I just gastric tubed a seadragon who hasn’t eaten for a while, with freshly hatched Artemia and I thought I’d to share with sygnathid / seahorse owners on how it is done.
A catheter with the right diameter (thin enough to enter the oesophagus, but wide enough to allow passage of food to be injected) and length (needs to be long enough to reach the oesophagus which is located posterior to the gill chamber) is selected and it is glued to a syringe to prevent it from being dislodged from any back pressure.
The syringe is filled with newly hatched brine shrimp that’s rinsed in freshwater. Why we chose newly hatched Artemia is because it’s packed with nutrients and the particle size is small enough to fit through the bore of the feeding tube. The shrimp is rinsed in freshwater to remove wash off any muck and bacteria.
The feeding tube is inserted into the mouth and gently directed to the back of the throat where you’ll feel a bit if resistance. This is the opening to the stomach. When the fish attempts to swallow, you’ll feel the catheter can be inserted a little further and you’re in!
At this stage, you can slowly inject the food. In my case I gave 2-3ml of a brine shrimp slurry.
Although it is not so critical in other fish species, sygnathids should be kept submerged at all times where possible.
Fingers crossed Mr seadragon comes through.
