HELP!! Porcupine Puffer might be sick.

alfredshouse · #1 02-22-2009, 06:55 PM

New baby puffer hasnt been eating and since this morning has a bruise on the left eye. Puffer is housed in a 135gl with small Valentini Puffer and small Stars and Stripes Puffer. I have attached a picture any insight on what this could be?

Thanks!!!!

GreenSpottedPuffer · #2 02-22-2009, 07:37 PM

How big is the Stars and Stripes (I know you said small but even 8" or 10" is small for a S&S

)? Looks like it COULD be a bite mark but hard to tell. Any aggression? Some puffers will go for the eyes when fighting.

A 135G is way too small for a Stars and Stripes (pushing it for a porc really), so hopefully he is going to at least a 200G eventually or you may have problems.

If you haven't seen aggression then it could be some kind of infection. Is the eye cloudy at all? Doesn't look like it from the picture I guess. Are you sure its not just his coloring? How long have you had him?

alfredshouse · #3 02-22-2009, 07:55 PM

Stars and Stripes is about 3 inches and they dont seem to mind each other. I havent seen any aggression, but who knows at night. It doenst really look like a bite to me, it looks more like a bruise. I got him on Friday from JL and I havent been able to get him to eat yet. Im planning on a 300gl for them in the future and using the 135 for a sump. Thank you for your help and I loved your comment about my free fish ad. LOL

GreenSpottedPuffer · #4 02-22-2009, 08:27 PM

LOL. Well it just seemed funny to ask "only one?" when someone is offering a free fish!

Anyway...If you don't see aggression and the porc seems to be acting ok then I wouldn't worry too much at this point. Get him eating first.

Generally S&S and Porcs get along very well, so I doubt you will have problems.

If he really won't eat, try soaking some prawn in garlic and putting it on a feeding stick. Keep the S&S away somehow (good luck) and try gently rubbing the food right on the porc mouth. He will probably shy away but kind of persist and try like once an hour for a while. Don't stress him too much but just kind of follow him with the food on a stick and rub it on his teeth. Eventually they will often bite either realizing its food or out of frustration. Either way, he will probably like it and want more

Just keep trying meaty foods like prawn or squid to start. Although squid is harder to chew, so I would stick to prawn for now.

If that doesn't work, I have other ways that have worked but thats usually the best.

Good luck!

He is very, very cute

GreenSpottedPuffer · #5 02-22-2009, 08:31 PM

This looks like Puffer teeth marks to me but its hard to tell. You will be able to see better. Does it look like two "U" shapes? Like this: ()

my2rotties · #6 02-22-2009, 08:59 PM

OMG!!! They are so cute when they are babies.

My big puffer was really picky with eating, unless it was a clownfish. To keep the bioload down in my tank, I get the raw seafood mix from the supermarket. It has squid, cuttlefish, mussels, clams, octopus and prawns or shrimp in it. I put it all in my blender with a few cloves of garlic, selcon and RO water. I blend it up (fried my blender the last time), put it out onto a cookie sheet and freeze it. I then cut it into cubes and Griffie (my puffer) goes nuts for it.

He devours it and would eat himself to death if I kept feeding him since he is bottomless. All the other fish come and wait for him to eat since he chows it down and tidbits blow out his gills. Because the uneaten portions melt and go into my overflow, into filter socks and the skimmer, my tank stay very clean. I have no spikes in ammonia or nitrates at all anymore.

When I tried prawns or shrimp he did not care for it and they would be rotting on the bottom of my tank. This has worked very well for me and Griffie and he is very healthy and robust. I don't know how well I am duplicating his natural diet but he is doing very well.

Good luck with your baby, he is adorable. I think GSP is right about the bite and perhaps he got it at the store prior to coming home with you. You may not have noticed it until now, since you have had a chance to admire him for awhile.

This is what you little baby will look like some day. My guy is huge and is about 9" long now. He has grown a little since I bought him. One of the pictures he has puffed up (my tang got in the way of the shot), and he does this whenever he has eaten something (snails) he shouldn't and needs to digest it.

alfredshouse · #7 02-23-2009, 03:01 AM

His eye is now cloudy and I cant get him to eat. Ive tried feeding him with a target skewer and he wont take it. Ive tried food soaked in garlic, mysis, clam, squid and krill. He is very inactive and Im really worried. Any advice is really appreciated. thanks!!

GreenSpottedPuffer · #8 02-23-2009, 04:27 AM

Bump...anyone have a good med for treating an eye infection you can recommend?

my2rotties · #9 02-23-2009, 05:44 AM

Does your little guy have places to hide. I know Griffie loves his caves and tunnels. I also know Griffie is more nocturnal, and is pretty inactive during the day. When he came home I spent hours building tunnels and caves for my puffer.

Perhaps after lights out you might see the little fellow venture out more. He is so tiny perhaps he is a little overwhelmed with all the attention and activity. I know with the food Griff did not have much interest in prawns and such. He really LOVES the frozen pureed blend of seafood mix I mentioned before.

I also noticed Griff did not have a huge interest in food for the first few days after coming home. He did eat, but until I started making his "puffer chow", he was not anything like his now. He ate my clownfish before he ate prawns.

I don't know what medication you can give him. My LFS gave me orange gel caps for my sick Majestic angel. I never asked what they were since I was more concerned about making her better and getting instructions on dosing the meds.

I hope we are all concerned about nothing and he just needs time to adapt. I have never seen such a little puffer before. I would imagine he is very overwhelmed with being caught, transported, going to the store and now a new tank. That is a lot for a little baby to absorb in a short period of time. I am hoping the bite might be from the LFS prior to him coming home. GIve him a little space to hide from everyone else at night time in case he is being picked on by the others.

Was he in a tank with other puffers at the store?

alfredshouse · #10 02-23-2009, 03:09 PM

found him this morning dead.