Constipated Whiptail Female (Edit: Gruesome Autopsy Pics.)

All posts regarding the care and breeding of these catfishes from South America.
Post Reply
CAtfishluvva
Posts: 43
Joined: 30 Aug 2006, 10:21
My cats species list: 6 (i:2, k:0)
My aquaria list: 3 (i:2)
Spotted: 4
Location 1: Cape Town South Africa
Location 2: Helderberg

Constipated Whiptail Female (Edit: Gruesome Autopsy Pics.)

Post by CAtfishluvva »

I posted some pics of here under another thread, so I won't post new ones unless you guys ask me too.

I placed her and the male in a tank of their own, did the rainwater thing and fed vegetable foods.

I am still unsure if it is constipation or her being (extremely) gravid, but the swelling in her abdomen has increased rather than decreased.

Last night she was sitting on the glass and I noticed her genital papillae (which normally appears close to egglaying I guess) that has been visible for a few days, seems to have the traces of bleeding!

How do I "unblock" her?

IS there something I can add to the water?
Last edited by CAtfishluvva on 01 Jan 2007, 19:11, edited 1 time in total.
CAtfishluvva
Posts: 43
Joined: 30 Aug 2006, 10:21
My cats species list: 6 (i:2, k:0)
My aquaria list: 3 (i:2)
Spotted: 4
Location 1: Cape Town South Africa
Location 2: Helderberg

Post by CAtfishluvva »

She died.

She started bleeding through her skin and died shortly afterwards.

I opened her up to find one of her ovaries had an infection. Her intestines seems fine, no constipation, but she had one healthy and one yellow bleeding ovary.

Her swelling was because she was chock full of eggs, and it seems that the membrane that kept the organs in place had either ruptured or damaged by the infection.

Darn, now to find another female since the boy is feverishly cleaning his home and getting ready for a mate...
CAtfishluvva
Posts: 43
Joined: 30 Aug 2006, 10:21
My cats species list: 6 (i:2, k:0)
My aquaria list: 3 (i:2)
Spotted: 4
Location 1: Cape Town South Africa
Location 2: Helderberg

Post by CAtfishluvva »

Hokay, here are the pics of my "Autopsy"...

Like I said, the female started bleeding through her skin and vent, shortly afterwards she died, and I decided to open her up.

The first sign of trouble came the moment I pierced her skin, red and yellow fluids came out:

Image

That told me that something serious had to be wrong.

As I went further inside I found her heavily gravid, but not constipated, as her intestine was not swollen or filled with gunk.

Here is a pic of the first ovary:

Image

All seemed fine here, untill I dug deeper. Notice below where I exposed both her ovaries and her organs, that the left hand side ovary is infected, yellow puss taking up a good half of its size.

Image

Below is a close-up of both ovaries, the one on top is healthy, and the one bottom is infected.

Image

Any ideas as to what could cause this?

My water quality is 100% fine and she was fed a healthy balanced diet, a little heavy on the meaties, but her intestines where not blocked because of this...

Could it be a bacterial infection?
User avatar
Shane
Expert
Posts: 4625
Joined: 30 Dec 2002, 22:12
My articles: 69
My images: 162
My catfish: 75
My cats species list: 4 (i:75, k:0)
My aquaria list: 4 (i:4)
Spotted: 99
Location 1: Tysons
Location 2: Virginia
Contact:

Post by Shane »

Q,
Sorry that it did turn out to be an illness. There is a good chance that she has had this infection for a very long time and it may not actually be related to anything you did or did not do.
-Shane
"My journey is at an end and the tale is told. The reader who has followed so faithfully and so far, they have the right to ask, what do I bring back? It can be summed up in three words. Concentrate upon Uganda."
Winston Churchill, My African Journey
Post Reply

Return to “South American Catfishes (Loricariidae - Plecos et al)”