longfin albino sen problem

[eminas]

a while back, i posted a thread about my two new longfin senegals ( one of which is an albino )... and i was concerned about his abnormally long nostril...
basically he has one really long nostril and one non-existent nostril...


i mentioned a possible medical operation on his unusual growth but was advised against this...

Well... Now it seems to be a problem for this young guy, as it is so long that it interferes in his eating! Quite often he will approach the food and bite at it only to get a mouthful of nostril! *ouch* and i dont know whether it hurts him or whether he thinks he has his food but he retreats back to his den to either recover from the pain or chow down the meal he thinks he has??

My concern is now growing as he is now about half the mass of the other senegal which was the same size as him a few months ago...and after observing him for quite a while now, it sure does seem to be an annoyance to him...

Any advice on this issue would be fantastic...

Here are some pics from when i 1st got him, now a few months on it seems to be getting worse from all the constant pulling and stretching in his attempt to eat... (sorry about the quality and due to the mrs being o/s on holidays and taking the camera i am unable to get current pics...)

 

[Cohazard]

Well, his nostril is not abnormally long for a LF

Both of mine have nostrils that long, and they do bite them. The tips are white, and my guess is that they sort of keep them trimmed on their own.

If he's biting on it and swimming away, he does think he has food. That's a typical behavior of some polys, they grab food and swim away to eat it without being bothered.

What are you feeding? I still wouldn't advise you to trim the nostril.

 

[eminas]

serious? your two longfins have the same kind of nostrils? well then it must be my other longfin that is abnormal...lol because his are long but not thattttt long that it goes onto his mouth...lol

i feed sinking pellets, frozen prawn and whitebait...

do u have pics of your two longfins nostrils?

 

[Cohazard]

When I feed them shrimp pieces, they bite on their own nostrils (the nostrils are shorter on the bichir on the right, because of being bitten), but they seem to manage by flicking their heads to move their nostrils out of the way and try agian lol

They just posed for a pic luckily:

 

[rjmtx]

Now this could have some very interesting implications for you geneticists out there. Is there an "appendage length gene?" Anyone?

 

[eminas]

ahhh ic cohazard... nice fish btw...

hmmm, hopefully mine will learn to flick his nostril to the side aswell...hehe...

ok, well...i'll just leave it for now i guess and hope for the best

cheers,
e.

 

[Cohazard]

ahhh ic cohazard... nice fish btw...

hmmm, hopefully mine will learn to flick his nostril to the side aswell...hehe...

ok, well...i'll just leave it for now i guess and hope for the best

cheers,
e.

when you feed (*especially shrimp), try offering a variety of sizes. Some small enough to be eaten in one gulp, some large that it looks like they can barely eat it.

That might help. I hope something works for you.