Puffer beaks

[stubaan]

Hi folks

I've had a dwarf puffer for some time now - coming on a year probably. I used to also have hundreds and hundreds of pond snails and Malaysian trumpet snails... but then I got the puffer.

Since he ate the last of my snails, which took him but a matter of days (I never dreamed he could put so many away so quickly), I've been feeding him sun dried gammarus. I noticed today that he was struggling to eat them, and so now I'm concerned that his beak is overgrown as a result of his snail-sparse diet. However, when I take a good look at it there doesn't appear to be much different than I recall, if at all different.

There is enough of a beak such that the mouth does not seem to seal across its entire width. The upper and lower "mandibles" meet in the center and I can see small gaps on between the lips on either side, something I noticed many many months ago and which hasn't noticeably affected his ability to devour shrimp in big numbers.

So, I was hoping to ask a few questions:

1) Anyone know where I might find some decent pictures of a normal beak versus an abnormal beak due to a lack of crunchy foods?
2) Anyone got any thoughts on other possible reasons for his apparent difficulty in eating shrimp, if in fact his beak isn't any bigger now than it has been?
3) Will feeding him snails again help wear the beak down if this is a problem, or is it by now an irreversible condition (as my guilt would then be)
4) Even if he can't eat shrimp he is still quite proficient at gobbling up freeze dried bloodworms so he's not going to starve, but still...

Thanks

 

[Lotus]

Dwarf puffers don't generally need their beaks worked on. Their beaks don't seem to grow the way some other puffers do. However, the dried foods are probably difficult for him to eat. At the least, soak the dried foods for a while before feeding (1/2 hour or so). Frozen bloodworms are a better staple for DPs.

If you have snails in another tank, or a friend with them, they're certainly good for DPs, and it will help his beak. However, they're fine on frozen bloodworms. A great treat for them are live blackworms, if you can find them.