The Puffer Forum

Tiger, my turgidus, stopped eating some weeks ago. I've tried deworming him, but he didn't start eating again afterwards. So today I found i had to do something. After I tried dropping food right in front of his nose, with no luck in doing that, I took action. I netted him in, held him carefully in my hand (under water, of course), and gently pushed a small piece of shrimp through his half open mouth. And the piece went in, and didn't come out again! It was only a tiny piece, but it will be enough for today, as it was his first meal for a long time. But I will try again tomorrow, and then give him a little more (together with a water change later on). I hope he is as willing tomorrow as he was today. He didn't try to puff or anything. He didn't like being netted, but was calm when I held him in my hand. I really hope this will help him start eating again, as he was really thin now, poor thing. I will give a new report on how he is doing after tomorrow's feeding.

that is cool!!

I am happy for you! PPL ask the same Q about when I clip my SAP's teeth. They don't struggle. They just kind of let you take control.

I hope he pulls through for you. Are you medicating the food or using vitamin water at all?

J-P wrote:that is cool!!

I am happy for you! PPL ask the same Q about when I clip my SAP's teeth. They don't struggle. They just kind of let you take control.

I hope he pulls through for you. Are you medicating the food or using vitamin water at all?

Do you "put him to sleep" to clip the teeth? Just curious...

J-P wrote:Are you medicating the food or using vitamin water at all?

I'm not soaking the food in anything. Both the meds and the vitamins go into the tank here.

Today's update: Before trying to force him today, I decided to check how he reacted on food in the tank - if he showed any interest. I droppet one tiny bit of shrimp, and he definitely had a look at it. But the piece landed behind a root, and he didn't go after it. I tried one more piece, and he moved a little bit against the food. But again the food landed behind the root, and he didn't go after it. Then I tried a bigger piece (in hope that it would go more straight down to the bottom, instead of behind that stupid root). It came down close to Tiger, and he went for it, and took some! The rest of the food landed of course behind that root, and he isn't hungry enough to move more than an inch or two to get the food. But he ate by his own free will today. Not much, but he ate. I will feed him every day for a while now, before going back to feeding every other day. I am so happy that he is doing better.

awesome, Im glad he's eating. Why not try putting a skewer through the shrimp so you can have control over it

He ate today too. I dropped some food into his tank, and again it landed behind that stupid root. He didn't follow it down there (all though he went for it before it disappeared). So I put my hand into the tank, picked up the food, and held it before him, and he ate! I was very, very surprised that he let me hand feed him. But he surely is getting better.

Yay.

The irrubescos let me hand feed them but they think my hand is food too

I've been a bit worried about him, as he's seemed uninterested in anything. One day I put my hand into the tank, and I could even touch him. That really worried me. But today he showed that he was absolutely back to normal. Every time I passed his tank, he came a bit out of his cave, checking if there was any food coming. And when I finally came to him with the food, and dropped into the water, he zoomed out of his cave, snatched it, and went back to his cave at an insane speed - just like he did before he became ill. It was so good to see.

I hope he stays well!

Oh, wow. This is awesome. I had missed this thread until now.

I'm so glad your little dude is doing better.

Today he is absolutely back to his normal self. He came out to beg for food several times today! I gave him a pretty big meal, as I am trying to fatten him up as much as possible before the holidays. I will be on holiday for two weeks, so there will be two weeks with no food for him pretty soon. But now I can leave him without worrying.

I have to give an update on Tiger. He is such a strange puffer. Before he became ill, I moved him to a new and smaller tank. Before he moved, he was into hiding all the time, not even coming out to get the food if I was around. Well, most of the time, to be more exact. It could happen he came out in an extreme speed, snatched the food, and disappeared in a second. When I moved him, he kind of changed personality, and suddenly found out that I could be a nice girl after all. He started coming out to greet me (or rather to see if there was some food coming). Then he got the IPs, and he stopped eating. What happened after that, you know. But now he is so hoping for food, that he has found his favorite (or only) spot in the corner in the front of the tank - totally without anything to hide behind. And there he lives all his life now. He is so hoping for food (that spot is where the food usually lands) that he doesn't leave his spot at all. Every time I pass his tank (which is often), he waves his fins frantically, hoping for food. And as he is fed only every other day, he gets disappointed quite a lot. Today it was feeding time, and he got a small piece of shrimp. Too small for his taste. He sent me a look that could only mean one thing: "Is that all you have for me???" He is now sitting in his corner, hoping for more.

Awwe