The Puffer Forum

Hi All,

Just a quick question re the teeth or beak as i've read it can be called.

Mine, we call him goofy, eats fine, has a tank full of ramshorns snails to munch on and he also loves to nibble an algae wafer, has what looks like a gap in the middle of his teeth. I was led to believe that it was just one tooth at the front top or two fused together, but this one looks like he has two, occasionally he will get a bloodworm stuck in it but a little puff and it comes away and he gobbles it up. Is this normal? has he damaged in on a shell or something?

He's only a baby, just over 1" long and i realise their little teeth continue to grow and have read up on all of the foods etc that they can munch on to keep the teeth short. I also read a rather scary web page about putting them in clove oil to sedate them and then trim the teeth but TBTH this is something i would never do...


Just to say thanks again for all your help with my little guys last year, one made it through the white spot crisis and is happy enough in his tank....new tank coming for him next week for him so will get him some friends again then.

Puffers do have a gap between their front teeth, it's nothing to worry about. I'm surprised you can see it's teeth though. Keep an eye on their length and keep feeding the crunchy foods

We have an article on here about how to trim teeth. You do not want to use clove oil but a produce called MS-222. It isn't difficult to trim their teeth. Don't worry, if you ever need to it's not as scary as it sounds.

Flutter wrote:Puffers do have a gap between their front teeth, it's nothing to worry about. I'm surprised you can see it's teeth though. Keep an eye on their length and keep feeding the crunchy foods

We have an article on here about how to trim teeth. You do not want to use clove oil but a produce called MS-222. It isn't difficult to trim their teeth. Don't worry, if you ever need to it's not as scary as it sounds.

I can only see it because of the bloodworm being stuck in between it lol....when he's just swimming about i cant see it

2 teeth on top & 2 on the bottom.

Thanks guys.....Heaven forbid I should ever have to trim them, where would I buy that MS-222 from in the UK? I dread that day!!!!

I did notice someone offering this service on aquarist classifieds website a while ago........