i have owned this oscar since she was a baby i've had her for about 8 years now and she has had a history of constipation. i've treated her with salt and raising the temp, i've tried to feed her peas but she wont eat them. shes on NLS pellets now and she wont eat those either and this is the worst i've see her. the nitrates nitrite and ammonia are at zero levels. i've added salt over time and i am not sure how much salt is in the tank now. does any one know what the salinity level should be if it is 1tbs per 5gal? or should i add more salt to the tank? shes been constipated for about a week and shes pretty big now she's never been this constipated before. please help!!
my oscar needs help!! and i dont know what to do please help me help her!
- Thread starter xxt2goodxx
- Start date
If you have a store close by, get some garlic guard. Or, just take some garlic and smash it up and let the juice go into the water. The garlic will promote the appitite of the oscar. You can also use Entice. Entice might work better of oscars. The garlic guard is great for discus.
Feed the oscar less food in one session too later on, that will help prevent constipation in the future. And feed it pees. Fast your oscar until it eats them.
oscars are very fussy eaters,it will prob be hard to fast your oscar after all its 8yrs old,like an old person now,,,,,my oscars are fussy but with me its the ole tough approach dont eat ohwell....it works...peas work also<have you tried giving peas alot?as in each day to wean her on them as part of the diet<its possible,mind my jag wont touch peas
but garlic wont help her pass her junk (or will it?)and i'm afraid of a bacterial infection from the inside cause of all the toxic stuff inside of her
How's the Oscar doing? Hope she's better. If not you might have to force feed her some peas, it's been too long.
I've never done it before but I know of someone who has. She said to blanch some mixed fresh veggies and then food process them. Mix the blanched, chopped up veggies with water in an ear dropper (you may have to modify the opening) and inject them into the fish's mouth down past the gills. You probably will want to add some stress coat to the tank because catching her and force feeding her is going to stress her really badly. Hopefully you'll stress the crap out of her...ok not funny.
Before you try that, have you tried giving her a heavy duty salt bath for a few minutes? It may be a wive's tale but I've heard it works to help unclog them.
Maybe you need more opinions...I'm only going by what I've heard, not done. Good luck whatever you do.
Before you try that, have you tried giving her a heavy duty salt bath for a few minutes? It may be a wive's tale but I've heard it works to help unclog them.
Maybe you need more opinions...I'm only going by what I've heard, not done. Good luck whatever you do.
You need to get her unblocked before you consider her feeding her more food. I am not really sure what you would use for this.
But to force feed you will need a medicinal syringe (no needle the kind with the long tube on the end) filled with whatever you are using. Insert into mouth to back of throat with the tip partially into throat. Slowly push the food into fish. Do not do it all at once especially if she is already bloated/compacted. If you do this it will put her under alot of stress, it could push her over the edge. You should consider some sort of internal bacterial medicine mixed in with this. A bacteria could have caused or could result from the fish being compacted.
Make sure you keep your hands wet, it is easier to keep hold of the fish if you leave her in the net.
But to force feed you will need a medicinal syringe (no needle the kind with the long tube on the end) filled with whatever you are using. Insert into mouth to back of throat with the tip partially into throat. Slowly push the food into fish. Do not do it all at once especially if she is already bloated/compacted. If you do this it will put her under alot of stress, it could push her over the edge. You should consider some sort of internal bacterial medicine mixed in with this. A bacteria could have caused or could result from the fish being compacted.
Make sure you keep your hands wet, it is easier to keep hold of the fish if you leave her in the net.