The Puffer Forum

HI all, I have a pair of red eye puffers (irrubesco) . Recently I found that the female has a HUGE tummy. Extremely round... Even in the morning before I feed them, her tummy is still big. Could that be sign of illness? But she eats fine (and a lot too). Any idea?
Thanks in advance.

Could be full of eggs.

Pufferpunk wrote:Could be full of eggs.

But she's still at a very young age.. she's just slightly bigger than dwarf puffer. Do they carry eggs at this early age?
And do the females just carry eggs once in awhile? I suppose they fertilizer the eggs after they deposited them right?

ooooo babies!!!!!!

Could be fat. Shakespeare and Jilly are fat.

Nick wrote:Could be fat. Shakespeare and Jilly are fat.

May I see some pictures of Shakespeare and Jilly?

Better yet, lets see the pics of your fat puffer. Fish can lay eggs w/o a mate. The eggs are unfertile. Sounds like yours isn't sexually mature yet though.

Jilly is fat:
ug.php/v/User_Galleries/Nick/JillyisFat.JPG

Shakespeare is fat:

ug.php/v/User_Galleries/Nick/ShakespeareisFat.JPG

Is that called fat? They don't look fat at all to me

Here's some really bad pics of my puffer... I couldn't get good pic of her as she's always hiding...




But you should still be able to tell that she has a huge tummy... Could she be in any health issue?

Smaller puffers get... rounder, when they get fat. I suspect she just may need to eat way less. I had a GSP (Who now lives with Eileen) who was at least that fat, all the time. A total GLUTTON, little Tucker was. Not sure if he's still a cueball with a head and tail now, but he was always super fat, and always eating all the food.

Nick wrote:Smaller puffers get... rounder, when they get fat. I suspect she just may need to eat way less. I had a GSP (Who now lives with Eileen) who was at least that fat, all the time. A total GLUTTON, little Tucker was. Not sure if he's still a cueball with a head and tail now, but he was always super fat, and always eating all the food.

Yes indeed mine never stop eating. She's always the first one to come for the food
I'm feeding my puffers twice a day. Is that too much?

Yes, that's too much. Once per day is normal for these puffers. I actually feed my carinotetraodons every other day, and that has turned out the perfect time for them. They are in perfect shape. But once a day is more normal, I think. It's you that have to decide how much the puffers eat. They will overeat if they get the chance. Their bellies should be nicely rounded when feeding is finished.

Troender wrote:Yes, that's too much. Once per day is normal for these puffers. I actually feed my carinotetraodons every other day, and that has turned out the perfect time for them. They are in perfect shape. But once a day is more normal, I think. It's you that have to decide how much the puffers eat. They will overeat if they get the chance. Their bellies should be nicely rounded when feeding is finished.

But I also have SAPs in the same tank. I used to feed once a day but was told that was too less cause they (the SAPs) digest really fast?

pufferian wrote:Is that called fat? They don't look fat at all to me

Here's some really bad pics of my puffer... I couldn't get good pic of her as she's always hiding...
But you should still be able to tell that she has a huge tummy... Could she be in any health issue?

Side Q ... what kind of plants are those that she's hiding in? I have the same ones and don't know what they are.

I feed my SAPs about 4-5 times per week. They really gorge themselves so I often make them wait a day between feedings. They are maintaining a nice weight like this. I haven't had them for too long but this is working well.