The Puffer Forum

I have a porcupine puffer about 6 inches long, I fed him tuesday night and while I was cutting up the thawed shrimp with tail on type over the top of the tank like I always do. I dropped a piece of shrimp the tail end that was about 2 inches long, he usually gets the tail ends anyways to help keep his teeth trimmed down. And to allow other fish to eat just not a piece that big. He seemed to take longer trying to eat it but seemed to finally get it down. Well late last night when I got home I was going to feed him a small piece of shrimp that my other fish didn't want in another tank, he tried to eat it got it about half way in his mouth then spit it out. He never rejects food, ever, I tried a snail he showed interest but then just swam away and I noticed him hovering in the tank with his tail fin fanned out and he was somewhat bending his hind end up and would take off swimming from one end of the tank to the other. I just fear that the shrimp tail got stuck on its way down to his stomach. Is there anything I can do for my little guy. I tried to look in his mouth last night to see if I could see the piece of shrimp, but I couldn't see very far into his mouth.

My guess is that he's probably OK. I don't think a shrimp would be enough to choke a puffer. It's a totally natural food for him. Maybe he just ate his fill. Do his teeth look OK?

Oh yeah his teeth are fine, He gets snails regulary along with shrimp with the shell still on. I was going to reach into the tank to get the piece of shrimp because it is as big around as my index finger and like i said maybe as long as 2 inches. But you know how they gobble stuff up he is super fast. It just looks like he is stiffened his body and has is tail curved upwards. He swims fine but won't eat. and when he was eating the huge piece he already had a chunk in his mouth chomping on it then gulped the other one in. Hopefully when I get home today he will show some interest in food. He also i acting skiddish when I come to the tank, Not doing the look at me I'm hungry look like he always does everytime I walk past the tank. but will take off and start swimming back and forth. If i didn't know better I would say he is trying to push the food down by force of swimming fast.

What else do you feed him? How often?

Crab meat, krill as treats. shrimp. squid, and scallops. every couple of days. all my fish have been eating this mixture for almost 2 years now.

Diodons have two fused dental plates so overgrowth is not a problem.

Tetradons have four fused plates that form the beak and this group is the one that has the problems and requires dentistry.

More than likely the shrimp tail might have scraped the back of the mouth/throat and caused temporary discomfort. Watch closely, he should be okay.