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Author Topic: Ack! Clumsy Oscar  (Read 908 times)

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Offline Boven

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Ack! Clumsy Oscar
« on: March 28, 2012, 06:56:32 AM »
Tuesday is water change/cleaning day for my oscar's aquarium.  When I got home from work, I went in to get things going and discovered Bubba had managed to tear himself up a bit.

He's missing some scales on top and bottom and has some scratches on one side.  What I'm guessing is that he was snoozing in his boat ornament and for some reason decided to make himself fit through one of the smaller openings on it instead of through the huge open hole that is its bottom.  (I have the ornament on its side so the open bottom is actually available for him to swim in and out of)   After my initial surprise, I got as good a look as I could at the injuries.  That wasn't easy because the silly guy was zipping and dancing around, figuring he was gonna get fed.  It doesn't look nice, but I don't think any of them are too severe.  The first thing I did was take out the boat ornament and put in the flower pot I got a little while back.  I'd been procrastinating about swapping them, but dang, now I wish I'd done it sooner.  I don't think he's too keen on the flower pot (aesthetically, it doesn't look great, but I'm not too concerned about piscene home decor).  When I went to feed him this morning, he was in it.  I swear he looked at me like "What the hell...o is this???" before zipping to the surface in expectation of his breakfast.

Is there anything special I can/should do to help keep any infection or parasites setting in or to speed his healing?   I did the water change and such, of course.  He's behaving like his usual self, but I'm gonna worry about him until he's mended.

I tried to get pictures of him, but without a flash and proper lighting, couldn't get any good results.
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Offline LittlePuff

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Re: Ack! Clumsy Oscar
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2012, 07:16:36 AM »
Melafix. It's a gentle anti-bacterial.
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Offline Cholly

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Re: Ack! Clumsy Oscar
« Reply #2 on: March 28, 2012, 11:59:19 AM »
Only thing besides what Little Puff suggested, step up your water changes. The cleaner the water, the faster he'll heal.

Must be a boy. Gets himself banged up and is more interested in eating than his injuries.
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Offline Boven

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Re: Ack! Clumsy Oscar
« Reply #3 on: March 28, 2012, 12:27:12 PM »
Ah.  Thanks.   I've got some Melafix, but I can't even remember when I got it.  Rather than risk using it, I'll see about picking up a new bottle of it.

Cholly, I'll probably never know if Bubba's a boy or girl.  I just defaulted to him being male and what you said makes it seem like the right choice.  :D

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Offline Cholly

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Re: Ack! Clumsy Oscar
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2012, 12:54:17 PM »
I was just anthropomorphizing. Yeah, with oscars it's pretty much impossible unless you catch them laying or fertilizing eggs.
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Offline ShieldWolf

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Re: Ack! Clumsy Oscar
« Reply #5 on: April 01, 2012, 10:51:59 PM »
Hope he/she is responding & is better now. I kept my 2 oscars in a totally bare 125g tank. Boring as hell...o but it helped when they grew out.
It looked really weirded when they were only 2" long & the only thing in that tank. lol
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Offline Boven

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Re: Ack! Clumsy Oscar
« Reply #6 on: April 02, 2012, 06:22:40 AM »
Quote from: Cholly on March 29, 2012, 12:54:17 PM
I was just anthropomorphizing. Yeah, with oscars it's pretty much impossible unless you catch them laying or fertilizing eggs.

Oh, I know you were kidding there.  But hey, Bubba also apparently decided to stubbornly push on instead of asking for directions.  Another male attribute!


Bubba appears to be healing up.  He no longer looks like something chewed on him.  He does seem to have accepted the flower pot and is often in it in the mornings when the lights come on. 
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Offline Boven

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Re: Ack! Clumsy Oscar
« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2012, 06:09:24 AM »
Sheesh!

Yesterday morning I woke up and, not fully awake, shambled in to feed Bubba.  I dropped his breakfast pellets in and the lil twerp leapt half out of the water.  That startled me and I let go of the tank cover, which dropped back shut with a slam.  That scared Bubba, who proceeded to shoot around the tank at about Warp 27, before hiding in his flower pot.  Along the way, he managed to bonk against the filter intake and took a some scales off the top of his head and his side.

I went off to work with the horses until the evening.  He retreated to his flower pot whenever I came near last night and this morning.  I guess I've temporarily transformed from 'Food Providing Thing' to 'Scary Thing.'   I'm sure he'll get over it, but dangit, it's annoying that he managed to scrape himself up again.  I'll use some Melafix tonight, just in case.
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Offline Yipee

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Re: Ack! Clumsy Oscar
« Reply #8 on: April 23, 2012, 07:53:18 AM »
Oscars are so hardy, he'll probably heal within a week. That's a really clumsy fish, hope you can repair your bond with him asap! ;D
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Offline LittlePuff

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Re: Ack! Clumsy Oscar
« Reply #9 on: April 23, 2012, 08:22:58 AM »
Sounds like he might have vision problems on top of the spazzy part.
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