Amazon Puffer Bit Off More Than They Can Chew

[Schwack]

Well, this certainly isn't something I had considered when keeping Amazon puffers. Apparently, one of my little dummies tried to chomp on a bladder snail that was a bit too big for their mouth. At the moment, they don't seem too upset about the whole situation... still begging for food like they do every time I come near the tank, but obviously leaving a snail stuck in their mouth is going to become a problem eventually. If I had to guess, it's been in their mouth for a few hours. It wasn't there when I checked them in the morning, I only noticed it as I was walking past about an hour ago.

Anyone else had something like this happen? How long should I wait before trying to help? Should I bother with sedation or just go for a small container and some tweezers? I'm a bit nervous about hurting the little guy, but the alternative is worse. I've attached a few pictures of the little goofball.

[lefty o]

not a puffer, but i had a gar do it once. when the gar was about 3", it ate a minnow that was at least 2" long. it just took it a long time to get it down.

[BETTA999]

i would recomend catching him and pulling it out with twezzers

[Flumpweesel]

Super cute especially pic 2.

I had a goldfish get a large algae wafer stuck once he figured out how to get rid of it eventually . A bit of puzzle solving is good enrichment

[Levi_Aquatics]

I would probably let it go for maybe another hour and if he doesn't figure it out by then I would just try to pull it out with a pair of tweezers. Make sure you don't take him out of the water though because he might puff up with air and I've heard that is very bad for them.

[Odd Duck]

@Schwack Has your puffer resolved the issue or did you have to help?

[Schwack]

On 2/2/2022 at 3:18 PM, Odd Duck said:

@Schwack Has your puffer resolved the issue or did you have to help?

I tried to net him on the first night, but if you've ever tried to snag a SAP you probably know how crafty they are when a net is in the water. Unlike basically every other fish I've owned, their first instinct seems to be to shoot straight down and burrow around in the substrate to get by the net. Fortunately, the stuff in their tank is nice and soft so no harm done, but I didn't want to press the issue until I was sure it wouldn't resolve on its own.

Next day I came down in the morning and the shell had been expelled! Little river pigs are back to begging for food every time I stand up. Gave them a piece of frozen shrimp this evening... little hogs ripped it right out of the tweezers. Gonna need a few days of fasting after tonight!

https://i.imgur.com/xf10iSV.mp4

I wish my phone did a better job picking things up in the weird lighting, but it's good enough for a silly video of fat fish.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Schwack