The Puffer Forum

I hope you cut them short enough. The proper tools are necessary for this.

Yea, I did the Valentini and I am NEVER going to do it again. The hawaiian behaved, but the valentini flipped out. I don't know what happened. I did the same exact thing as before, but the valentini was extremely squirmy and started to puff up while I was trimming it. I freaked out and put it in the water. Then I filled a pitcher with tank water and redosed the clove oil, slightly less than recommended so as not to overdose. I managed to clip the teeth down to a managable size while holding the fish underwater. It's ok and managed to deflate. I'll post pics when it comes out.

thanks for all your support.

glad it went... ok
can't wait to see pics of their happy smiles

glad to hear this all worked out!!

Here are the pics. They are bad, but you can see the difference.

nice looking puffers.

The bleuespot looks much better! I can't tell but can the Valentini close his mouth all the way?

I think I didn't cut them on the sides. At first I thought it was just keeping its mouth open because it was so used to it, but then I could see the teeth kinda extended to the sides. I don't want to clip them too soon because of all the stress that occured yesturday. At feeding it sort of inhaled the food then swam away and hid. When do you think it would be ok to try to trim its teeth again?

The earliest I could do it would be sunday, but I don't want to overstress the fish. I will also try to go to the asain market for clams and oysters on friday.

they look much happier

Sunday should be fine. Cut them straight across, as close to the lip as possible. I pulled the lip up, so I could see the teeth better.

Bless their little hearts.

Tomorrow for sure I will fix the valentini's teeth. I didn't have time for 2 weeks, and I was going to do it today, but there were people installing lights in the kitchen and I couldn't get to the sink. The only good thing was the valentini was kind of on a diet and lost a little weight, which it will gain as soon as I clip its teeth. I now have cuticle clippers and will remove as much as possible.

One other question. I had some fresh oysters and put a half shell in today and yesturday. But all the fish completely ignored it. Only the hawaiian would eat some when I took a small piece of meat and tried to entice them with it. Do puffers just not like the oysters cause they are not used to it? I kept the half shells in for about an hour because I didn't want it to rot, but it was untouched. How else could I keep their teeth worn down?

I never tried oysters, but mine love clams and mussels. I also found some small clams on the half shell at the LFS. You could try to shake it in front of them to get their attention then maybe they will go after it. I know sometimes mine aren't paying attention and if I do that they fly across the tank and chase me down for it.
Here's a pictures of the LFS clams. they are about the size of a quarter:

That's what I feed my fish... except Shelby.

Today's trimming did not go well. The poor valentini's teeth are very difficult to get to and everything was hard to manouver. I couldn't position myself to get a clear shot at its teeth. That was the first problem. Second, I think I split the upper dental plate. The teeth on top seemed separate, and one of them almost fell (?) out. I freaked out cause I thought I might have pulled it out. I was trying to trim just the sides so it could close its mouth, but that never really happened. After the tooth fell out I got scared and examined the body of the puffer. It looked like it stopped breathing. So I stopped trimming and put it in fresh tank water. At first I thought it died, but waited just in case. About two minutes later I noticed small gill movement, and about 7 min later it was ok. The poor thing is missing (I think) half its teeth cause I couldn't get the other side before I freaked out. It's been hiding ever since and I can't get a pic. I don't know what to do.

I've never seen those clams before. But thanks anyway.