Jaw won't close all the way

[MrsE88]

So I made a big mistake thinking my jd was ok in the tank with my pair of gts for a short time...

I was out doing yard work today so I'm not 100% sure what happened. When I came in my female gt wasn't guarding her fry anymore and I couldn't see any of them in any of the pits she made. Everyone had previously stayed hidden, but now they were all out bagging for food. She is a first time mom so I didn't expect them to even make it this long.

I fed them and went to clean up.

I come back and my male gt has tooth scratches on his head( not deep, but scratches) and his mouth is slightly open. I saw him yawn a few times but it never fully closed.

I'm sure what happened was he got into a lip locking fight with the jack. She has been moved to another tank now. Not ideal, but I would never forgive myself if she killed him.

I can't really get any pics till morning. But do injurys from lip locking generally heal ok? I can't stop thinking about the poor guy.

 

[philipraposo1982]

if it got tweaked then it will likely always be deformed now. but he could still live a long happy life if he can eat. depends on how bad the damage is. My boy has a slight bit of dmg to his jaw due to his girl beating on him during spawning. but it adds a bit of character. he using his mouth perfectly fine.

 

[MrsE88]

I'm worried it will be permanent. I did see him nosing around in the substrate and munching on stuff, so I'm pretty sure he'll eat fine. It's only open half way.

You are right that it adds character, but will always be my reminder that I shouldn't have waited so long to take the jack out. :/ I'm praying he looks better in the am.

 

[philipraposo1982]

like i said mine happened due to the female GT, seems like at the younger ages their jaws are not super strong.

So don't beat yourself up. but yeah IMO slight improvement as it heals is to be expected but never full recovery. Got any pics?

 

[MrsE88]

Just one. It was already getting dark when I took it. He was also spooked from me chasing the jack around.

It's hard to see, but if you look close you can see the scratches on his head. Along with torn fins. His moth just stayed that way the whole time I watched him.

 

[philipraposo1982]

ouch that looks rough

Sorry that he got beat up. With some time thing might?! get better.. I really can't say forsure as I doubt anyone here can. When my gt first got hurt I contemplated taking him out and kinda messaging his jaw and see if I could get it back in spot. But I opted to not go that route I was nervous it would only do more harm than good.

 

[MrsE88]

Yeah I don't dare try that either.
Thank you. I'm sure no one can say one way or another how it will turn out. I think I needed to vent more then anything.

 

[Tomt37]

Not always ... it happened to my oscar and I had to wrap in wet cotton wool sheet and massage the jaw back and forward gently moving gently more backwards abs extending only a bit towards natural open position .. he had it stuck for a few days until I did that then was a bit sore for a while then fine .. I also put him on a hard food diet for a week

 

[NW Cichlid Keith]

Same thing happened to my jouvenile carpinte - I didn't risk manually manipulating as he is eating and growing well - still, it has been a few months and did not fix itself. I had a similar thing happen to a lion fish and was able to manipulate it back in with success - but it was more obvious what was wrong and he wasn't eating for an extended time - so nothing to lose. Good luck and hopefully it is able to sort itself out

 

[Tomt37]

Start gently and stay on the side of gentle ... it'll just be a back and forward motion until it moves more freely