Puffer Health risks?

[miketsp]

Tremendous article on puffers at:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/puffcareinfo.htm

Really detailed but absolutely no mention of any risk due to puffing.
Says they are hardy & long lived.

 

[Sideband]

Think of a gekko that loses its tail?? It is a last resort type of thing. They only do it if tehy thing that there is no alternative to being eaten. In diving it is the bouyant ascent of OOA options.

That would be a bad analogy on several points. Reptiles don't 'will' their tails to drop. They are pulled off. They don't have much say in the matter. They can no more keep their tail attached until the last resort than they can will it to drop. I have kept many reptiles, having well over 60 lizards and snakes at one point.

Joe

 

[Mako Mark]

Reptiles don't 'will' their tails to drop. They are pulled off. They don't have much say in the matter.
Joe

It was apretty rough analogy I know, but my point is that it cant be repeated on a very regular basis.

I am learning about Puffers though, It wouldnt have crossed my mind that they couldnt inflate more than a few times in their life. I knowthat they have to be severely stressed to do it though.

.

 

[rcohn]

I watched two puffers having an altercation on a dive. When the winner chased away the loser it puffed up. The winner backed off and the losing puffer deflated. The winner chased again and the loser puffed up. In the space of 15 seconds, one puffer inflated and deflated two or maybe three times. I seriously doubt that was nearly a lifetime’s worth of inflation.

Ralph

 

[SubMariner]

Is is clear from a recent study that the power of inflating has dramatic effects on blood circulation (due to the increased internal pressure) and on digestion (due to the stomach change in volume), and it is therefore the last resource, that a puffer fish can use for a limited number of times (7 to 12), to avoid death. For this reason we invite all the divers to not provoke puffer fish "inflation": this means a useless stress for the fish, that significantly reduces its life span.

The website draws a conclusion from an assumption. They quote a study on physiology, but nothing in that study infers that since A occurs then B is the result.

OW, it is their interpretation of the study, not the study's conclusion at all!

Right sentiment, just wrong evidence.

 

[squee!]

Speaking as a biologist and an active puffer keeper (fishkeeping is one of my passions, and I have 10 pufferfish all together), when people make pufferfish puff up it pisses me off. I have never heard of a puffer having a limited amount of times that it can invoke it's defense mechanism, but obviously it is a stressful event for the fish. I have seen people in pet stores do it to show to potential buyers, and that pisses me off more. What do they want to do? sell a fish to people who will just torment it? I equate molesting a pufferfish until it puffs up to someone harrassing your pet until it whimpers and runs away and hides. Not cool. Not cool at all.

 

[SueMermaid]

Exactly, Squee! (what a great username. That's the noise I make when I see kittens).

 

[Mako Mark]

when people make pufferfish puff up it pisses me off.

Me too.

.

I have never heard of a puffer having a limited amount of times that it can invoke it's defense mechanism, but obviously it is a stressful event for the fish. Not cool. Not cool at all.

Me neither, until this post.

.

Not cool. Not cool at all.

A mate of mine puffed one up while snorkling years ago and it inhaled air and floated, although it did look pretty comical for a while, the fish obviously didnt think it was such a joke, deflated after a minute, then bit half an inch of my buddies pinky finger.


Vissa staffa got met din samma

Some people god punishes straight away. (viking saying)

 

[SueMermaid]

When they take in air instead of water, they sometimes have difficulty deflating because it tips them wrong. (they float belly up). Someone's kid at a party I was having made one of my spotted puffers do that when I wasn't looking. I was pi$$ed. (he also fed them hot dogs, which lead to a tank disaster, but that's a different story. Little @#&$^@!).

 

[Pissed Off Pufferfish]

Ok people, I'm a Pufferfish and I've had just about enough of this crap! Here's the bottom line: Stop poking at us! We can puff up as many times as necessary to defend ourselves from evil predators, but we're all getting really, really tired of being "goosed" by scuba divers...especially those know-it-all, think-they're-so-cool divemasters. There we are, just swimming along minding our own business and suddenly get violated by a neoprene glove or metal telescoping pointer stick. Oh, and of course there's some picture-taking camera freak standing by to capture the "fun" and blind us at the same time. Sheesh! It's really just a matter of common decency, a live-and-let-live worldview, a simple compassion for us innocent and harmless critters of the sea. Also, any Puffers that die after getting "Puffed" were probably old anyway. And DON'T CALL ME FUGU!!