Burrfish with a swollen anus (photo)
 

Hi all, we have a burrfish that has been listless for the past couple of days. He is still eating, and today I discovered the area around his anus is quite swollen and the anus itself is open really wide:

http://www.archaeoillustration.com/images/burrfish.JPG

I did a little research and there are two possible scenarios: one is constipation and the other is parasites. He is fed a diet of primarily brine shrimp (he'll eat a whole cube once per day), which is not very high in fiber and I'm going to get him eating some shell-on prawns and maybe nori if he'll take it, seeing if that will help. Has anyone had any experience with constipated fish or a swollen anus?

Heh, what a day, chasing a fish around trying to get a close up photo of its anus. I apologize for the number of times in this post that I have used the word anus.

Thanks for any help,
-Diana

I think he has Reef Roids. Ha!

haha

ps anus

For constipation in fish, I was told to feed peas.....I couldn't get my achilles to eat them but maybe you would have better luck with the burrfish

is that a "lesion" on his tail?......if so I would lean towards an infection of some sort

Hey thanks, he has those spots in other places and they tend to change with his mood, so I think they are camoflage.


-Diana