Puffer Teeth, GSP  2/17/08
Hello Crew,
<Hi, Pufferpunk here>
I tried doing some Green Spotted Puffer dentistry, man is that hard to do on a little one inch slimy fish!
<Hmmm... never found puffers to be very slimy. More like sandpaper.>
He had a big point on the bottom teeth, the tops had a little point also. I snipped both little points but he is still having problems with things sticking to or in his teeth. Do I need to use a little file on them or did I do something wrong?
<Maybe you didn't cut them short enough. Did you pull back the lips to see the true length of the teeth? Did you cut straight across?>
I need to get him (Icarus T. Fish) a bigger tank but I am trying to move and $$ are tight. I rescued him from Wal-Mart. He was the only one in the tank, the others had passed away. =(
<By "rescuing" fish from Wal-Mart or any other store that treats their livestock poorly, you only encourage them to purchase more. Best to support a LFS that does right by their fish, than encourage bad stores to restock.>
So far, the only thing he wants to eat are the ghost shrimp and a meal worm (which sticks in his teeth).
<Ghost shrimp must be gut-loaded with healthy foods, before feeding them to your puffer. Mealworms have an outer skin (Chiton), that is extremely difficult for a puffer to digest.>
I have to catch him and take the thing out of his mouth. I have some snails in there but they are to big for him to eat. I can't find small ones anywhere.
<Try crushing them.>
I tried blood worms but he won't eat them either. The ghost shrimp LOVE the blood worms.
<Well then, at least they are gut-loaded after all.>
I even put a little neon tetra in there. I thought he might eat that but he just likes to watch that fish.
<It's not good to force a FW fish to live in BW, I'd put the neon in a FW environment.>
I have a mussel in the tank but "ICKY" just turns his tail to that and swims away.
<Be sure to remove after about 15 minutes.>
I have even tried the frozen krill. He will nip at it but that is about all. I even soaked a piece in some garlic water but he didn't show any more interest than before. Is there something else I can try?
Here are a few puffer feeding articles for you to read:
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library/category/feeding/>
Thank you for any help you can give me. I did get the clove oil and cuticle nippers and tried the dental procedure. I just wonder if I did it wrong.
<It's hard for me to tell without pictures.>
Have a great Puffer Day!
<Good luck with Icky, I'm sure he'll be eating soon. ~PP>

Puffer Fish Teeth  2-14-08
Hello Crew,
I love your website, it is wonderfully informative! I am wondering about the Small Puffer dentistry, "Toothache Kit" that is in the picture. Is that what was used on the puffer, or did you just use the Clove Oil and the nail clippers?
I don't know if my little green puffer needs a tooth job, but he gets things stuck in his teeth. I have had to catch him twice now and remove the worm, or ghost shrimp part that he couldn't "Puff out" of his mouth. He squeaks a little, but didn't puff up, which made me happy.
Thank you for your time,
Penny
<Hi Penny. For a "pufferfish dentistry kit" people have their own variations, but the plain vanilla kit that works is clove oil, cuticle (not nail) clippers, and a 1-litre plastic container. Fill the container with water from the aquarium, add the clove oil, and stir. Get pufferfish in net, place net in litre tub, and wait for fish to settle down. It doesn't get completely anaesthetised; rather, it simply slows down and becomes easier to hold with less pressure, which means it's easier for you to work without harming the fish. Clip the teeth with the cuticle cutters, and then remove puffer in the net back to the tank, and place in the water current so it gets lots of fresh water. After a couple minutes, let it swim free. I personally found it useful to do a "dry run" without the cutting, just so I could get over the catching and sedating and then re-awakening the puffer. Once you get a feel for that, it's less stressful for you when you add the cutting to the process. And as ever with animals, if the owner is less stressed and more confident, the animal reacts much more positively. Cheers, Neale.>

Trimming Puffer Teeth 6/7/07
Hi,
<Hi Kim, Pufferpunk here>
You guys have provided me with an enormous amount of help in the past and I thought I would pass along some information about a fairly obscure topic that is very difficult to find an answer to on the web.
<OK, thanks!>
A while back, I had a problem with my puffer teeth growing too long. I found information on your site for trimming large puffers teeth by using a Dremel.
<Kelly Jedlicki's article.>
This was not going to work for my small puffers as I was afraid I would take their whole head off with such a large tool!
<Hmmm... I gather you didn't find the one I wrote?
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/smpufferdentistry.htm>
I finally found a safe way (by combining info from your site and a few other sites) to trim their teeth and just wanted to pass the info along as I have run into quite a few people who did not know what to do with their growing puffer teeth and even some who had their puffer die because they were no longer able to open their mouth to eat. I have done this 5 or 6 times with complete success. I have done it on both my figure 8 and my green spotted puffer. I purchased Finquel from Doctors Foster and Smith's website and I use a 1/4 teaspoon of the Finquel and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda (to stabilize the ph, this is a crucial step) in a gallon of their own aquarium water. I mix it well with a plastic spoon and then add an air stone. I then add the puffer and in about 10 minutes or so (actually about 13 minutes for my figure 8 and 8 minutes for my GSP--it's funny how their tolerance varies just like people). They are just about out cold and then I wrap them in a hand towel soaked in aquarium water and trim their teeth with a pair of cuticle scissor (the fancy kind that retracts when you release the handle.) Be very careful not to cut their skin (I never have but always fear that I will.) I then place them in a gallon of regular tank water that I have set aside previously. After letting them return to normal, (don't freak out, they will act dead and then jumpy when coming to,) I release them back into the tank with a set of shorter teeth! Hope this helps some puffer lovers.
<Thanks for the suggestion of using Finquel. This is the same is the same tranquilizer that Kelly has been using for 10 years on larger puffers, mentioned in the article you read. What I didn't know was that this is offered by Drs. Foster & Smith. As far as I know, she was getting it from her vet. I will post the availability of Finquel on my pufferforum & this letter will be posted in our FAQs, so I hope more folks will be aware of it's availability.
~PP>

Re: Trimming Puffer Teeth 6/10/07
Dear Pufferpunk,
I never have read your article. I wonder why I was not able to find it?
<<RMF does too... is linked in many places... Google et al. directories crawl our sites in real time...>>
It is comforting to know that I have been doing it right!
<You did great. >
BTW, when I saw that it was you that responded to my email, I was like, oh boy, I'm not telling her anything she doesn't know! You’re other articles have been invaluable to me and I really admire your knowledge on my favorite little creatures.
<Fantastic, that’s why I write them. ~PP>
-Kimberly