Pull it or not?

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

My wolf apparently ate a Pimelodus pictus, and the fin spine is lodged in its lower jaw.
In very simple terms I see the benefits of catching the wolf and pulling the spine out to remove it and allow the jaw to heal. But I also know that the spine is barbed and in addition of the stress of getting caught, I would inflict further tissue damage by forcefully tearing it out, possibly leaving tiny barbs behind.

I am leaning towards letting nature take its course, and have the spine come out by itself. I’ll be inclined to pull it if I see the jaw getting overly inflamed. Anyhow, I thought I’d post here and get your thoughts. Let’s not discuss the failed cohab ... long story for another day... thx.

Harleyk

 

[Supergeorge123]

Pull it and put it in quarantine with some medications to keep it from getting infected.

 

[kno4te]

Pull it!

 

[Galantspeedz]

How about cutting it till the edge?

 

[Warborg]

How about cutting it till the edge?

This was my thought... or pull it.

 

[esoxlucius]

I guess things like this happen in the wild all the time but those fish don't have anyone at hand to help them out. I'd leave it for a few days, let nature take its course, in the meantime keep your water nice and clean to prevent infection. If it hasn't managed to shake it off and/or it starts to show signs of infection then plan b can be executed, stressful for the fish or not, you'll have no choice.

 

[MrsE88]

I guess my thought process would lean on pulling it out. My reasoning, if you wait to see if it becomes infected and inflamed pulling it out at that point will cause more damage then pulling it out now. Yes, it will almost certainly cause inflammation by pulling it out, but then you are on the road to recovery much faster then letting it sit and fester in there.

 

[krichardson]

I'm with the "pull it" crowd.

 

[fishhead0103666]

I think most people agree that pulling out would be best.

 

[HarleyK]

Current tank: 15’’ wolf in a 220 gal.