my goldfish has a pebble stuck in it's mouth and i really do not know what to do. do i leave it or intervene?

Question

it has been stuck there for around 10hours now and is in the lower jaw.

Answer 1

if it's possible, i'd try and get it out. since it's a pebble, it's not like it's going to dissolve, and you certainly don't want fishy to swallow it. 10 hours is enough time to see if fishy could get it out on his own. strain him up near the surface and carefully try to get the pebble out by pulling gently down on his lower lip, or use very dull tweezers. that's all i can think of. good luck!

Answer 2

Take a lot of cotton -- wet it, put it on a level surface. Take the goldfish out with a net - put some WETTED cotton over its eyes gently -- it will calm down. Also put some wetted cotton over its Gills. Take a tweezer (if you have one with rounded edges that's even better) or a toothpick (make sure it does not splinter in the fish's mouth) and very gently probe his mouth and get the pebble out. You can gently squeeze the corbner "hinges" of his mouth to make his mouth open a bit wider. Hold the fish's body gently with your fingers -- put him back in the tank after 30-45 seconds.

Then take the pebbles out of the tank cuz goldfish do VERY well without pebbles-- and pebbles on the bottom of the tank will eventually trap uneaten food and goldfish poop and the water will start to smell and get cloudy. Goldfish are usually messy fish -- I used to have 7 tanks of goldifish and none of the tanks had pebbles-- they had backgrounds that I placed on the outer side of the back glass so the fish could orient themselves to their tank space. My tanks stayed alot cleaner that way and the fish were quite happy.

Answer 3

As has been suggested hold the fish with a damp cloth to minimize the disturbance of fish slime, then use a pair of curved forceps to remove the piece of gravel, you can generally get them from a fishing store. If you leave it, it may or may not come out however, if it doesn't by the time you've done something about it the damage is most likely to be done. I'd then replace the gravel with a smaller smooth type that's less likely to get caught.

Answer 4

Scoop the thing out gently, wrap it in a damp face cloth dipped in the tank water, so its the same temp. Holding a fish in your hands is never a good idea because your hands Will be quite warm compared to the tank. Covering the fishes eyes over with the cloth. The mouth will expand quite a lot now, as it as it tries to gasp for air, and it should release. Try not to let it swallow the stone. If this fails, prise it out gently with a short tooth pick.

Fish die of shock, so be quick and gentle and try not to frighten the fish, lower it back in gently and let the cloth unwrap in the water.

Answer 5

I just went through this. Sadly the pebble was so big my fishy was unable to spit it out himself, and I had to intervene. I held him gently under the water, and pressed gently underneath his bottom lip until it popped out. Obviously I didn't hurt him, and he's in better shape now because the pebble was blocking his breathing. Thank GOD I was able to get it out. I felt so helpless. Poor sweety shouldn't have had to go through that, but he's doing much better now and I'm very thankful I was here and I reacted so quickly.

Answer 6

my goldfish was always doing that all the time, if got so regular with him swimming around like a nutter that after his last attempt of seeing how many of the stones he could get in his mouth at once. i changed the gravel to a far finer gravel, this has stopped him going it, as should you intervene, if it is in distress i suggest that you net it and take it to either a vet or a quality pet shop.

Answer 7

take the fish out of the main tank and into a hospital tank.

if you can look in the phone book for a popular aquarium shop they should be able to advise you on what to do, my Black Pacu got a large rock stuck in its mouth i tuck the fish to my local aquarium shop and they gave the fish an anaesthetic injection and removed the rock, but this is a very expensive procedure and for a goldfish wouldn't pay this much.
but if worried take to the aquarium shop to be sure

Answer 8

See if you can contact the Top Contributor "something_fishy" at the top of the fish section page, Or any of the other top contributors on the Fish section

I usually find these are the best people to ask in these situations.

Otherwise call your vet and ask for advice

Answer 9

That used to happen to my goldfish when they were cleaning the algae off the glass gravel. This may sound stupid, but I would quickly catch them, put them on a moist towel and gently flick the gravel out of their mouth with a toothpick. That would usually do it. They won't be able to eat if the stone won't come out. Good luck

Answer 10

Buy some clove oil, take the fishie out in a shallow tank of water of cold water pour some clove oil over it when it's nice and drowsey take it out better safe than sorry and awesome fun don't ya think?