911 for Dragon Goby

N

Nanna

Reef Freak
It looks like my Dragon Goby has a shell lodged in his mouth. Any suggestions how I can help him before he starves to death?
 
Geez that's a tough one! I'd give it a couple days to see if it can get it out itself. If it hasn't managed to fix itself by that time, I think your only option is to try to catch it and remove it by hand (but that sounds like it'd be a nightmare).
 
Thanks for responding to my problem. This is day 3 so we are going to try to catch Digger. I'm afraid it may be next to impossible, but I have to try. I can't just sit by and watch him slowly starve to death.

What would the clove oil be for? I don't have any of that but I do have several other essential oils.
 
Its a sedative. Put in a few cc's with a gallon, wait 20 minutes and see if hes still moving. If so, add more, if not then you can operate.

You can get it at any pharmacy.
 
Thanks Kyle, I'll pick up some tomorrow. My husband is making me a clear net to catch Digger with instead of using a regular fish net. I figure he is stressed enough having the shell stuck in his mouth so hopefully using a clear net and the clove oil will make the process as easy as possible on Digger.

Edit: Kyle: after I "operate" should I move Digger to another gallon of water so he wakes up, or how long does the clove oil last?
 
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Be really careful using that clove oil stuff, you could accidentally kill him you OD. i personally wouldnt use it, but if you do, only use enough to make him drowsy
 
I really don't see how someone is going to be able to catch a fish in their hands then remove something from its mouth if it is not anesthetized in some way. After being moved from the display, it's going to be super stressed and I wouldn't be surprised if the stress from the "surgery" gave it a heart attack.

I think you'd have to use some sort of sedative to avoid literally scaring it to death.
 
I've never used it before, so I did some googling, and these were helpful:

Anesthetize Fish?

This references koi (which are obviously much bigger than your goby), but perhaps you can look for the same behavioral signals to know when it's okay to handle the fish.
 
Awesome news, Digger has finally dislodged the shell himself and is eating! I was feeding a piece of sheet algae and he came out of his hole and caught several small pieces. His mouth looks terrible, really torn up but hopefully that will heal without any issues. I was so excited to see him swimming around, catching the food and swallowing it. Yesterday he could not even catch any food much less swallow it. I'm so glad he did it on his own. I was really nervous about trying to catch him and do surgery. I'll keep everyone posted on Digger's progress. Thank you to everyone for your concern and comments.
 
Bifferwine said:
I've never used it before, so I did some googling, and these were helpful:

Anesthetize Fish?

This references koi (which are obviously much bigger than your goby), but perhaps you can look for the same behavioral signals to know when it's okay to handle the fish.
Click to expand...


Thanks Biff, this was a very interesting read and makes me feel better if I ever have to use the clove oil.
 
Digger seems to be a little stronger today. I've seen him swimming around the tank more. He's very slow at eating with all the damage to his mouth so I'm really trying to target feed him. I hate feeding flake food but he seems to do best with that right now. Hopefully in a few days he'll get back to eating frozen like the rest of his tank mates.
 

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