antennata lionfish

[saltcreep66]

I have had this little guy for about 8 months now. I started him on live shrimp and then got him to eat frozen shrimp . Everything was going good. He would come right up to the glass and take it off of the feeding stick . Now for the last month or so he cant seem to get his mouth open enough to suck in food. does anyone know what is going on with him?

 

[lion king]

Here's a couple of my thoughts, there could be a couple of things going on that I have seen. When you say you are feeding him shrimp, is it table shrimp, or krill. It is not unusual for an antennata to just stop eating dead food after a while. If that's what it is you may try and introduce live food again, sometimes it works, sometimes not, most times not. If you have been feeding krill exclusively all this time, it could be lockjaw, which I don;t know how to reverse. Feeding one thing exclusively can also lead to lack of complete nutrition and lead to lockjaw. Lions will sometimes also just go off eating from time to time, does his color look pale or even somewhat cloudy eyes, he could be getting ready to shed his cuticle layer. This usually would only last a week or two though. I would throw in some ghosties to see if that interested him at all. Sometimes a lion that came from a source that uses copper in their system, or if they have been treated with copper, or have had repeated treatments of antibiotics or other meds; will just stop eating after several months. The med exposure and lockjaw has no treated that I am aware of.

 

[saltcreep66]

i was feeding him live shrimp at first. i can get frozen ghost at the chines food store and he would eat. that's the only thing he will eat. today I tried to give him a live one. he went up to it and tried to open up but can't get the mouth open to suck it in. he will only try one time to get it and then turns away from it. so what is lock jaw ? and he still has good color.

 

[lion king]

When you say frozen ghost shrimp from the asian market, are you actually talking about krill. I feed a foozen krill from an asian market. Feeding only krill is high in certain values and lacking others that contribute to the overall health. Lockjaw is just as it sounds and from how you explaining it, sounds as if thats what it is, it's basically a severe reaction to poor nutrition. All of my lions get live food and the ones that eat dead food get a variety, the ones that only eat krill as a dead food get a very limited amount, they all get live foods. Lions have been notorious to react badly to a krill only diet, as any fish likely would. I would continue to try and get him eating live ghost shrimp, you can also try and entice him with a live molly. if he does start eating again, feed him live foods at least for a while, If he does recover you will have to feed him other foods enhanced with vits and efa's, a variety; and highly suggest a live feeding at least once a week with ghosties and occasionally a molly.