Radiata Lockjaw Surgery

[rwhhunt]

Hello All,
Well, I have an unfortunate scenario. I have had a Radiata Lionfish for about 8-9 months now, and am in need of some advice to help save her life. Upon first ordering and receiving Bella from my LFS, I got her with a torn wing, which I was told would heal in a few weeks to a month or two... Well, the tear was so far down to her body, it retears when she stretches her wings out, so it has never healed. I battled a serious case of ick a few months back, and defeated it after much time and vitamin and garlic enriched foods... But a little less than a month ago, i noticed a peculiar thing, it appears that her mouth is stuck, dislocated or "off track".... basically the capacity of which she can open has been significantly reduced, and she is VERY hesitant to strike at Any food. I have been able to get her to eat a couple small pieces of krill here and there, but overall, she has eaten very little over the past few weeks... I fear that if I do not do something soon she will surely die of starvation... The ick that she had a few months ago stressed her out such that the tips of her wings deteriorated off, and I believe that the stress of having a torn wing now for sooo long has also put her in a "depressed" condition...

Here is a pic of the mouth that is dislocated or something...

My roommates have suggested that I might try catching her and using a clean sharp razor blade and cut the membrane in the middle of the mouth right above the lip, and maybe it would close and heal back properly.... I am not sure if that is where the problem is, but if I do nothing, it would ultimately be worse... it should be noted that she can open and strike a little bit, and I think is saw her eat a small piece of mysis (or at least try, last night). In that past the only way to get her to eat is to dangle a piece of krill on a "wire" and she seems Very interested but wont strike, and when she does try, her mouth wont open all the way, usually misses or cant get it in, then gets frustrated and swims off...

any suggestions with what I can do for the jaw????


ALSO, it has been months and there has been no regeneration of any of her wings, (partly due to the insufficient diet) but I f can bandage or splint up this wing, it may improve her outlook, and help in a recovery... If I end up doing somesort of lion "surgery", I might as well, fix her wing while I am at it.... What should I use to bandage this wing up so it will heal????

I would like something strong, and maybe even biodegradable.... but I would probably shy away from anything metal...

Is there anything I can do?????

THANK YOU

-Ryan

 

[FMarini]

ryan-
i'm a little lost here- the picts are great, but i don't see what you mean by membrane you want to cut. Is there something that you believe is affixing the jaw from opening? That membrane you mention above the top lip is suposed to be there, in this fish it appears to be stretched, but its not overgrown. usually lock jaw is in the oppostie direction, ie, they can't close their jaw. So I'm not sure what to say-
will this fish strike at food? if yes, then isolate it and feed it small food chunks, i would also recommend you get small live ghost shrimp (this time of the year most ghost shrimp are tiny). You need this fish eating, esp after all the treatments you've put it thru. Don't worry about the pec fin rays, once their is more nutrition in the fish they will regrow. Thats the least of this fishes worry.
More details about her ability or lack there of-
during eating. You mention she will strike, but her jaws don't open? got a movie?

 

[Rondelet]

An interesting case!

I agree with Fmarini, it all probability the fin is not healing due to a nutritional deficit. Anything you do to splint (or otherwise tie closed) the fin will probably just damage it because the membranes between the fin rays are so thin. As for the jaw, the jaw articulates from a series of bones on the side and front of the head - mostly involving the premaxilla, maxilla (top) and mandible (bottom) (amongst others). The membrane you want to cut mostly connects the maxilla with the fixed bones in the skull (mainly the ethmoid and preobital) (have look here: http://www2.biology.ualberta.ca/jackson.hp/IWR/Content/Anatomy/Jaw_Mechanics/index.php). Cutting this membrane will do nothing to fix the jaw if it's "locked" into a particular position (either open or closed), except to cause further inflammation and possibly infection. I suspect that your fish has something stuck in its jaw (like a bone) or so inflammation that is causing the stiffness. This may be related to the bumps on the check (which cover the preobital bone) - which seem unusual to me. Unfortunately, there is not much I can suggest to fix the problem. Fmarini's ghost shrimp idea is a probably the best you can do. You could seek out a vet with experience with surgery in fish to see if the jaw can be opened up. My guess is, however, that the fish would not survive such a procedure.

 

[FMarini]

Thanks Rondelet- I couldn't have said it better....
I am still of the opinion that cutting the membrane will do nothing, the explaination to why the jaw doesn't articulate fully is unclear. I like the inflammation idea thou.
But you gotta get this fish eating first

 

[TerryB]

Unfortunatley, it is an all too common occurrance for lionfish to break their jaw in an aquarium when striking at food. I have seen this personally on more than one occasion. Typically they are excited and striking at live food when all the lights are on. I suspect that these fish see a little better in dim lighting. You can feed smaller foods such as krill, but typically these fish won't eat much. I have to wonder if it is painful for them to move the jaw.

The only real hope that I can offer is to take the fish to a public aquarium or to a vet qualified in aquatic medicine (good luck they are rare). Do not attempt any sort of surgery yourself. You could be dangerously wounded and injected with a toxin. A vet will sedate the fish so it won't move around.

Terry B

 

[rwhhunt]

Thank You for all of your responses! The cutting of the jaw wasnot my idea, but my roommates, and I wasnt to sure about it from the get-go... She will strike occasionally...Ive seen it maybe three or four times in as many weeks... but her jaw wont open all the way, and will generally just bump the food away... I had been using a feeding stick because if I just dropped food in there, once it hit the bottom all interest was lost, and she wasnt "quick" enough to see it and strike it on the way down... as far as the wing goes, for the first 5 months or so, she was eating like a champion! Several pieces of krill soaked in cyclopeeze, garlic, zoe, and spectrum, she grew a lot, but since the cut was so deep, there was no chance of it regrowing without som assistance to keep it from seperating so far.... I am hesistant in trying to do anything myslef, and remembe rreading of a sedative that will temporarily paralyze them such you can handle them...but still, the risk of getting stung is hhigh, and I really dont want to get injected...
I do go to UGA, and I can see if anyone here has ever done any "fish" surgery...

 

[Puffer Queen]

Was the lion eating solely enriched krill - freeze dried?

Kelly

 

[rwhhunt]

i feed thawed frozen krill with additives, with an occasional mix of chunks of gulf shrimp, scallops, & live gut packed (w/cyclopeze)ghost shrimp

 

[Puffer Queen]

Any updates?

Kelly