Fahaka swallowed a pebble/stone?!

[js97]

So what happens now? I dropped a few ramshorns into the tank and watch my 2.5 inch fahaka crush a few snails, then gobble and swallo a stone!....

you can currently see a little 'lump' in the rear of the puffer... will this pass through? it's a almost twice as large as it's eyes. Will they have no problem passing though? (ouch!)

anyone else have this happen?

[The Bruce]

i've seen my mbu swallow a pebble, about 20 minutes later he "coughed" it up, your positive that the lump is the pebble and not food?

[js97]

Oh Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was a piece of flourite instead of a snail. I guess time will tell. Tomorrow, i hope to see his stomach flatten...

I would think nature must have built in a mechanism to deal with this. Considering the diet of the fahaka - the snails/mussels,cockles etc., and how easily those can be mistaken for a a piece of rock. This must be a very common occurence.

hope he 'coughs' it up too. Keep you guys posted.

[yunachin]

Some puffers eat gravel purposely to help with digestion so I would not be too worried at all. He will pass it, and depending on the size of it, and how smart he is, he will think twice about doing it again.

[LinearChaos]

I've seen T. lineatus eat pebbles...never been a problem for them in my experience though. They seem to chew on them like dogs do and if they swallow one it just pops out the other end eventually.

[flash.dan]

its amazing what lineus + mbus can pass my adult mbu swallows apple snails whle and even sharp shell and has no problems atall..... he will be just fine im sure