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Dislocated Jaw?

Lively

Members
One of my 6mo old Juvie JD - the nicest and largest no less - decided to eat a fish that was a bit too big for him. It looks like he has popped his jaw out of place - is there anyway to fix it or should I humanely kill him so he doesn't starve to death?

Right now he is hanging near the bottom of the tank ignoring everyone else and it doesn't look like he can close his mouth.
 

maddog10

Members
He he can no longer eat, it would probably be best to put him in the freezer. Put him in a bag with water and place it in the freezer.
 

Lively

Members
I was afraid there wasn't anything that could be done for this. I'll give him 24 hours since he just did it.

Stupid fish, he has always been my favorite - I had grand plans of having him in my EB breeding program.
 

lonlangione

Members
Stacie,

Before you kill the fish, I would let him go for a day or so and see if his jaw goes back in place. I would also net him and look in his mouth. I had a female Ps. multicolor who I thought had a mouth full of eggs for about two weeks. She didn't eat while in this condition and I thought she was just brooding eggs. After two weeks, I looked and I couldn't see any fry in her mouth. So I got her out to strip her and I looked in her mouth and there was a piece of gravel stuck in her mouth. I took a tweezers and pulled it out. She is doing fine. In my years of owning a pet shop, this was common with goldfish getting gravel stuck in their mouths.
Also, if there isn't anything in his mouth, I would gently pull on his lips and see if his jaw resets. This is another possibility that I have encountered with cichlids over the years. Bag him up and bring him to the meeting and let a few people take a look at him.
If you need to euthanize the fish, there are some people who do it like Mike said by putting the fish in the freezer. I personally use very hot water and drop them in.

Lonny
 

Lively

Members
**Lonny** Thank you! The fry was still stuck in his mouth. I caught him and used the tweezers to pull it out - lips are back to normal :happy0100:
 

Lively

Members
Makes three of us! lol I would have been really bummed if I had lost him, half a dozen of them are exceptionally colored and I really want to see what he grows up to look like. He's the dominant in a tank of about 50.

Guess we should add tweezers to the fish first aid box! lol
 

UNCLERUCKUS

"THE ALL POWERFUL Q !!
GUESS YOUR NEW NICKNAME IS "HOUSE" NOW:pound:CONGRATS ON A JOB WELL DONE AND THE EXPERT ADVICE. I LOVE A HAPPY ENDING.:wub:
 

Lively

Members
He seems to be doing ok now and eating just fine - but his mouth is definately damaged. His lips look pulled out. My concern is, the liplocking with JD's can get pretty fierce during mating. I don't want to risk the health of the fish - but he was my prime male candidate for mating with the EB's. I'm about a month away from putting the regulars I've picked out with the EB's for pairing.

Any thoughts on if there will be a problem with this?
 
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