At a lose for what to do next

[BabyB]

I have a Porcupine Puffer that i have taken care for about 4 years now. A few weeks ago i walked in to the living room and did my morning checks and he was laying in a cave not moving, pretty normal behavior for these puffers but what wasnt normal was he didnt come see me when he say me at the tank. Finally he came more in view and i could see he had about 1.5-2" of intestines hanging out of his butt. I had noticed that for about 3 days prior his belly was much larger than normal but figured he had been snacking on snails and clams that i have in there for him.

The only thing i had on hand was Melafix and i dosed that and after a few hours it was gone. i continued to dose just in case. he did not swim for 3 days after than happened.

my concern is every time i feed him the next day his intestines hand out like that. he obviously has a blockage but i have no idea how to help him out. For freshwater fish you just throw a little salt in the tank and problem solved. i cannot feel around to see whats going on because every time i even get near touching him he puffs and i dont want to stress him out more.
i have googled and cannot find anything about what to do.

and if it makes a difference a lot you guys would recognize the puffer as Baby from Wet Pets. i just cannot give up on the guy, ive taken care of him from day one of being in their display tank and ive had him in my home tank for almost a year. any input would greatly be appreciated

 

[chaderic26]

Can you post a pic, I was thinking that maybe it was a parasite and not an intestine since it was gone in a couple hours. imho

Another idea would be to email the people at wetwebmedia.com I usually email them when I have an odd ball question and don't want to sift through the forums. They also have a bunch of archived emails of other people that have had puffer questions among other things.

 

[BabyB]

when it happens again i will try to snap a shot. it is without question his intestine.

for a few hours i sifted through the archives of WWM and didnt find anything that was close to helping with the situation.

 

[pierced_rainbow]

well I was gonna say get a hold of B or Shandell at Wet Pets, they are the puffer girls. But I bet you have already talked to shandell about it. Wish I could be more help but not much personal experience with puffers other than what we had at the store.

 

[BabyB]

someone on the main site suggested pees and to be honest i could kick myself for not thinking of that. i mean how many times have i had to do that at the store lol

and congratulations on the news for you and Adam!

 

[pierced_rainbow]

As Mike would say D'oh! Peas are a good idea hope that works for you. I know your fishies are like your kids.

Thanks! I have an ultrasound scheduled for the 21rst to verify how far along I am.

 

[BabyB]

Update on Baby the puffer: I ended up dosing Metron and feeding frozen peas for a week or so. I am still feeding him the peas just because he loves them. I would have bet money that he would not touch the peas but he devourers them!

Its been about 2 weeks since it happened last. I think ( fingers crossed) we are out of the woods with him

 

[Lightsluvr]

What an interesting thread!

I learned something new and fascinating.

Thanks.

LL

 

[bobkill]

Who would of thought - peeas - gross- but glad to hear you saved another life

 

[Doomed]

Great ending to a scary situation! I'm glad all is well!