yveterinarian
Super Active Member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2012
- Location
- Innerkip, Ontario
A few of you may remember my first seahorses that I named Jack, Janet and Chrissie. I got my first successfully surviving seahorses on June 10, 2012 and they helped teach me a lot about seahorse keeping. A couple of years ago a mysterious illness too both Jack and Janet and I purchased some more little boys and girls to keep Chrissie company. These are the parents of all the fry I have for sale at the moment.
Since I received Chrissie into my care she has always had a slight swelling on her upper chest area that you may be able to see in the picture below
This swelling didn't affect anything about her but in February of this year the swelling began to increase.
One of the members of the Org suggested to me that the trouble may be a congenital problem with her swim bladder since she had it for so long. No one felt it was a bacterial issue since she had lived with it for so long without issue. I had wanted to do something to treat her but no one had any suggestions for helping her.
In March of this year her swim bladder swelled so much that she was unable to dive and she spent all of her time hitched to a plant I had positioned near the top of the tank. If she let go she floated away on her side and had a very difficult time getting back to her hitch. I fed her by hand twice a day and she ate well. Because of the fact that I was hand feeding her, all of the females in my tank began coming to the top to eat out of my hand and I now have 7 little girls waiting for me at feeding time.
The boys never did come to eat out of my hand. Two days ago she stopped eating.
Last night, after a long illness, Chrissie passed away surrounded by those 7 loving females attached to her favorite perch. They were all clustered around her giving comfort the best they could.
Chrissie was the matriarch of the tank and the last surviving member of my original three seahorses. I'm not sure how old she was because she was an adult when I first got her but I'm guessing she was at least 6 or 7 years old. She was always the first to greet me every morning when the lights came on and any time any babies were born in the tank she was right there at the surface watching them all as I scooped them up to in the net to go into the fry tank.
Through Chrissie I learned so much and I will always miss her. Her descendents are with me still and her legacy will live on. R.I.P.
Since I received Chrissie into my care she has always had a slight swelling on her upper chest area that you may be able to see in the picture below
This swelling didn't affect anything about her but in February of this year the swelling began to increase.
One of the members of the Org suggested to me that the trouble may be a congenital problem with her swim bladder since she had it for so long. No one felt it was a bacterial issue since she had lived with it for so long without issue. I had wanted to do something to treat her but no one had any suggestions for helping her.
In March of this year her swim bladder swelled so much that she was unable to dive and she spent all of her time hitched to a plant I had positioned near the top of the tank. If she let go she floated away on her side and had a very difficult time getting back to her hitch. I fed her by hand twice a day and she ate well. Because of the fact that I was hand feeding her, all of the females in my tank began coming to the top to eat out of my hand and I now have 7 little girls waiting for me at feeding time.
The boys never did come to eat out of my hand. Two days ago she stopped eating.Last night, after a long illness, Chrissie passed away surrounded by those 7 loving females attached to her favorite perch. They were all clustered around her giving comfort the best they could.
Chrissie was the matriarch of the tank and the last surviving member of my original three seahorses. I'm not sure how old she was because she was an adult when I first got her but I'm guessing she was at least 6 or 7 years old. She was always the first to greet me every morning when the lights came on and any time any babies were born in the tank she was right there at the surface watching them all as I scooped them up to in the net to go into the fry tank.
Through Chrissie I learned so much and I will always miss her. Her descendents are with me still and her legacy will live on. R.I.P.
