A Choking Guppy?

[Petperson04]

I think one of my fancy guppies is... well, choking. It has what appears to be a piece of a pea stuck in its mouth, and has been breathing rapidly, with gills extended farther out than normal. He's been swimming around pretty normally. The fish has been like this since Friday. He hasn't eaten a whole lot (I think it is hard for him), and is getting a little skinny. I've just been leaving things alone, because I've had a fish bite off too much pea before and it always seemed to clear up in a day or two.

Is there anything I can do to help? I feel really bad about this, but I don't know what to do.

Edited July 14, 2008 by Petperson04

[Chrissy_Bee]

Yikes, the poor little guy. Maybe it's just too big for him to chew up.

If I were you I'd net him and lay him on a flat surface. If he's calm enough, can you use a tiny pair of scizzors or tweezers to try and break it up. If it's brute force or nothing, this might be your only option

[scaring]

Like GF, sometimes just lifting them out of the water will cause them to gape open enough to release a stuck rock... maybe it would help with the pea?

[Petperson04]

Thanks for the replies! The guppy is all better now, though, after about a week of having the pea stuck and not eating, he must have either swallowed it or finally spit it out. Now he is busy catching up on his meals, LOL!