GSP Dentist

[rwhhunt]

I have a Green Spotted Puffer in my 20G coastal brackish tank (closer to marine at 1.020) I have been feeding him krill and scallops for quite sometime now, and he hasnt been eating much recently... upon closer inspection i think his teeth may have grown too much to effectively tear up krill...
When he goes for food he will try to bite it, rather unsuccesfully, then twitch and contort his face... I have another Hawiian blue spotted puffer that takes his densistry into his own hands by probably bitting rocks or something, b/c i feed him the same stuff and sometimes his teeth will be chipped and worn down....
Is there something that I can feed that will help wear down his teeth so he can eat again??

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y39/rwhhunt/IMGP1883.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y39/rwhhunt/IMGP1884.jpg

[Dave Legacy]

You can start out by feeding some shelled foods and see if that helps out. My personal favorite is "baby clams on a half shell" which can be found at a lot of LFSs in the frozen food section. You could also feed snails if you can get your hands on them.

If it's really bad you need to knock out the puffer and trim the beak manually. Check out www.thepufferforum.com for the details. Basically you put him in some water with some clove oil and it traquilizes your puffer. Then you trim with some nail clippers or (in the event of large puffers) a dremel tool.

Neat tank, BTW. Plan for a upgrade if you're going to keep him. =)

[VolitanLioness]

You can also read, Pufferfish Dentistry: By Kelly Jedlicki and Anthony Calfo http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i1/puffer_dentistry/puffer2.htm


Kaye