The Puffer Forum

Is your Puffer still available?

...or any other pet.

"Nova"
red t.miurus
2004 – 2014

I'll do that. I saw she was having a rough time and was hoping I wouldn't have to bother her. Do you still have Punkster, PP?

Hi guys! The website looks great! It's been a while since I was last able to stop in. I wish this visit was under better circumstances, however, my beautiful red Congo/T.miurus passed away today after being in our care for about 4yrs. I have never performed a necropsy on a Congo but went ahead and c...

No Mbu in the household. I'd love to have one though. :) I tried to post an update a little while ago but I'm pretty sure the forum upgrades were still being tweaked. He had been doing very well and gained back most, if not all, of the weight he lost. I was a happy keeper. Then, he stopped eating ag...

The T.miurus has been very active the past couple of days, swimming around and begging for food. He readily snaps up the food, unfortunately, he spits it right back out. Other than it being a comment on my culinary talent, I'm not sure what to make of this behavior or how to overcome it. ????

I tube-fed the T.miurus. The Finquel (MS-222) did not work very well for me. He was sedated to the point that he didn't respond to visual stimuli and he stayed on his back when flipped over. However, when I inserted the feeding tube he started thrashing around violently. It took several attempts bef...

I tried feeding him a scallop last night. He just bit a chunk off and spit it out. :( I'll order the Kanamycin and swing by the vet's today for the tubing. I'll check out the nutritional profiles on some of my frozen foods to see if any of them are high in protein. Would using a food he is not accus...

I'm afraid I need complete instructions. :blush: I've tube-fed Seahorses more times than I can count but their anatomy is so different from Puffers. What size tube is needed? How far does it need to be inserted? Does the food need to be mashed into gruel? What food have you used most often? My tube-...

Well, I'm losing another one. My adult red T.miurus of ~3yrs. He hasn't eaten in two months and is wasting away. I'm guessing the Myco is kicking in. I've checked his teeth and they aren't overgrown or broken but he has a weak bite. PP, PQ, have either of you ever force-fed a Puffer?

Can Epsom Salt baths be used on marine fish that are constipated? If not, could someone give me a brief explanation as to why?

I've looked on the net and can't find any instances of use in marine fish.

Thanks.

Yep, PP, it is. PQ, I wouldn't have expected these guys to live so long in my care if they had Myco from the go? Do you think they were in a carrier state and a sudden increase in their parasite load caused the Myco to become an active secondary infection? I still can't believe they've had trematode...

Is there a way for you to take a sample and examine it under a microscope? (There is a type of algae that is whitish and stringy but I don't know if it would grow on a Puffer).

An update… Well, it's even worse than we thought. The Puff indeed had a bacterial infection of the Mycobacterium species. The doc believes it was most likely Mycobacterium marinum. That is the worst type of bacteria to have and it is transmittable to brackish, full marine, and freshwater. :( I've ha...

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. PufferQueen, Marty actually recommend you. :D I figured Marty is bogged down enough with all the Seahorse necropsies; didn't want to add to his work load. When I found the Puffer it was floating, there was no eye movement, and no detectable breathing. I was certa...