Blue Spotted Puffer teeth overgrowing

ac4570 · Oct 6, 2020

Hi all,

My blue spotted puffer’s teeth are starting to overgrow and I’m looking for some recommendations to combat it. Does anyone have any foods they like to use that is relatively easy to get? I’ve heard of cutting them myself, but am nervous about the use of an anesthesia without killing it. Any advice would be great! Thanks

vetteguy53081 · Oct 6, 2020

ac4570 said:
Hi all,

My blue spotted puffer’s teeth are starting to overgrow and I’m looking for some recommendations to combat it. Does anyone have any foods they like to use that is relatively easy to get? I’ve heard of cutting them myself, but am nervous about the use of an anesthesia without killing it. Any advice would be great! Thanks

Nail clippers or give it rock to gnaw on.

NeonRabbit221B · Oct 6, 2020

I buy 50 little neck clams from my local sea food place. I take the largest of them and some krill/mysis and blend my own reefing food. They freeze well too.

If you are too far past that then dental work is needed which is stressful. Keep in mind that if you don't do the dental work then the fish dies.

ac4570 · Oct 6, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:
Nail clippers or give it rock to gnaw on.

I have a fair amount of rock to gnaw on but I guess he isn’t a fan. Do you use anything to sedate? If so what is your preference?

NeonRabbit221B · Oct 6, 2020

Small Puffer Dentistry

www.wetwebmedia.com

Clove oil apparently works. I keep in on hand if I ever need to euthanize a fish (blind, severe injury, ect). Do some solid research before hand. Try clams, mussles, shrimp before trying. If he can't eat at all then it is 100% necessary

ac4570 · Oct 6, 2020

NeonRabbit221B said:
I buy 50 little neck clams from my local sea food place. I take the largest of them and some krill/mysis and blend my own reefing food. They freeze well too.

If you are too far past that then dental work is needed which is stressful. Keep in mind that if you don't do the dental work then the fish dies.

I’m willing to do anything possible to avoid death, he has the best personality I’ve had with a fish. Do you actually use a blender to crush the clams and shells down into smaller pieces. I have a ton of sea food markets nearby so I will definitely start with this. Thanks

ac4570 · Oct 6, 2020

NeonRabbit221B said:
Small Puffer Dentistry

www.wetwebmedia.com

Clove oil apparently works. I keep in on hand if I ever need to euthanize a fish (blind, severe injury, ect). Do some solid research before hand. Try clams, mussles, shrimp before trying. If he can't eat at all then it is 100% necessary

I’ve started some research on the use of clove oil. I’m still nervous of overdosing it so I need to find the right among to use. That article is great! Didn’t see that is the past. Thanks for the reply

NeonRabbit221B · Oct 6, 2020

I have never done dentistry but if you have a LFS you can ask around. Is he eating? After they are frozen I defrost in tank water for a few minutes and pop it open a tiny bit with my fingernails. I have tossed in live ones but they tend to become temporary pets and dig into the sand.

Clove oil takes about 10 minutes to put a fish down at about 5 ml/L if that helps. Not sure about strengths so you will need to do some google searching. I feel the same way about my puffer Versace. Do a fair amount of research but it is better to have tried and failed then let him slowly starve to death.

ac4570 · Oct 6, 2020

NeonRabbit221B said:
I have never done dentistry but if you have a LFS you can ask around. Is he eating? After they are frozen I defrost in tank water for a few minutes and pop it open a tiny bit with my fingernails. I have tossed in live ones but they tend to become temporary pets and dig into the sand.

Clove oil takes about 10 minutes to put a fish down at about 5 ml/L if that helps. Not sure about strengths so you will need to do some google searching. I feel the same way about my puffer Versace. Do a fair amount of research but it is better to have tried and failed then let him slowly starve to death.

I totally agree with that, I’ll try anything before I let him starve. But he’s eating still, I’ve just noticed the teeth getting long enough where it’s concerning. I was actually gonna buy some clams for dinner this weekend so he’ll get to enjoy some as well! I’ll throw a few in the freezer tomorrow when I buy them. I appreciate your help!

NeonRabbit221B · Oct 6, 2020

ac4570 said:
I totally agree with that, I’ll try anything before I let him starve. But he’s eating still, I’ve just noticed the teeth getting long enough where it’s concerning. I was actually gonna buy some clams for dinner this weekend so he’ll get to enjoy some as well! I’ll throw a few in the freezer tomorrow when I buy them. I appreciate your help!

This hobby is better when we work together. If he doesn't take to clams (which would be rare) any shellfish can be tried. I do about 2 a week and all of my fish go crazy for clams once the puffer gets it open. Kinda fun to watch all the other fish gather around and wait. Wish you luck, check back in a week if the situation doesn't improve.

ac4570 · Oct 6, 2020

NeonRabbit221B said:
This hobby is better when we work together. If he doesn't take to clams (which would be rare) any shellfish can be tried. I do about 2 a week and all of my fish go crazy for clams once the puffer gets it open. Kinda fun to watch all the other fish gather around and wait. Wish you luck, check back in a week if the situation doesn't improve.

Very true, I look forward to helping others when I have more experience. I’ll be sure to update the results so others in the same situation can see.

mort · Oct 7, 2020

It's pretty unusual for a tobie puffer to need it's teeth rasped down, some look goofier than others though. They generally get enough abrasion from their food so as long as you feed foods like mysis, krill (which have an exoskeleton that needs to be ground down), mussel, cockle (or anything that can be left on the half shell as they rasp the teeth on that) etc

Alternatively take a small rock out and wedge some food in the crevices and it will scrape the rock getting it out.

Do you have a picture of the teeth? It can be a good idea to take pics every so often so you can see if they are growing faster than they are wearing down but as I said earlier it's pretty rare we'd need to intervene.