The Puffer Forum

Hi,

George (T. Abei) loves playing in the bubbles in his tank and we've seen him sucking them in and then blowing them out again while being vertical head down in the bubble stream. He also then spits out a mouthful of bubbles once he is done.

I keep seeing that puffers and air don't mix and am wondering if he could hurt himself doing this. I'd rather not have to take out the bubbles as he REALLY seems to enjoy doing this.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I've put some pictures of him playing below as well (unfortunately I couldn't get him spitting out the bubbles on camera but I'm still trying!)

Thanks!

Going into the bubbles

Vertical in the bubbles

Coming out of the bubbles

Aw, that's adorable! Don't worry, many people's puffers enjoy playing in bubbles, and it doesn't hurt them. The danger with air is when they're removed from the water, and they panic and puff, and take in air.

Those are some excellent photos redspotowner!

Your Abei looks just like mine, which reassures me because at least I know that he is definitely an Abei (the guy I bought him off of thought he was a Fang's, hence me only paying £6 for him!).

LOL - I don't know for sure if George is an Abei but he looks a lot like those in the gallery and that I could find images of online - he was just sold as a 'Red Spot Puffer' (hence my name LOL).

Thank you for the compliment about the pictures - luckily my camera knows more about taking good pics than I do

I think he is smiling in the first picture!!

redspotowner wrote:LOL - I don't know for sure if George is an Abei but he looks a lot like those in the gallery and that I could find images of online - he was just sold as a 'Red Spot Puffer' (hence my name LOL).

Thank you for the compliment about the pictures - luckily my camera knows more about taking good pics than I do

I've been doing nothing but research on my puffers since finding out that what I thought were 2 Fang's puffers are actually 2 turgidus puffers (they were sold as Fang's by a national chain here in the UK). So I feel fairly confident in saying that your puffer is an Abei because it looks just like mine. I also did a search on YouTube and the Abei's that came up on that look just like mine (and yours). So I think you're safe to say that your puffer IS an Abei.

Yay!!!!

I think the tv's getting lonely cos it's not getting as much attention since George joined our household. LOL

How much stuff do you have in the tank with him for decoration? I'm thinking of getting quite a few more plants, etc so it will be rather heavily decorated so that he will have more stuff to explore cos he seems a bit bored... or is lurking in a cave normal for Abei's? He happily comes out for food and when items have been moved around he comes out and explores more but then goes back to lurking in his terracotta cave again.

mine loves to play with bubbles too!

redspotowner wrote:Yay!!!!

I think the tv's getting lonely cos it's not getting as much attention since George joined our househole. LOL

How much stuff do you have in the tank with him for decoration? I'm thinking of getting quite a few more plants, etc so it will be rather heavily decorated so that he will have more stuff to explore cos he seems a bit bored... or is lurking in a cave normal for Abei's? He happily comes out for food and when items have been moved around he comes out and explores more but then goes back to lurking in his terracotta cave again.

I don't have a cave for mine, but I do have some plants in there. I would not say my tank is heavily planted, but there's enough for him to hide in, and that's what he does. I have one particular plant that he hides in, it's a Java fern attacked to a piece of bogwood, and that's where he hangs out, lurking. He will come out from time to time, and when I drop in some mussel pieces. But I tend to think that's how Abei's are.

Those are neat pictures.

I wonder if mine would like some bubbles. They sometimes swim down the filter return. They're doing their nightly glass pacing. It isn't like there isn't anything for them to do!

Thanks. George's new trick is to lie on the top of the gravel where the bubbles come out... I'm wondering if it's like a gentle massage or if it tickles him... who knows. All I know is he certainly seems to enjoy it! I've got two air balls in the pot and they're covered in gravel as I've noticed that makes the bubbles bigger than when the air balls are not covered.