Something's wrong with ebjd's mouth!
- Thread starter steelshade
- Start date
EBJD are very cool fish. 
His jaw is still stuck open but can still suck up food. I think his deformed jaw might have been injured if he was lip-locking with my firemouth cichlid.
Seriously I'm tired of this fish "hatin" bs...... If you don't like the fish you don't have to put it down. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. like in page 5 of this thread...*sigh*... http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=324840&page=5
Oh dear, is it a full moon or something?
Back to the question at hand, I think I know what you're talking about. I've had this happen multiple times with angelfish. It looks like they were yawning and their mouth got stuck in the yawn position. The jaw is extended out and cannot be retracted.
In my experience, this is not caused by a deformity, although I'm sure a deformity like a crooked jaw could increase the risk of it happening. I have had this happen to three and four year old angelfish who were vibrant, healthy, breeding adults. In a few of the instances, it occured after lip-locking between pairs. I had a male koi whose jaw would often get stuck in the yawning position. It would stay that way for a day or so, then it'd go back to normal. Eventually, it stuck this way permanently and he was no longer able to eat properly. I had to put him down after he started to waste away.
I just had the same thing happen to a five year old marble angelfish last week. Unfortunately his never retracted and I put him down as well.
I know this is not what you probably want to hear, but that has been my experience. I would say that it could be from fighting or maybe it's just a form of fish lockjaw. I don't know enough about the anatomy of the fish to make any other suggestions, but I'm sure there are ways to "unlock" it if you knew what you were doing and were careful. I've never bothered with it.
Back to the question at hand, I think I know what you're talking about. I've had this happen multiple times with angelfish. It looks like they were yawning and their mouth got stuck in the yawn position. The jaw is extended out and cannot be retracted.
In my experience, this is not caused by a deformity, although I'm sure a deformity like a crooked jaw could increase the risk of it happening. I have had this happen to three and four year old angelfish who were vibrant, healthy, breeding adults. In a few of the instances, it occured after lip-locking between pairs. I had a male koi whose jaw would often get stuck in the yawning position. It would stay that way for a day or so, then it'd go back to normal. Eventually, it stuck this way permanently and he was no longer able to eat properly. I had to put him down after he started to waste away.
I just had the same thing happen to a five year old marble angelfish last week. Unfortunately his never retracted and I put him down as well.
I know this is not what you probably want to hear, but that has been my experience. I would say that it could be from fighting or maybe it's just a form of fish lockjaw. I don't know enough about the anatomy of the fish to make any other suggestions, but I'm sure there are ways to "unlock" it if you knew what you were doing and were careful. I've never bothered with it.
If your Dempsey is still eating then he will survive. I had a Red Devil who locked lips with a Cariba. No need to mention he lossed his entire mouth but the bastard was so tough he still ate. Just couldnt harass his tankmates anymore. With African Cichlids the Compressiceps often lock their mouths in the open position and continue living. With EBJDs id chalk it up to inbreeding. Its just not a good practice.
