The Puffer Forum

I have come home tonight to find that Trevor (our 8-9inch) ceylon puffer has disappeared.

we have already accused the electricians that were in the house, but, thinking about it.. who would steal a fish?

so our other option is that he's managed to jump out, dislodging the trays on top. We can't find any traces of a body, though.. so worried that the cat or dog may have eaten him..

..Any suggestions? Would you call a vet already or wait and see???

HELP! Obviosuly upset about Trevor, but what if the dog or cat have eaten him? Surely they will be susceptible to tetraodotoxin??

After awhile, captive puffers are no longer toxic.

Doesn't really seem possible for a cat to eat a bad-tasting large fish like that. Puffers have an extremely tough hide with lots of spines all over it. I could barely cut thru it with a new razorblade. Not an easy meal--it would take a long time to eate the whole thing. Keep looking.

WOW.

we dragged everything out from around the tank, including a big old chest freezer, but the dog (who was totally playing the part of a dying dog with the beginnings of respitory failure) kept staring at the freezer. managed to pick the freezer up and there's a STENCH of dead fish. Trevor's underneath, slime coat all over the place and dog hairs all over him.

Filled up the sink in a panic and dumped him in there, one gill started moving. MAnaged to stroke most of the hairs off him and he's started swimming!!!

I am so in shock.HIs eyes are totally white and he's bumping into everything though. Got him in a bucket of tank water now, but wonder whther putting him in freshwater to try and rehydrate might be an idea? anyone dealt with this before??

Been crying for an hour thinking that the dog was going to die!

PS: he's been out of the tank now for at least 4.5 hours.. might he be blinded?:o(

Add him back to the tank he came from. If he's still having trouble breathing, hold him gently & swoosh him back & forth, to get water (02) across his gills. Add Melafix for his eyes. Don't feed for a day or so. I hope he makes it! Keep us updated.

OK done all that you suggested. added melafix already because he's got a few scrapes from where he was jammed underneath the freezer.

One eye looking a bit better, but the other is completely recessed into his skull (you can only see half of it) and is floating around in the socket..
He's not opening his tail either and mouth very swollen.

I hope he makes it too.. Scary night! Feel awful for him, wish we hadn't dragged the freezer out, ut if we hadn't, we wouldn't have found him at all!

Will definitely keep you posted. Thank you.

Amazing! Trevor is a miracle fish. Best of luck and I hope his eyes get better!

Hope he makes it! Maybe try to put something on top of the lid so that he can't push it out of the way when he decides to go for a stroll.

Hello all,

good news on the one hand.. his eyes seem to be back where they should be at least, but there's some fluid in there, it's like he's wearing huge convex, cloudy goggles, but appears to be able to see at least a bit now.

He is very very lethargic and black, all a bit of a funny shape, his (bottom fin on his abdomen?) is totally off to one side. Caudal fin is very bloody and he hasn't fanned it out at all (normally shows it off everywhere).

Still panting a little and his right pectoral fin flat to his body.

Still shedding slimecoat and back end is floating a bit, but not at all bloated like he's got air in him, will keep an eye on that. Don't want to try burping because he's battered black and blue!

fingers crossed for poor trev.

I don't know how sensitive your puffer is to strangers, but my burrfish will run and hide if someone enters the house that he doesn't know (he's right next to the door). My mother came over for the first time since I got him and when he saw her he dashed away so fast he banged into the tank wall. Another time when we were babysitting my mother's dog I let him out the door and the puffer saw the dog (a tiny Lhasa Apso) and actually puffed! He's used to our 55 Lb dog running around but was actualy startled by the smaller dog he'd never seen before.

Maybe it's possible your Ceylon was scared of the electricians and jumped out of the tank? They certainly seem intelligent enough to identify people, so maybe when you have someone come over to work on your house you could cover his tank with something? Regardless I hope he makes a full recovery, and it's absolutely amazing he was still alive after four hours of being out of the tank.

this is amazing, I wish trevor all the best, I reckon he's gonna pull through though, the signs look promising

Wow, keep us updated on him, he's one tough puffer!

I just got into an arguement at work with someone about whether or not fish can recognize people. My new burrfish has no issues with me or my boyfriend, but my mom walked in the room and PUFF! instantly. I say they can, and strangers make them very, very nervous.

Hey how is your ceylon doing? Is he out of the woods yet? If you have any pics of him lying around would you mind posting them? I'd love to see what a full grown ceylon looks like!

Myaj wrote:Wow, keep us updated on him, he's one tough puffer!

I just got into an arguement at work with someone about whether or not fish can recognize people. My new burrfish has no issues with me or my boyfriend, but my mom walked in the room and PUFF! instantly. I say they can, and strangers make them very, very nervous.

I agree with you Amy, Clooney and I often sit and just look at eachother but when new people come over he hides away till they have been there a while then he comes out a bit more. Then theres no stopping him show off