Gas Bubble Syndrome

[lenny]

Well, it finally happened to me.
Last night I notice one of the horses acting kind of funny and swimming in a weird posture, though still basically upright. This morning I noticed that he'd lost all sense of direction and was swimming either upside down or laying flat at the surface of the water.
Now, this particular little guy has always had a relatively large pouch, so nothing had seemed out of the ordinary till this happened. So, I knew that it finally happened to me... the dreaded Gas bubble syndrome.
I had my emergency kit ready to go, with pouch wash solution and the little syringe but honestly, I was kind of scared to do what had to be done... but I did it and here's how it went for those of you who might have to do it themselves:

Step one: Cleaned and sterilized hands and equipment.
Step two: Caught the little bugger
Step three: I tried to do the procedure with the syringe like I was taught, but had little success.. I think I just was afraid of being too forceful, but I got a little air out and then put him back in the tank to breath a bit.... where he still had the buoyancy issues
Step four: Caught him again, and this time tried just the "massage" method, which required a lot more force than I really expected, but was successful. It's kind of like squeezing a tube of toothpaste combined with popping a zit.. (I know, gross anaolgy) but when I applied enough pressure the pouch opened and the air came rushing out.
Step five: observation.... and he seems to be doing just fine and it's been about four hours now.

My moral is that if any of you have to do this, it's going to take a lot more force than you would initially think to force the air out through the pouch opening. I was worried about the physical aspects of it, and since he has a large pouch anyways, I didnt know if he could be pregnant or not, but decided keeping him alive was more important than possible fry. I don't think that I injured him in the process and certainly was as careful as I could be not to.

It worked, but it really was kinda scary.

 

[tnyga]

That is totally awesome Lenny!!! I am Soooooooooooooooooooooo glad I have your phone number!!! lol

 

[flyingarmy]

How come the little guy couldn't just burp or fart?:confused2:


Glad he is doing well!:up:

 

[jefft]

I guess you will be known as Dr Belly Fart or Mr Gas Pusher! :lol2: Good job I hope this solves its problems. This is the first time I've heard of this problem. I've considered ponies, I better do a little more research.

 

[FutureInterest]

Crazy. It sucks to be a male pony...

 

[sprayin70]

Congrats man. That's what this hobby is about. Understanding the needs of your animals. Congrats again

 

[lorenk]

What do they do in the wild...just die? Wonder why they get it.

Good job Lenny on saving the little guy.

 

[lenny]

Thanks for the kind words, and if I become known as Dr. Belly-fart, so be it.

and jefft... dont let it scare you off. I've had more than 10 seahorses in my herd for about 2 years now, and this is the first time I've witnessed this problem... I've learned that this is not uncommon, but is still a pretty rare thing, with some keepers keeping very large herds for many years without ever having it happen....

And flyingarmy and LorenK, I know you were joking, but I was asking the same thing... In the wild apparently the condition more often than not leads to a difficult life, or in a lot of cases death, since they're pretty fragile anyways and fighting the buoyancy takes a lot out of them. It turns out that there's various chambers inside the pouch, so even if they are "pumping" (which is a method they have for sucking water into and out of the pouch, usually used when trying to court a female, and similar to the process they use to expel the fry when having babies) air can become trapped in the folds and spaces within the pouch and cause the buoyancy problems. I wish it was as simple to fix as them just being able to fart! haha

It's late this afternoon now and he's still seeming pretty normal.. not moving around too much, but alert, breathing fine, eating, etc... He's also one of the more sedentary ones anyways so I think he's doing ok.

If any of yall have any experience or knowledge on this issue I'd love to hear it!

 

[cameron]

I love looking at horses, but whew every time I read a story like this makes me glad I don't have to care for them. Congrats on helping the little fellow out though.

 

[bobz]

Lenny,
Just curious how this little guy made out after a couple of months? Did he bounce back?

 

[lenny]

actually....
He bounced back just fine, but it's become a chronic issue with this seahorse ("Linus", lol).
Apparently Linus has some sort of condition that is causing his pouch mechanics to malfunction, so I've noticed that he'll be fine for a while, then I'll catch him trying to court/mate, where he's opening up his pouch for the courting displays, then the air starts to build up over the next few days. Unfortunately the massaging is no longer enough, and I have to regularly manually open the pouch (with a small, sterile plastic dropper) and massage the air out at the same time, which gets tricky with him squirming around.
I probably have to "burp" him once a month now, and though he doesnt seem to enjoy it, he is more tolerant of me when I go after him now, lol.

I've tried to find answers to possible causes, but the best seahorse minds are telling me basically.... it happens.

Though I still dont like doing it, it's a necessary evil. After he's burped, he seems totally fine each time, and immediately gets to zooming all around the tank the way he's supposed to, instead of fighting the big balloon that his pouch becomes. (its so sad to see him to try to swim when he's afflicted...)

Peace

 

[bobz]

Wow. Glad to hear that he is ok but sorry that is seems chronic. Good luck with Linus! BTW, would love to see some pics of your seahorse tank!
Bob

 

[lenny]

Ill get some pictures up soon, at least of the tank, but theres no way i can photo the procedure without someone else here taking pics, lol Even a vidcam on a tripod would have difficulty due to the angles I have to do it at to hold him underwater while I work on him... but heres a description:

With my left hand I hold him in place to start.
My right hand hand uses the tool to start to open the pouch.
I then use my right hand to start to move the air from the bottom of the pouch.
Once the air is nearing the top of the pouch, I switch focus on my hands so that the right hand is effectively holding him in place, which the left shifts its grip to start squeezing from the top of the pouch....
If all goes well I get a good burp and he's good to go....
More often then not its only a partial burp and I have to adjust the strategy to get as much out as possible.

It's not hard.. it's just awkward, lol. I am in constant fear of damaging his goods inside the pouch, but again I feel it's the lesser of two evils. I might be hurting his reproductive capabilities, but I know that it's best for the horse. But it's horrible when the air is moving around inside the pouch because you dont know what you're squishing.......

 

[lenny]

Just a follow up.
This particular seahorse gets bubbled all the time.... I'd say I have to "belly-fart" him about 3 times a month or so. I'm thinking either it's a chronic condition with his pouch, or (and I certainly hope to all gosh that it's not this, but...) maybe I did something to damage him. He's a totally normal seahorse in all other respects, but does tend to get GBS a few times a month... I'll notice him swimming funny usually, and occasionally it'll be so bad that you can see the bulging pouch. But in general, he's fine... eats fine, alert, hunts, courts... just gets a little gassy sometimes.

He's so used to the process now, that he doesnt even put up a fight when I have to grab him for the procedure, and doesnt really squirm around much any more during it... I guess they really do learn. When I did the first couple time he'd SHOOT away and hide right after, but now it's really just a "hey... that happened" kind of vibe and he goes about his business.

Maybe I should stop feeding him italian food after midnight.....

 

[bobz]

Lenny,
Glad to hear this fellow is riding the tide, so to speak. Too bad he has GBS, but atleast you have the procedure down to help him out!
Bob