How do you make a puffer fish puff?
- Thread starter Reef_Monkey
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Actually the puffing mechanism is a defensive posture intended to be used as a last resort. While the spined puffer species tend to 'un-puff' a little easier than other species (such as dogfaces), it's still an unnecessary stressor for the fish and really should be avoided. In the years I worked at an LFS in college, I've seen plenty of puffers that were freaked out by kids tapping on the glass and whatnot puff and simply split open like an overinflated kickball. Not a pleasant sight, watching the poor fish squirm and twitch its way toward death with a big split along its body.
No offense RM, and I hope this doesn't sound condescending or anything, but I hope that this post was a troll and you're really not chasing your puffer around the tank trying to force him into defensive reactions. 8O :?
No offense RM, and I hope this doesn't sound condescending or anything, but I hope that this post was a troll and you're really not chasing your puffer around the tank trying to force him into defensive reactions. 8O :?
No sweat. Learn somethin' new every day. 
Now your puffer can be happy and stress-free.
Last time I had a spiny box (a few years ago), he would half-puff sometimes on his own...like he was stretching or something, I dunno. he never ballooned all the way up like he would if he had been attacked or frightened, but it was still kind of freaky. And watching him un-puff was always a stress for me as well, because he just looked miserable doing it. He only did it about twice a year.
Now your puffer can be happy and stress-free. Last time I had a spiny box (a few years ago), he would half-puff sometimes on his own...like he was stretching or something, I dunno. he never ballooned all the way up like he would if he had been attacked or frightened, but it was still kind of freaky. And watching him un-puff was always a stress for me as well, because he just looked miserable doing it. He only did it about twice a year.
I have never heard of or seen a pufferfish split open like Sharkky mentioned. I've been around puffers (and coaxed them to puff) for over two decades and never ever seen a problem with them doing it. It is not recommended to allow them to fill with air as this can be difficult for them to expel.
I'm not telling you to do it, but here is the secret to make puffers puff:
Grab a tiny bit of their skin between your thumb and index finger. Gently pinch this skin and tug a little bit at the same time. Works every time.
Precautions: Pay very close attention to what the puffer is doing while you pinch, some of them will make a very determined effort to bite you just before puffing. Be prepared to let go as a puffer with spines begins to inflate - those spines can be needle-sharp and will poke your pincing fingers.
Remember, I'm not telling you to do it, just telling you how to get it done :wink:
I'm not telling you to do it, but here is the secret to make puffers puff:
Grab a tiny bit of their skin between your thumb and index finger. Gently pinch this skin and tug a little bit at the same time. Works every time.
Precautions: Pay very close attention to what the puffer is doing while you pinch, some of them will make a very determined effort to bite you just before puffing. Be prepared to let go as a puffer with spines begins to inflate - those spines can be needle-sharp and will poke your pincing fingers.
Remember, I'm not telling you to do it, just telling you how to get it done :wink:
Sharky, just for devil's advocate sake ... assuming he isn't actually causing the animal discomfort with a hard pinch ... is it so wrong? If you take a cynical view of our hobby, pinching a fish pales in comparison to destroying its home (by harvesting the live rock), killing its neighbors and rendering the surrounding area uninhabitable (with cyanide), confining it to improper conditions and extreme distress (during shipping) until the ultimate sentence of life imprisonment in a glass box which just barely approximates the creature's ideal environment but mostly just collects filth.
Hehe. Just raggin' on ya, playing devil's advocate and whatnot.
Hehe. Just raggin' on ya, playing devil's advocate and whatnot.
Hwarang, why don't we throw you in a federal prison for the rest of your life and take away your freedom and natural home. as if that's not bad enough, while you're in prison, Bubba wants to make your aquaintence 8O Just because you're already suffering in prison, doesn't mean you'll be happy to experience Bubba creepin up behind ya
I think you can get my point.....
I think you can get my point.....
Chill out Sharkky, it doesn't hurt the fish.
I said "Gently pinch this skin and tug a little bit..."
I seem to recall all of the puffers that went through this proceeded to have long happy prosperous lives in captivity.
So, like I said, don't do it...but if you have to do it, do it right.
I said "Gently pinch this skin and tug a little bit..."
I seem to recall all of the puffers that went through this proceeded to have long happy prosperous lives in captivity.
So, like I said, don't do it...but if you have to do it, do it right.
Hmmm. This is like watching a train wreck about to happen.
I try to give my fish the best care I can and I try to make their conditions as natural and stress-free as possible, but in the end I recognize that they are just fish. I think we are going a bit overboard on the fish-empathy. The jail analogy was a bit out there, IMO.
No one in this hobby has the right to take any moral high ground. We all contribute in some way to the destruction and/or pollution of the reefs, death of fish, etc. Giving a guy a hard time about pinching his puffer (did I really just say "pinching his puffer"? that sounds bad, doesn't it?) seems a bit hypocritical to me.
Just my opinion.
Ernie
I try to give my fish the best care I can and I try to make their conditions as natural and stress-free as possible, but in the end I recognize that they are just fish. I think we are going a bit overboard on the fish-empathy. The jail analogy was a bit out there, IMO.
No one in this hobby has the right to take any moral high ground. We all contribute in some way to the destruction and/or pollution of the reefs, death of fish, etc. Giving a guy a hard time about pinching his puffer (did I really just say "pinching his puffer"? that sounds bad, doesn't it?) seems a bit hypocritical to me.
Just my opinion.
Ernie
Wanna see a puffer puff? Just try to ship 'em and handle them roughly. John's right, they most certainly WILL try to bite you (even if you're not giving 'em a pinch), and it almost always looks as though you got into the losing end of a battle with a melon-baller. Their bites tend to become infected easily, too.
I, too, have never seen a puffer blow itself up so hard that it splits itself open (and I have bagged and shipped enough hundreds to probably make the number closer to thousands), but I have heard of it once. The air issue is a real one, as they're not exactly designed to take in air.
I bet you'd also be able to get him to puff if you hooked him (as in "fishing"), but then again, what's the point?
I, too, have never seen a puffer blow itself up so hard that it splits itself open (and I have bagged and shipped enough hundreds to probably make the number closer to thousands), but I have heard of it once. The air issue is a real one, as they're not exactly designed to take in air.
I bet you'd also be able to get him to puff if you hooked him (as in "fishing"), but then again, what's the point?
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