a tankmate...that was about 2 weeks ago and he's just getting his personality back now.... just the netting process alone is enough to make them go into hiding with your jag now seeing you as a threat... As a comparison I netted and moved my texas cichlid 3 times in 1 day and a later that day he was still begging for food...I take it your jag is still young and not full size...You may have to just give her some time... Just go back to your normal routine as to what you were doing before try you best not to startle your jag.. I feel your pain... it's annoying to have a fish run for you that used to eat from your hands ..Maybe not any answers to your questions but food for thought... Good luck
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Sent from my DROID RAZR using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Thank you very much. Good to know it's a temperament of the species and not something I did or am doing wrong. I have also noticed my Jaguar become scared when I wear my black jacket into the room. Thanks for the info. I will be more conscious of my actions around her.