Fish not eating for quite a while and mouth open

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Manky Sanke
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Re: Fish not eating for quite a while and mouth open

Post by Manky Sanke »

David,

This is very much Duncan's area but here's a suggestion about feeding peas. When I first heard of this, the idea was that constipation could cause swim bladder problems and that peas might help. It was said that, to prove that the peas had actually passed through the gut rather than also being trapped inside, the peas should be squeezed to break the skin but otherwise left whole. That way the undigested shell would pass through and could be seen on the floor (especially if the fish was separated in a tank) and would confirm that the fish wasn't constipated.
lbt
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Re: Fish not eating for quite a while and mouth open

Post by lbt »

Thanks for the suggestion - it makes sense.

However we haven't been able to bring the QT online yet. The focus has been on getting the main pond filter area sorted whilst the weather lets us dig and lay concrete.
That means that there's zero chance of seeing anything pass through :/

We actually took the skin off and mushed them up and spooned some into her mouth. She spat a lot out but we hope some got into her digestive system.
And then I guess we're just hoping that she does (still, after multiple weeks) have constipation of some sort that this will clear ... and then that it will somehow, magically, help her swim bladder recover.
Not the most likely outcome but it seems that it's all she has right now.
Manky Sanke
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Re: Fish not eating for quite a while and mouth open

Post by Manky Sanke »

I must admit that I've never needed to try this but, if you could see the undigested shells on the floor, it would quickly show that a suspected swim bladder problem wasn't due to constipation. My wife used to feed sweetcorn as treat and we could see the shells the bottom of the pond until the bottom drain got them.
lbt
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Re: Fish not eating for quite a while and mouth open

Post by lbt »

So I thought I'd post an update ... it's a month on and things are not looking too bad but there's more healing to happen.

Where we left it she had buoyancy and orientation problems : she had a nose-down attitude and couldn't stay upright. She always settled on to her right side and she permanently swam in circles to her right.

After she'd stopped eating we gave her the peas and left her a couple of days.

Thinking it could be a bacterial infection in her bladder we gave her a 4 hour Chloramine-T bath and returned her to the pond.

Since she was not doing much we thought we had little to lose and soaked some food and fed her by hand. I got the food on my finger and pushed it into her mouth and down towards her throat. I kept this up and after about a week and it seemed to have given her more energy. When she swam off after a feed she'd be temporarily more upright which (to me) pointed to getting air in during the feed and hence bladder issues. She was still having problems and would quickly settle to her side on the bottom.

Oh, I also gave her 'physio' and bent her body both left and right during the feeds - again just on the off chance that this was some kind of brain/nervous system thing. Impossible to be sure but when I did it she seemed to swim off in a straighter line.

We said we'd give her 2 weeks.

One day after a week and a half we came to the pond and she was swimming with a (mainly) normal orientation \o/ :D

Since then she recovered more and more and now she has 'normal' buoyancy.

The 'but' parts: she still appears to swim almost exclusively to the right and we've not seen her eat yet.
At first she only swam to the right - not straight and not left. This last week or so she's been coasting in straight lines and making gentle turns to the left. Her usual activity is swimming mid-water in circles to the right.

Her mouth is looking a lot normal too - she doesn't seem to reach with her top jaw but otherwise it looks fine. She does root around on the bottom a bit so she may be looking for food but it's really hard to tell.
Given that, I've decided to keep feeding her by hand but it's getting hard now as she's struggling a lot more at first - certainly masses more strength and resistance than a month ago.

Anyhow ... just thought I'd let you all know.
Manky Sanke
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Re: Fish not eating for quite a while and mouth open

Post by Manky Sanke »

Well done for your persistence, it seems to have paid off with good positive progress. Keep us updated.
lbt
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Re: Fish not eating for quite a while and mouth open

Post by lbt »

Final update I hope :)

She's a lot better now but definitely not a prime specimen :)
Still mainly swims in (large) circles to the right and her body looks a little bit asymmetrical; she definitely seems a bit 'clumsy' so she'll bump up against things sometimes. Buoyancy is pretty good although she does rest on the bottom very occaionally. Oh and she does eat by herself; I've not fed her since October and we've seen her take sunk pellets.

I do suspect a minor stroke type thing with a reasonable but not perfect recovery.

General "thanks" for the advice and encouragement :)
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Re: Fish not eating for quite a while and mouth open

Post by Manky Sanke »

Your welcome and thanks for the update. It's always nice to get feedback as to the outcome.
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