I would just cut the tube short, about 4". May be easier to work with. Thanks for your offer to everyone!This is wild—some serious dedication…
But in all seriousness, it sounds like it’s perfectly safe and effective. I grabbed myself a couple expired feeding tubes from work that were going to be trashed to keep in my fish kit.
If anyone needs one for a sick fish or just in case, PM me. They are little smaller than the one pictured but they are neonatal size (5 French) feeding tubes that are actually used for this exact purpose. I’ve got a few of them.
Update on the Hippo: Since my last post, I've seen only a tiny improvement and am still feeding every 4 days. I'm still optimistic that he will improve more. (It's been about 10 months now).