Pond catfish's belly is extremely swollen!

DarkLies

DarkLies

Large Fish
#1
Nov 9, 2009
173
0
0
Louisiana
#1
Our 55 gallon pond tank is full of creatures that have been caught from ditches, canals, ponds, etc :)

This catfish has been in the tank for about a monthish. It was extremely injured (we think a rodent tried to snack on it) when it was caught. It has recovered woderfully! There are very faint scars now =/

Now, it's belly is swollen...extremely...I'll try to get a picture when it comes out from it's home (lives in a fake hollowed out tree stump) and post it.
But this is what it looks like.
http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/SB49/Catfish.jpg
It's about 7ish inches long..yea...I just check..and I noticed a shed crawfish shell...do you think maybe it ate the jellied crawfish?

Sorry this is so all over the place, but it's been a long day :(
 

Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#2
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
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0
Northern NJ
#2
bery likely if the crawfish/crayfish can fit in its mouth. they wont ever pass up an opportunity to eat a softened crustacian :p
Thats a channel cat btw and will grow very big, so a pond is a good idea for it. also likes soft current.

see if the swelling goes away after a week. if it does than it was the crayfish or something else in the tank.
 

Newman

Newman

Elite Fish
#5
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
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0
Northern NJ
#5
try the attachement function...

Looks like that cat is a bullhead...but i cant really tell cuz its so disproportional, its vertical, and its still young.

And it clearly swallowed the crawfish. see if you cant find it anymore in the tank, and that will confirm. wait about a week for results lol. hopefully the crustacian wont bust through the belly like an alien xD (then again aliens always preffered rupturing rib cages over bellies...)
 

DarkLies

DarkLies

Large Fish
#6
Nov 9, 2009
173
0
0
Louisiana
#6
Hahaha...the vision of the seemingly ninja/alien crawfish entertains me :)

And since we removed most of them, what are left usually hide in the stumps or behind the fake wood that the catfish is behind (except the craws usually hide between the air tube thing and the wood) -.-

Oh and I googled your bullhead suggestion and it's face is shaped differently and the antennae are longer and mine has a blueish tint? Blueish grey...very erm..lovely =]
 

DarkLies

DarkLies

Large Fish
#8
Nov 9, 2009
173
0
0
Louisiana
#8
It was close for the picture being as horrible as it is :eek:
If the dumb thing would ever come back out of the stump, I'd tell you if anything changed or not -.-
And thanks =]
 

Doomhed

Doomhed

Large Fish
#16
Feb 11, 2003
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Rhode Island
Visit site
#16
i would recommend throwing some ghost shrimp in there from time to time for him to snack on. he will totally love you.

also, that can easily be a male bullhead. they are known to be colorful when they are in good health. and since he has a very high protien crayfish diet, I would not be surprised if he was happy and colorful. Wild caught catfish are many times missing barbels. I wouldn't stress it too much.
 

DarkLies

DarkLies

Large Fish
#17
Nov 9, 2009
173
0
0
Louisiana
#17
I've been trying to get ghost shrimp for a while, Doomhed, but each time I go to the store, they're all gone!! -.- I'm determined to get some eventually!! =]

Also, that's amazing, I'd LOVE to train a horse! Also one of my goals in life :)
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
#20
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#20
DarkLies said:
Also, that's amazing, I'd LOVE to train a horse! Also one of my goals in life :)
Click to expand...
It's a TON of work! Dakota is 6yo and 3/4 arabian, 1/4 saddlebred. His previous owners let him get away with EVERYTHING, so we had to restart him from the ground up and are working all his bad habits out of him. I've been working with him for about three or four months now and he's improved significantly, but he's still a P.I.T.A. to ride.
 

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