Puffer teeth never stop growing
It’s a cold hard fact, puffer teeth never stop growing, ever. In the wild, this is necessary to keep their teeth from becoming worn out and useless after eating their natural diet of mollusks and crustaceans. Unfortunately, in captivity where a natural diet may not always be fed, puffers run the risk of having their teeth grow to the point where they can no longer eat. Several puffers such as Colomesus asellus (the South American Puffer) are especially prone to this condition because their teeth grow at a much higher rate than other puffers. For these puffers, even with a steady high crunch diet, a dentist visit may still be required every six months or so. Now, since your local human dentist would probably not appreciate you showing up to his office with a fish that needs a teeth trim, here’s how to do it in the comfort of your own home.
The Materials
First thing you are going to want to do is to prepare everything that you will need to perform the operation. You will want to have two 1 quart containers that are new (or at least fish designated/unsoaped), a net, cuticle nippers, clove oil, and one puffer (or more). Nerves of steel help if you have them available, but they are not required to accomplish this. Latex gloves are also optional.
The Procedure
First you’re going to fill both containers with water. Choose a container for the clove oil and place 2-3 drops in that container. Give the container a swirl to ensure that the clove oil is evenly distributed throughout the water.
Next up, catch the puffer. If it is a particular fast or clever puffer, using food to snag the puffer is completely acceptable. Move the puffer to the clove oil container. If moving the puffer underwater (which is preferred), you may account for the water in the moving container to fill the first quart container. After about one minute or so, the puffer should loose consciousness and should roll over. At this time it will be safe to remove the puffer from the water to perform the actual procedure.
Using the net or latex gloves, carefully grasp the puffer and remove it from the water. Use the cuticle nippers to gently snip the teeth down to their normal size. The appropriate length would be short enough to allow the puffer to eat properly, but not so short that you cut into the plate that they grow from.
After the puffer has been trimmed, place it into the second container. Within a few minutes, it should regain consciousness and be swimming around groggily. Within 10 minutes or so the puffer should be ready to return to the tank good as new.
Finally, take a deep breath and realize that you have just successfully saved a puffer from likely death due to starvation. The worst is over and now you can work on preventing yourself from having to do it again.
The Prevention
The best way to keep dentistry to a minimum is by providing natural means for your puffer to keep its teeth trimmed. The best method by far is a hard shelled crunchy diet. For the smaller puffers, snails seem to be the best option. Ramshorns and pond snails are quite easy to breed in a small 5 or 10 gallon tank. They are also an excellent way to get your puffers to eat their veggies. Other sources of crunch for small puffers include ghost shrimp, mysis shrimp, and mussels/clams. For the larger puffers, shell-on shrimp, crab legs, crawfish, and small crabs are excellent food choices. Feeding these foods regularly will go a long way toward keeping a puffer’s teeth at the appropriate length.
The Warning
This can be hard on the puffer’s system and a little traumatic for them. For this reason it is important to make sure your puffer is as healthy as possible before attempting this procedure on them. There is a definite risk that your puffer could die if it is already weak or ill.
Hopefully you will never have to venture into the world of puffer dentistry by giving your puffer a high crunch diet. However, should it be necessary, be calm and confident and you will be able to keep your puffer trimmed and happy.
