Help with brood pouch GBD in erectus please!

[lunarlanderboy]

My male erectus has brood pouch GBD I guess. At first I thought he was pregnant- he eats very well and has grown about 50% larger since I got him. Recently, he and his mate started doing the dancing thing and his pouch slowly got bigger over a period of about 3 weeks but now I have noticed that he is having buoyancy problems. When he is anchored to something he is fine but whenever he lets go he has to fight to not float to the top. Now his pouch is pretty swollen also. I have read a ton of info online about how to restrain the seahorse and gently and firmly squeeze with a rolling motion upward but I have attempted this about 5 separate times now and nothing happens. I recently tried the bobby pin thing and still nothing. I assume I am doing it wrong but I'm not being squeamish about it and I really already feel like I am pushing harder than I should and obviously the seahorse is not too excited about the whole thing. Any advice on tricks of the trade or something I may be overlooking would be great. The whole experience has been a pretty traumatic one...

 

[JennyL]

I have always found when doing a pouch evacuation that it's important to give the horse a chance to relax a bit before you begin.
Let him hitch to your little finger, he will feel much more secure this way and give him a minute to settle down and it will be easier to get him to open his pouch.

 

[namxas]

IME, most male SH have a tendency to really tighten up their pouches, and the best way to do an evac is to use an I-V catheter sleeve (no needle). works like a charm every time.

 

[rayjay]

I used a rubber tipped bobby pin my wife supplied me with.
Do women still use these things for their hair?