Concern about Algae in Teeth

[landcfan]

He's just too cute!

[landcfan]

The first image is when he pulled the skin by his teeth back.
The second photo is the bitten starfish (I saw the wound, and later saw the puffer bite, so that is not just one bite mark. Only the arm seemed hurt. The white spot in the center of the starfish is just sand.)
The third photo is the starfish the next day. The wound was much less obvious, and I wasn't even sure I saw it at all (the different color is where the starfish's arm had turned. I think the white is just the crack through the middle of the arm.) So it doesn't look like the starfish is too damaged...

[InvertPlanet]

it needs dental surgery and adoption to a loving home. A dremel tool will be best in this situation and it has to be sedated.

[landcfan]

Finally, some videos:
The first video has a good view of his teeth at times.
The second video shows him retracting the skin around his mouth a few times.
The last video shows him pulling the fecal matter from an anemone (he doesn't seem to want the anemone itself, presumably because it stings.)


I forgot how to attach videos, so here are links:
http://s1244.photobucket.com/albums/...urrent=003.mp4

http://s1244.photobucket.com/albums/...urrent=012.mp4

http://s1244.photobucket.com/albums/...urrent=240.mp4

Thank you all so much!

[landcfan]

I've talked to someone else at the college who knows about fish, and he may be willing to help. I'm going to forward all this info to him. Thanks guys!

[Romad]

Originally Posted by landcfan

I've talked to someone else at the college who knows about fish, and he may be willing to help. I'm going to forward all this info to him. Thanks guys!

Good luck and keep us posted. We're all rooting for the little dude. I hope he gets fixed soon.

[InvertPlanet]

Get MS-222 from argent labs to sedate. The procedure is the same as using clove oil. You can search youtube for that. MS-222 is not carcinogenic like clove oil is. Get the smallest bottle possible as with proper care this will be the first and last time the tooth trim has to be done.

If possible, it should be video documented and held in a class situation.

The tooth trim:

Cut 1/3 the tooth away following the 45 degree angle of the tooth. Try to keep it natural. Cutting less and repeating the procedure is better than cutting too much and having a toothless puffer (prone to infection).

[landcfan]

Thanks everyone for all your help and well wishes for Scootaloo.

[landcfan]

Hey everyone! Good news! The man I mentioned a few posts ago has looked at Scootaloo, agreed that his mouth is deformed, and has agreed to help! He wants to try snails before trying the more risky trimming. Are there specific types of snails that are good for a small, tropical marine puffer like a black saddled toby? Do they need to be fed live?

I think Scootaloo may be hiding more often that usual. Is that a bad sign? Is it possible he's going into the little nooks to get help from the cleaner shrimp? I've seen them very close together at least 5 times in the last 2 days, and once (although it was hard to see) it looked like the shrimp may have been cleaning Scootaloo's teeth. I also just saw the three striped damsel go for the algae in his teeth (although he normally snaps at and chases the other fish no matter what.)

Scootaloo's mouth looks very different since my last post. He was able to get his upper lip to cover most of his upper teeth (I think there's a little less algae) but the algae is visible through the lip. It looks really uncomfortable. I've attached a photo.

At least he has a chance now!

[landcfan]

In other news, I haven seen Scootaloo's goby tankmate in two days (and didn't look over the weekend). Maybe there was another fish I should've been more worried about... I haven't seen one of the shrimp in a while, too. I've also been asking for help on a foxface in the tank, although that one's more likely to be nothing. http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/s...m-tank-108459/ A coral looks pretty bad, too...