My poor lionfish - not sure what to do

[jimxms]

I have a 2yr old Dwarf Lionfish that I love to bits but recently has started having problems eating.

When he goes to grab the food his mouth extends and then stays extended (see image below). He has managed to return his mouth to normal a few times by shaking his head or hitting his mouth against a rock, but then this puts him off his food and he refuses to eat.

I read on another forum that it might be an injury and that I should not feed him for a couple of weeks to allow it time to heal. I tried this, and today after waiting 2 weeks I tried to feed him again, and now his mouth has been stuck open all day

Do I need to consider putting him down, or is there anything else that can be done?

 

[Dmorty217]

You could try a hospital tank with antibiotics. I would guess it's caused by a injury of some sort. You could get stuff to sedate and force feed but you still have to fix the root of the problem

 

[Dkuhlmann]

What are you feeding him? I've seen this more than a few times here on RC when feeding certain foods can cause this. I would switch food and see if it doesn't go away.

They might have been feeding mostly Krill if I remember right.

 

[Sounds Fishy]

That may be a dislocation of it's jaw.As long as it does not lose it's appetite ,and still manages to consume food,there is hope.I would consider feeding small bits of food that you normally feed it.I do not think anyone can predict the outcome,of this ,for you...good luck
I have had several Lionfish(Volantin),over 40 years,and never experienced,that,however I've come across it here on the RC forums a few times..

 

[jimxms]

Thanks for the quick replies everyone. I have been feeding him mostly frozen prawns along with occasional live river shrimp. He also sometimes chooses to eat flake food.

He still wants to eat, but when he realises that he cant he just goes off in a huff.

It's been two weeks now and the only thing I've managed to get him to eat is one prawn. I'm not sure how long he can be expected to live without starving to death?

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Have you asked in the Disease forum or searched Google for possible cures?

 

[jimxms]

Have you asked in the Disease forum or searched Google for possible cures?

I've searched google, and most of what I've seen has been attributed to a diet of krill (lockjaw) or a dislocated jaw from striking an object while trying to eat.

My guess is that my lionfish has the latter, mainly because I saw him try on a few occasions to eat my boxing shrimp and end up striking at a rock.

However it seems the only remedy for dislocation is to not feed the lionfish and allow the jaw to set. I have tried this for 2 weeks, but it has not helped and now my worry is that my lionfish is going to starve to death.

This leaves me with only two options as far as I can see. Either put him out of his misery, or try and syringe feed him. If I try to syringe feed him, it will mean removing him from the tank once a week which may be more stressful than starving so I don't know what the best option is.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Go ahead and copy your first post here and post it in the disease forum and see if you get any answers. Don't quote me on this but I think I remember reading that Epsom salts has helped with this. Might do a search on that.