[ehubbard]

I have two pea puffers in my 30 gallon community tank. I woke up to see my female with some weird thing sticking out of her lip. I’m not sure what it is or how serious it is. I feel like it could possibly be a part of a snail shell but i’m not sure. Should i leave it and let it fall out on its own or should i do something??

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[aidan_1549]

This forum is mostly for betta fish, but I'm sure we can help if we can!


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[aidan_1549]

If you think is a piece of shell I would leave it and let it go on it's own, so you don't stress the fish.


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[RussellTheShihTzu]

Even though this is a Betta Forum, we are here to help any critter we can. We do not discriminate.

How long has she had whatever it is stuck in her mouth? You don't indicate your country so we don't know if it's a full day or just an hour or so.

Is she acting normally? Trying to eat? Opening and closing her mouth frequently as if trying to dislodge? The conundrum is trying to pull it out if it's something she'd swallowed could hurt her but it it doesn't dislodge on its own that could her her, too.

As long as she's active and able to eat I'd give her some time.

There are several people on the Forum who have Puffers; hoping one of them will see this. If you don't receive response I'll make this a double post in "Other Fish."

 

[ehubbard]

It’s been in there for about two days. She is swimming around and looking for food but i’m not sure if she can eat her food. Also i’m so sorry! I didn’t realize this was just for bettas i thought it was just fish emergencies and diseases!


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[RussellTheShihTzu]

As I explained this Forum is absolutely NOT just for Betta! We gave members experienced with all species of fish. And your issue is not Puffer-specific; it could happen to a Betta as well.

Have you made any attempt to remove it? Does it appear to continue at the same length from his mouth? Can you answer the questions in Post #3?

I'll copy this to the "Other Fish" section for you should anyone check there but not here.

 

[ehubbard]

I have not tried to remove it because i’m scared in case it might cause some other issues. It seems to be about the same length no shorter or longer. To answer the questions from #3, she does seem to be acting normally, she is trying to eat, she’s not opening and closing her mouth a lot she just kind of leaves it open, and it’s been stuck in her mouth for probably around 4 days now. Should I try to remove it at this point? Also thank you so much for all your help!


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[Veloran]

I'm not expert on puffers, but if she's impaled herself on something, you may have to remove it. My dad had a goldfish that tried sampled a rock once and got it lodged in his mouth, had to use tweezers to get it out.
We didn't use any sedation. If you try to remove it, when you take her out, make sure to cover her with a wet paper towel or something else to minimize her movement. If she did impale herself, you may also want to consider some aquarium salt for a few days to make sure there's no infection taking hold.
It's not an easy task, but if she's had it for 5 days now with no sign of it deteriorating or falling off, you may have to.