# My newest patient



## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

Picked him up from the store yesterday because he won't eat
He's a medium sized male blue spot stingray
IMO they are one of the worst species to import for saltwater due to they're low survival rate due to stress and they are difficult to get eating and also pressure on the wild population. 
The plan for this guy is ill be trying to feed him a variety of live and frozen foods over the next few days and if I don't have any luck with that I will sedate him and force feed him


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## brezilian (Apr 21, 2012)

good luck i hope he does well


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

I hope it works out, good luck


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## ThePhoenix (Jul 23, 2012)

what part of the world is this guy native to?


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

I believe Indonesia


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

They're a saltwater ray? Neat. How do you sedate them for force feeding? That's a job I don't envy! 

Good luck with this guy!


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

Yes saltwater, and clove oil, mainly just to reduce stressing him out while feeding


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

Bluespotted stingray - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


spit.fire said:


> I believe Indonesia


The bluespotted stingray (Neotrygon kuhlii) or Kuhl's stingray, is a species of stingray of the Dasyatidae family. It is light green with blue spots. Its disk width hovers around 42 centimeters (17 in). It is popular in aquaria but usually not distinguished from the bluespotted ribbontail ray. The ribbontail is rounder with brighter blue and more vivid spots, but the bluespotted stingray is larger.[2] The stingray's maximum age estimate is from one to eighteen years of age. The bluespotted stingray preys on many fish and small mollusks, but is also preyed on by the killer whale and hammer head shark.[3] The bluespotted stingray is also generally found in Indonesia to Japan, and south to Northern Australia. The bluespotted stingray is also targeted by many parasites such as tapeworms, flatworms, and flukes.


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## ThePhoenix (Jul 23, 2012)

Sorry for all the questions - but how do you apply the clove oil? Do you put some drops on its face? smear it all over?


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

drops in the water but you gotta be careful too much and dead fish..


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

enters bloodstream through gills


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

It's a ribbon tail as far as I know and yes what macfamanwndhuddi said


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

I'm hoping to pick up a smaller tank for him to live in that I will plumb into my big tank until I get him eating so he won't have to compete with my other fish for food. Tbh I wish he would just eat one of my gobies just so I can see that he is eating


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

smart ass lol


spit.fire said:


> It's a ribbon tail as far as I know and yes what macfamanwndhuddi said


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

Beautiful ray... My friends brother had one in his 400 gallon tank for years.

"I stopped believing for a while... Journey is gonna be psst!"


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

hmmmmm.........will he eat a mouse................? hahhaahhhahahhahaah just kidding people. couldnt resist.


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

I'm gonna pick up some big juicy dew worms tonight after work.... Never seen a fish say no to dew worms


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## sunshine_1965 (Aug 16, 2011)

onefishtwofish said:


> hmmmmm.........will he eat a mouse................? hahhaahhhahahhahaah just kidding people. couldnt resist.


I darned near fell off my chair laughing. Thanks I needed the laugh. Some won't find it as funny as I did. Too bad for them.


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

After running out of live and frozen foods to try.... Out came the syringe

Here he is being sedated









Air line tube with the end rounded off, the food is basically a mix of a bunch of different frozen foods, vitamins and 70% rodi water that was also run through a uv filter just because









Tube is in, remember his stomach is almost 3-4" beyond his mouth









Back in the tank regaining consciousness, as I type this he is fluttering around the bottom of the tank plotting his revenge on me


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

I hope it works


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

that last pic he looks throuroughly peeved


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

> that last pic he looks throuroughly peeved


Well, how would you feel if you were conked out, yanked out of your nice quiet tank and had some lunatic syringing fishy ooze down you? :bigsmile:

I hope this works, Tyler! That is one beautiful ray.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

i dunno , get a decent nap, full belly, might be a little confused but i have had worse days....


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

macframalama said:


> i dunno , get a decent nap, full belly, might be a little confused but i have had worse days....


Lol... Reminds me of Dave Chappel's standup about Micheal Jackson.

"I stopped believing for a while... Journey is gonna be psst!"


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

So last night he was sifting through the sand like he was on some sort of mission. IMO a good sign because he was looking for food, I took a syringe and injected a bunch of live black worms just under the surface of the sand. Not sure if he ate them tho.


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## IceBlue (Mar 17, 2011)

Good Luck Spitfire. This is like a mini drama. Cool idea and hope it works.


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

omg.............it looked like the tube went in 

one end and came out the other....................had to really look . 

thought to myself.thats gotta hurt.................lol


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

How's the ray doing?


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

He didn't make it, he died while I was at work last week


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

that sucks.....sorry to hear that. u certainly did all you could to help him.


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

Aw, sorry to hear that.


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