HELP! Expert needed

[ramgod]

I have a pair of porcupine puffers that i've had for six months now in a 40 gallon tank, there each about the size of a baseball. about three weeks ago the larger of the two started to slow down its eating, strange for a porc. puffer, it gradually dwindled down to nibbling just a few scraps while the other one ate. the non- eating puffer also appears to have a set of "lumps" on it's hindquaters, I know these guys are succeptable to becoming constapated and i've always tried to vary there diet to prevent this but the are very stubborn about accepting food other than krill. still i used to be able to get them to eat and occasional anchovy, silverslide or frozen shrimp at least once a week. after three weeks of not eating anything but very very small scraps the fish still appears healthy..
Is it eggbound ?
is it constapated ?
any advice on how to handle either situation would be greatly appreaciated.

 

[Bomber]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Is it eggbound ?
is it constapated ?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Does it have internal parasites? Which are very common with these guys.

Try getting some green food in it. They love sweet peas. Soaking food in garlic (works great for internal parasites)

 

[davelin315]

These fish will often have internal parasites as referred to in the above post. It's very common for them to have them and also for sweetlips. One thing you might begin to see is the parasites taking over the entire body of your puffer and invading its eyes. This will appear as white coils, which are worms in the puffer's eyes. You need to treat aggressively if it gets to this point, because otherwise your puffer will go blind and eventually die. In nature, they are at equilibrium due to superior environment. You need to go the extra mile to keep them healthy in captivity. They're wonderfully friendly and inquisitive fish, but can often be difficult to keep.

 

[LeoR]

When a porcupine stops eating and its tummy grows and there is a male porcupine around that usually means that she is pregnant.

LeoR