12' Fahaka Tooth trimming- I am so scared I will accidentally hurt him
Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 7:31 pm
Please, I need advice and maybe reassurance? I have hustled to provide Ollie with super crunchy food for three years now, including elaborately quarantined small live redclaw crabs every few days, having a snail breeding farm (three big tanks), five crawdad breeding tanks, feeding him clams, etc etc, but still I need to trim his teeth. He looks a bit bucktoothed and can’t grab the crabs in the middle, since last week. Heartbreaking. He is otherwise in great condition, happy and healthy and begging as usual.
I have searched extensively over the past two weeks and there is no one in the Sacramento CA region who is willing to do this ("too risky" "liability" etc). So, I have to take care of my buddy.
I am researching puffer dentistry a lot - have read Pufferpunk's article (thank you!) and any others I can find. Most are for smaller puffs though - Ollie is big, nearly a foot long now- so I have some questions.
1. I have read that MS 222 is better than clove oil. I can’t seem to be able to purchase it online though- anyone buy it recently? Where? Dosing tips?
2. I ordered the battery-powered dremel tool that has cutting wheel and smoothing attachment, and will practice on the corners of tiles for a few days. I have safety glasses too, and gloves. Handling tips?
3. I bought two ten gallon buckets to half fill - one for anesthesia water and one for recovery water. Will wrap carefully and store both in garage rafters afterward, in case needed in the future. His tank is 300 gallons, so it will be easy to fill those with warm water from it the day of the dentistry. Airstone needed?
4. Where do you dump that stuff? Not down the drain I presume. Hole dug in back yard?
5. What is best for my "assistant" to hold him in while I cut the teeth? Netting, towel, moleskin?
Am I missing anything?
Sorry for all the questions, I had sure hoped this day would never come but here we are. Time for action. Thanks in advance for any advice.
I have searched extensively over the past two weeks and there is no one in the Sacramento CA region who is willing to do this ("too risky" "liability" etc). So, I have to take care of my buddy.
I am researching puffer dentistry a lot - have read Pufferpunk's article (thank you!) and any others I can find. Most are for smaller puffs though - Ollie is big, nearly a foot long now- so I have some questions.
1. I have read that MS 222 is better than clove oil. I can’t seem to be able to purchase it online though- anyone buy it recently? Where? Dosing tips?
2. I ordered the battery-powered dremel tool that has cutting wheel and smoothing attachment, and will practice on the corners of tiles for a few days. I have safety glasses too, and gloves. Handling tips?
3. I bought two ten gallon buckets to half fill - one for anesthesia water and one for recovery water. Will wrap carefully and store both in garage rafters afterward, in case needed in the future. His tank is 300 gallons, so it will be easy to fill those with warm water from it the day of the dentistry. Airstone needed?
4. Where do you dump that stuff? Not down the drain I presume. Hole dug in back yard?
5. What is best for my "assistant" to hold him in while I cut the teeth? Netting, towel, moleskin?
Am I missing anything?
Sorry for all the questions, I had sure hoped this day would never come but here we are. Time for action. Thanks in advance for any advice.