The Puffer Forum

They are really cheap from medical supply stores. Less than $0.50 each. Great for measuring dechlorinator amounts etc.

crayfish wrote:A friend told me she might have needles left over from when she had a diabetic cat. She'll let me know in the morning and I will shoot up some earth worms if all goes well.

you should not shoot up earth worms. it's bad for you...

Eeeeeewwww!!!

This thread is killing me!!!

Have fun and good luck shooting up earth worms...

I wouldn't use old used cat needles... clean ones are super cheap and totally legal from a medical supply store, I promise.

I know, plus I wouldn't want to get any diseases from those used needles when I shoot up the worms.

Back to real stuff. Still no needles so I will pick some up from the vet tomorrow. My puffer just lays on the sand motionless. Sometimes it will make a weak attempt and moving to a new location but its short lived. He still eats however, I put in a shrimp and he got it pretty happily, but now is back to the sand, kind of bobbing back and forth and moving his eyes around while breathing pretty heavily. These are not symptoms of parasites as far as I know... I am now pretty concerned for his life. Before I was pretty sure that he was just stressed.
Here is a picture...

K here's an update. The puffer is still in the same position looking around but looking weak. However, when I put an earthworm in the tank he went nuts and ate it, then he actually hunted down a ghost shrimp. I am currently preparing a frozen shrimp with metro+ to see if I can get him to eat any of it. I am not sure what all this means?

He could be acting like that because he's bored or sulking. They're intelligent creatures, some will get mad at your and hide for a week for such a small thing as feeding them a food they dislike. My guess would be he's a moody little thing. As for the breathing hard, it COULD be gill flukes, or the like. Dips in metro or prazi would take care of that, or it could literally be just him huffing and puffing because he's cranky.

Would dipping him in a metro+ solution do anything for the internal parasites? He would drink the water right? What would be a mix of medicine and water to use?

I don't know if metro is of much use for internal parasites, I think it can work but takes a number of treatments. Prazi, levimisole, and flubenol based meds are better for internal, IME.

Mikeosoft says he has experience with it working for IPs. I will still try to inject it into the puffer's food tomorrow.

Jase wrote:ask your dentist. I got a big awesome one when I had to rinse my wisdom teeth before they were pulled.

I just got mine pulled in March and it was horrible and I got the same thing and it is amazing because it can hold a lot but the tip is small but big enough for bloodworms and other foods. Thats how I fed my f8 the ip meds.

I got syringes and I injected three worms with metro+ which the puffer ate really quickly. However, he is hanging out near the powerhead at the top of the tank not doing much. What are these symptoms of? I'm thinking he has more than stress or internal parasites. Can someone give me any advice please? This fish won't make it much longer I don't think without some pro-active measures.

Add an airstone?

Well the tank has an open top so I think quite a bit of oxygen gets in there. You think it could be a lack of oxygen though?