Found my eel dried up on carpet.

[Sythero]

So for the last three years my Snowflake eel Jumper (yes, I'm serious) has been living in my live rock/sand filled 55g FOWLR. I was upgrading to a 90g so I moved my eel to a 5gallon bucket to live in temporarily. I then put him temporarily in a 40g breeder with a clay pot and some PVC. He was freaking out and didn't know where to hide, I was going to play poker with some friends so I left. I come back four hours later and find him underneath the dresser of my 40g. I quickly emptied the tank and drawers and got him out by hand; and then into one of the buckets.
Will he be ok? How can I make my temporary 40g tank for eel-friendly? Can I put live rock in there for him? What should I do?

 

[scooter31707]

Have a secure top. they are escape artists, so every hole needs to be cover.

 

[lifeoffaith]

Depending on how long he was out he should be ok. If he's swimming around alright, he'll probably be fine. Just watch for anywhere he might have cut himself jumping and then keep an eye on any cuts. And yes, as stated above, he needs a secure top, they will find any hole in the top. I would also suggest adding some PVC piping if this is just a temporary stop for him.

 

[ThRoewer]

I would suggest to add a slimecoat restorer like Stressguard.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[m0nkie]

I think it depends on how you first handled it too. You should pour water on it first before attempting to pick it up.

anyways, if it's still breathing it still has a chance. I found my banana eel on the floor one day after WC. stayed there for 2 hours probably. He's still fine today.

while in QT, I put a piece of acrylic to cover the whole tank and an encyclopedia on top to weight it down. I used black paper to cover all 3 sides of the tank. Less light, less stress. Then I built a massive PVC pipe system, from large pipes to tiny ones where he can barely squeeze through. Use live rocks to cover the PVC entrances help. I like to make it into a cave. I'll poke the food in front of the entrance and the eel would slowly come out and snatch it. Kept him in my 20gal QT for 4 months