Need more advice on SnowFlake Eel...

[OldManOfTheSea]

Steve, I'm somewhat of a different view that in time the eel well totally heal for flesh wounds do heal but as for ill regular bone growth will never straighten on its own without surgery. It was like this little boy I know that I think I mentioned that he was bone with an ill regular bone growth in his ankle, and that learning of this when the child was around 3 of age, that the parents needed to wait until their son was 7 years old before the surgery could be attempted.

From what little I can tell from that small photo, the eel is surly with some bone damage, just how bad, one cannot tell just from the photos. As I said, I couldn't tell that the eels jaw was out of line, uneven that is for the eel have a good many bones in their jaw area and as well, the ligament to may be seriously damaged as well, which is why the eel not manage to chew its own food.

Steven, you can deny this if it pleases you, but the facts will not be changed by it for if the eel bones where OK, we wouldn't be seeing the disfigure eel in those photos, so it is that the poor eel does have some bone damages, and that it would prove to be best if Lynne could find such a doctor in his or her state. And besides, it wouldn't hurt to get the little eel check out to learn of what the long term disposition will be for the poor eel.

I wish I could say the eel will heal, but I cannot believe this will happen as if things stay as they are :doubt: Sorry

 

[steve-s]

I think you may have misread/misunderstood my posts and the originating one of Lynne's. I am fairly certain this eel was injured and not the result of poor juvenile growth...

I inherited a snow flake eel when I bought a used 55 gal salt water tank. He is very small. The tank was very neglected when I got it. The chems were way off, the temp was at 90 deg, only half full of water, etc.

I cannot believe some who might allow a tank to come to this state would care for an animal with health concerns such as this. It's much more likely the animal was injured. To what extent I have no idea. I also do not recall suggesting there was no internal damage.

I at no time said it's a given this eels would fully recover either. I said there was a chance that it could eventually eat on it's own again, nothing more

 

[OldManOfTheSea]

I usually do misunderstand something's at some long time frame or so, but I did however understood that Lynne has no idea in why this is with the eel. If it happened through that LR had cause this or otherwise. But still at any determination to the eels predicament, it stands to reason that their has to be some bone damage done to it, for other wise we wouldn't be seeing the abnormal shape on this eel.

let me explain better on something about that little boy, the ill regular bone growth was from below his kneecap to just above his ankle area which when he stands to walks, his lag is never straight, this has been corrected through surgery.
I agree with you Steve that the eel was most likely injured while either in someone care or when was caught, it is sad.

Im not arguing with you Steve at any point in this, only I'm speaking my mind to my beliefs of the situation, also if a LR did cause this, it is as I said that the eels ligament may be serious damaged here and if it was crushed to whatever did happen, the healing may never happen on its own.

Have any of you folks had ever had a torn ligament before, in your foot area? I did and the healing took more then eight months for in the first 4-6 months, that every time I was doing a little better, and then I walk a little on it, it was all sore as hell again.

This is a tender area of the eel ,which is why larger eel species which hunt fish as prey, when they catch a prey and they be having a battle of it to feed on that prey, that they themselves become forced to release, that prey due to the fact that they are concern of causing injury in which case then, they will have to wait until their ligament heals. This ligament injury works no differently on either species, humans or whichever.

I got to go get my Chinese food before i have to starve tonight, lol

 

[Hoopsguru]

OMOTS - I believe you are just a bit to much with the "cart before the horse" so to speak with assuming what MIGHT be wrong with the eel. I believe the hope here is to just get the fish into a condition where it can be better judged, as opposed to the overall poor condition in which it was received.

 

[OldManOfTheSea]

Hoopsguru, if you prefer to excuse what I say as assuming what "MIGHT" be wrong with the eel as a figure of guessing, you be wrong there for what little im able to offer is to my knowledge just from what Lynne was able to explain on the eels condition. Also I owned eels all my life in the hobby, and perhaps as well, a more different selection in which I kept in which gives me a wider better knowledge.

As well, I done as many eel species research, and not limited to any one single study, as well, I can list people names (second name) and the year they were born due to the fact that I wanted to know of where the facts came from. I not however believe that this eel here was due to any abnormal temperatures, that it was caused by some hobbyist to owned it.

Like, here are some the recaps Lynne spoke of;

"He is still not able to chew/bit his food so I am still tube feeding him. He has more energy and is more active but he is not gaining weight. His head is still caved in behind his eyes and his bottom jaw still doesn't line up with the upper jaw.

I don't think the eel was injured. I think he was just living in very bad conditions that made him sick. The people who had him were not taking care of the tank."

Now no matter of water conditions, that the worst in which would happened is that the eels life span be shortened a great deal that in a matter of time it would had simply died, never would this change the eels bone structure and make it that the eels jaw not line up. This is not by as your saying, my "assumption" of the situation. I had owned eels, as many as seven at any one time for many years. I should say that base on my background experiences on the eel that Lynne is best to not disregard my views as worthless facts due to your thoughts on this topic Hoopsguru.