The Puffer Forum

As I am planning on getting Two SAP's I better get prepared for dentistry.

It looks like I am going to have to order finquel online. Thats fine. My other thing is Cuticle nippers? What are those (hate to sound stupid)? And about how often should I expect to have to trim teeth?

Yolu can go to any drug store or beauty supply & buy cuticle nippers. Figure every 4-6 months.

Neil Monks gave me some handy tips on this when I had to do it (thanks Neil!). I'd tried, unsuccessfully, with a variety of very precise and sharp nail scissors, but once I got hold of some cuticle clippers it was a doddle. I even did it without help!
I use clove oil as an anaesthetic though; they seem to recover fine although it always has me panicking. In the seven months I've had my trio, I tried twice without much success (although, they all survived and I didn't cut their lips, so I consider it a pretty good outcome...!) and the third time took about 5 minutes total, it was a cake walk.

The hardest thing I found was that the puffer is so small it can be difficult to peel the lips back and get a good hold of the teeth with the clippers. Best advice: don't panic, take your time (although keep an eye on it too), have as steady a hand as you can, and if you're not sure you've got a good handle on the teeth to clip then don't. You don't want to slip or cut lips by mistake. Worst case scenario: you have to wake them back up and try again a month or two later. I wouldn't try again soon after; I'm not sure it's entirely good for them being put to sleep.

For my fahaka puffer, how do you know if the teeth needs to be trimmed?