I trimmed my Congo spotted puffer but now they do not eat

[professorjimjam]

I have three Congo spotted puffers. Their teeth overgrown to the point that they were unable to eat. I tried several times trimming their teeth during the past several months without anesthesia but failed as they were puffing up. I could not find M222 and instead used clove oil even though I hate it , I really hate to use clove oil as I see the bad effect of it on fish. I had left no option but to sedate them using clove oil and I did. Today was the most stressful day for me, it was as if I was operating on my family member. My hands were shaking and I was sweating. I did pray to God to help me. I sedated one by one and while my wife was holding the puffer I was cutting the teeth. It was so difficult because even after the tooth was cut, it was attached to some layer of the oral structure. I had to cut that loose to be able to remove the broken teeth from his mouth. In one of them I also saw blood after detaching the teeth from its structure. I have trimmed the teeth of amazons and avocado puffers and their tooth structure weren’t like this and they were very easy and I could do it without using anesthesia very fast. But these Congo spotted puffers really stressed me and caused me a lot of anxiety. Now they are in the tank and they swim but they don’t eat, I don’t know how long it will take for their injury to heal. I am very stressed. I really want to keep these puffers but if they stress me I may need to consider toothless fishes that looks like puffer but do not have teeth. Even by cutting their teeth, I still see that the upper teeth are cut but lower part still has large grown teeth. Now I need to find a dental forceps for them, regardless of the price, for whatever price it would be I need to buy something that can easily cut the teeth without sedating them. Something that would fit in their mouth and simply cut. Currently I used the curved nail cutter that looks like a small tiny scissor but I guess I need something special to be able to rim them effectively.
I would really appreciate if anyone could help me with guidance on what to do and what kind of cutter to use. Or should I use cuticle trimmer? Or should I use dremel rotary tool? Can you recommend what product should I buy?
Any help is appreciated! I am very stressed please help!

 

[Fallen_Leaves16]

First off, props for going through with what was necessary for the well-being of your fish! Too many people out there never give much regard for puffer teeth and chicken out when it becomes time for them to get their teeth trimmed.
Second, it seems as though the general procedure went alright; I assume the general scope of the operation was successful? I'm not too well-versed in schoutedeni teeth, but I'm not too certain as to what you mean by the tooth bit being attached to an oral structure; I know it doesn't seem like it, from your description, but did the nail trimmers fail to cut all the way through the tooth? Perhaps the snipped-off portion was still connected by the sides? Or were the cuts diagonal/slanted towards the front, connecting the cut bit to some sort of other tooth growth in the back?
What sort of nail trimmers did you use? Were they these:

Or these:

If it's the former, I wasn't always able to get good clean cuts with them, and ended up permanently switching to cuticle trimmers (similar to the latter image), as precision and control of the tool was easier. I probably wouldn't recommend much else, for fear of overcomplicating the process. A dremel would be too difficult to manoeuvre within the confines of a small puffer's mouth, I'd think.
Unfortunately, I don't think there's a safe way to trim puffer teeth without putting them under for a while; they simply panic and flop around far too much for any cut to be safe IME. M222 is probably still going to be your best bet, but clove oil isn't likely to cause significant detriment short-term, I think.

As for the mouth injury, I'd be surprised if it's very serious, as it seems you were delicate and as precise as you could be when making the cuts; puffers do have rather tough mouths and as long as chances of infection are kept at a minimum (i.e. making sure water quality is top-notch) it should likely heal pretty quickly.


Making sure the puffer is properly immobilised with a dampened microfibre cloth after anesthesia before making strong, clean cuts with a sharp tool (cuticle trimmers are what I'd recommend) is probably your best bet when it comes to trimming puffer teeth. It'll get easier with more practice, and hopefully the next procedure goes better. Good luck!

 

[Deadeye]

For my amazons, I used cuticle clippers:

If you take proper precautions, I wouldn’t be so worried about long term clove oil effects.
As for the not eating, it could just be in pain. If you just had a tooth removed, you probably wouldn’t feel like eating directly afterwards, so give it some time. Fish heal fast.
Watch for infection and treat if necessary, but I think it will be fine!

 

[professorjimjam]

Thank you very much Fallen_Leaves16 !
I used this small scissor like cutter.
Hopefully they would recover soon.
I very much appreciate your help and advice!
Thanks again!

 

[professorjimjam]

Deadeye,
Thank you very much!
i miss my amazons, yours look cute

 

[professorjimjam]

Deadeye
While monitoring my fishes, I noticed that two of them does not have any sign of weakness and they are recovering fine, but one of them has some redness near her gills on both side. Should I remove and put her down? Or should I wait for her to recover? Water quality is great. One thing I noticed that the small cherry shrimps are attaching themselves to this one. I worry that they might think she is the food. What do you think I should do?

 

[phreeflow]

Don’t put it down. Wait it out…super clean water and if needed, some Kanaplex or Erythromycin.

I also attempted to trim my congo puffers’ teeth and they were hard as a rock. I couldn’t believe how much force was necessary to cut them with cuticle clippers. Super stressful!!

 

[Deadeye]

I agree with the above. Wait it out and treat as necessary (the redness would indicate a reason imo).
Euthanasia is only necessary if you can tell it’s on its way out (incredibly fast breathing, loss of mobility, spiraling).

 

[professorjimjam]

Unfortunately, my fish has died today. He really fought hard to survive, but finally gave up. I am sad very sad. I would never use scissor or clove oil again. I am not looking to buy some Simon cutter rotary small tool that can cut from outside without opening the fish mouth. Do you have any experience with rotary tool ?

 

[Deadeye]

Sorry to hear.
How large is the rotary tool? Those usually are better for larger puffers like porcupines and mbu.