The Puffer Forum

Hi everyone,

I made an account here to see if anyone has done fin/tail surgery on a puffer before? My 7" Mbu got sucked into a power filter at the LFS. He gets on just fine, but the top 1/3 of his tail is kind of gimped. It grew back and folded over itself. It's a purely aesthetic thing. Here he is:
http://imgur.com/hORvHYc

Has anyone put their puffer under to cut off a damaged fin or tail before? I've watched uarujoy's video on his arowana surgery. I'm sure a puffer's tail would re-grow no different than an arowanas? Joey's fish ended up looking perfect again a couple months afterwards!

Hi and welcome to the forum. The risks of surgery are relatively high, if he gets on fine and it just looks odd you are better off leaving well alone. Puffers are very adaptable so the stress would unlikely be worth it

I would NEVER do surgery on a fish for aesthetic reasons, only to save it's life. There is high risk of infection. I'm sure the fish doesn't care what he looks like.

Image link is broken.

sgtmyers88 wrote:Image link is broken.

I think I fixed it.

My t. mbu had a curl at the end of his caudal fine. That was from too long in the 180. He could only turn in one direction. I asked my vet - he laughed at me and said I was mad. Losing one direction in turns is hardly life-threatening in captivity, in a tank all alone.

The fish is still a size that is manageable and its young. If it were me, I would probably try it. Since it is a fish that you own for the long haul (many, many years), I think it would be worth the try. I would do a lot of research first...

When it comes to my own health and the health of my family and pets, I usually have a policy of not risking surgery or treatments unless absolutely necessary. If you have ever sedated a puffer for dentistry you know that putting them to sleep is not an exact science and it is hard on the health of the fish. I wouldn't risk it, if the fish is not suffering or having difficulty feeding.

DMD123 wrote:The fish is still a size that is manageable and its young. If it were me, I would probably try it. Since it is a fish that you own for the long haul (many, many years), I think it would be worth the try. I would do a lot of research first...

This is my thinking as well. I wish someone would chime in that has done it, or something similar.

It is not affecting the fish, I doubt anyone will chime in to say they have done any surgery unless it was to save a fish. Risk factor is super high for no gain whatsoever if I'm totally honest

I agree. My porcupine puffer recently had surgery, only because it was his only chance. If he could've lived with his tumor, we would have. I'm just glad he's ok

LOL, who am I to talk, I just had a facelift! But I was well aware of the risks...

Psylant wrote:

DMD123 wrote:The fish is still a size that is manageable and its young. If it were me, I would probably try it. Since it is a fish that you own for the long haul (many, many years), I think it would be worth the try. I would do a lot of research first...

This is my thinking as well. I wish someone would chime in that has done it, or something similar.

Just research the process done with other fish first. Look at the different techniques used and then experiment. Go to a local grocery store and ask for the scrap fish parts. Usually they will have tails and spines if they filet their own fish. Get sharp utensils, even get your own scalpel. Practice the technique needed and keep doing it until you feel comfortable of how the cutting will actually feel on the puffer. After all this take into account how the puffer reacts differently from the other fishes youve studied and then adjust accordingly. Pay attention to things like if a certain medication was used on the cut area to reduce infection. Make sure to treat the whole process like a surgery and keep all instruments sterile and clean. With good research and practice, I think you will do just fine.

If it were me and I was going to invest all the time and energy into a fish like that, along with a giant tank, I would have no issue performing that procedure. The fish is the perfect size to work with and looks young and healthy. I have not done that procedure but have done radical fish treatment before. Ive caught and force fed meds into sick fish. This goes against all kinds of practices of just medicating the water and hope for the best. But the results speak for themselves when I have brought back quite a few fish from deaths door because I got food and medicine into them where it did the most good.

Sorry long rant, but like I said research, research, research and practice, practice, practice!

But what about pain management afterwards? I'd consider that fairly big surgery, he's going to be in pain afterwards, and that alone could kill him.

I wouldn't do it, I'd only subject Pig to surgery if it was that or death/suffering, and even then I'd have to weigh up the pain/shock factor.

Stratters wrote:But what about pain management afterwards? I'd consider that fairly big surgery, he's going to be in pain afterwards, and that alone could kill him.

I wouldn't do it, I'd only subject Pig to surgery if it was that or death/suffering, and even then I'd have to weigh up the pain/shock factor.

I don't think there would be any pain. From my understanding the fins are like our fingernails or hair. I'm not talking about cutting into any flesh. Only the finnage.