The Puffer Forum

Havent been on here for a while, I recently had a little one and time is very limited. Plus, Boomer, my MBU was doing fabulous.
Was being the word.....

I dont know what happened and am curious as to whether anyone at all could have an explaination.

Saturday morning, he had his usual 30% water change, and that afternoon had a lovely lunch of cockles and mussels. On Saturday evening he seemed to be sitting at the bottom of his tank, he didnt look distressed. I just thought he was digesting his dinner as he normally did.

Sunday morning came, he was still at the bottom of his tank which i found a little odd, i did some water tests to make sure everything was ok, which it was, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates at 10. Checked the PH levels and no sudden increase or decrease. I kept an eye on him and by the afternoon he seemed to have picked up a little.

I went out on Monday when i came back he seemed to very subdued. Although not resting at the bottom of the tank he was floating (for want of a better word) in the middle of the tank.

I then thought the best way to put my mind at rest, was to try and tempt him with some prawns. Unfortunately, and he didnt respond. Thats when i really started to worry (He has always had a great appetite)....

Within about 10 mins of trying to feed him it all started happening....
He began shooting across the bottom of the tank, and coughing like he was trying to bring up a piece of shell (if that makes sense)....then he started thrashing about the tank, it was then that i noticed he was leaking from him bum.....more thrashing and the leaking got worse and it was then could see that it was blood. All i could do was watch in horror. His breathing had slowed right down and unfortunately after one last session of thrashing about, he'd gone. The whole think lasted for about 15 mins, it seemed like an eternity.

I was left in complete turmoil not knowing what the hell had happened. I now blame myself thinking that perhaps it was because of the food i had given him, but he has had that so many times before, maybe he had a piece of shell stuck, but then i didnt see any lumps in his tummy. He was 4 years old (well, I've had him for nearly 4 years)... So surely it cant have been old age!!

Sorry if there is too much detail on here... but is there anyone that can perhaps give me an insight as to what it might have been? As you can imagine i am totally gutted, its heartbreaking. It seems odd having a massive tank with only 2 catfish and 2 plecs in.

I look forward to hearing from anyone...
Thank you

I am so sorry for your loss.
Dont blame yourself
I can only think that maybe he had a deformity inside, or a tumour or something.

Yeah don't blame yourself it sounds like there's nothing you could've done to help him

Maybe it's to soon now but you should get yourself another Puffer to look after

So sorry to hear that. I don't know what happened, but what you feed him is what he would eat in the wild. There's really nothing you could have done to prevent it.

I've heard a lot of heartbreaking stories about puffers meeting their end because of pieces of shells. I really seems like the cause, but there's nothing you can do about it, short of doing immediate surgery.

I'm really sorry, as I'm sure that was a horrendous 15 minutes.

That's absolutely horrible. Wow. I'm so sorry.

Aww.Don't take it all on your self. That stuff happens sometimes. I sorry about your loss.

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. RIP Boomer

i'm so sorry for your loss, and the tragic end you had to face with him....

Wow, that had to be horrible to watch! It is hard for me to believe puffers would die from shell fragments, since this is a completely natural food for them. I hate to mention this, but could you possible bring yourself to do an auropsy? It would be really helpful to know if you find shell fragments & a cut up stomach.

We eat fish naturally, but that doesn't mean the bones wouldn't get stuck in our throats. People choke on food every day, and some can/do die from it if there's nobody there who knows how to help, so I don't see it as impossible.

Remember, even if shelled crustaceans are part of their diet, it doesn't mean that particular species of crustacean is (wouldn't freshwater crustaceans have significantly thinner or softer shells than marine ones?). There was a post in the General Discussion of a guy who had to pull the trapdoor from an apple snail out of his puffer's throat because he was choking on it.

What an awful tragedy, I'm sorry it happened. My condolences.

i went through a horrible situation with a shell recently with cutiepie i have decided not ill only feed her off oyster shells so she wont swallow much because its too hard to break..... horrible story especially with a mbu they are so so interactive

Just want to thank everyone for their kind words.
I'm afraid i really cant bring myself to start cutting him open as much as i want to know what happened, something like that is beyond me.

Rightly or wrongly he has been buried in the garden and a little shrub placed on top of him.

He was a very interactive MBU. He took up a whole wall in our living room for a start! My 18 month old still points to the tank and shouts pissshhhh at the top of his voice... bless him!

Once again, thanks to everyone.

Im so sorry dude, that is one of the most terrible things I have heard in a long time. I know youl never be able to replace a pet so grand, but maybe with time you can aquire a new friend to care for......