The Puffer Forum

So at work yesterday I had this idea that just maybe if I blow up a yellow balloon in-front of my fahaka he might puff up.


Nope, he got really excited about the balloon, then scared when I blew it up.

What! Why would you want to risk death by making him puff?

Puffers will puff sometimes, just because, maybe like stretching. But, mostly puffers will puff as a protection from potential danger, and this is very stressful. It is not suggested to purposely induce this stress related puffing behavior.
However, if they do puff outside of the water, air can get trapped and this can be fatal.

He probably thought the balloon was food at first.

Bertie as long as the puffer is underwater when it puffs there is minimal chance of death from it, its when they suck in air that they can die.

If they puff through defense ie scared they do so faster and can do serious damage. Practice puffs are slower and generally staged not puff straight to full size

"Practice" puffing is likely pretty common, especially in growing puffers. It is likely simply a "system check". When initiated by the fish itself it is not at all stressful. But puffing is a last-ditch effort to appear too large to be eaten, so does involve major stress. Puffing with air rather than water is high-risk. The stomach valve that allows inflation is designed for water, not air.

Can a stressful puff cause toxins to be released into the water? I've heard mixed answers about this. just curious.

Nope, puffers do not release toxins.

RTR wrote:"Practice" puffing is likely pretty common, especially in growing puffers. It is likely simply a "system check". When initiated by the fish itself it is not at all stressful. But puffing is a last-ditch effort to appear too large to be eaten, so does involve major stress. Puffing with air rather than water is high-risk. The stomach valve that allows inflation is designed for water, not air.

Thanks for the info RTR, didnt know that

Well I was aware that puffers puff once in a while while growing and even adult as system checks/stretching, as well that puffers are highly intelligent and like to be challenged so I figured the balloon would be a good learning curve for him. It could work or it might not, I didn't think it would be risky at all, thought he might be able to learn to do a trick, though he had no interest in the balloon once it was blown up so it was a fail.