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Stung by the Rabbitfish... (1 Viewer)

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So last night after feeding some nori on a clip I noticed my yellow spot rabbitfish had a huge wad of nori stuck in his mouth. He was making these huge gaping mouth movements but it wouldn't come out. For a while he was swimming fine but then I noticed the nori was visible out of one of his gills. He started struggling to swim and eventually drifted up to the surface. I don't have a net big enough to grab him and Kyle was freaking out. I know, dumb, but I reached in and grabbed him and pulled a huge wad of nori out of his mouth then he immediately tried to breathe and obviously couldn't bc he wasn't in the water so he freaked out and before I could drop him he raised his fin right into the palm of my hand. OUCH!!

Last time he barely pricked me and I had no reaction other than a bit of swelling and pain. This time he got me in three places and it was much deeper. My lips got really swollen and I was wheezing. Luckily (weird way to put it) I have food allergies and have an epipen on hand. I never had to use it, but it did take 3 doses of benadryl and 3 breathing treatments before it started getting better. Today my lips are still a bit swollen and sore from cracking and my hand is sore but not too bad. At least he seemed to appreciate me afterward. Lol

Anyone else have a weird reaction to their sting before?
 

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d2mini

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Ouch!
Yeah, LiveAquaria warns of their venomous stings in their descriptions...

Because of its venomous dorsal spines (which it can raise when disturbed) care must be taken when handling to avoid the possibility of being envenomated.
 
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If by any chance you get stuck by him again, put your hand in as hot of water as you can stand for awhile. The heat helps break down the venom and brings the pain down. Maybe it will help reduce your other reactions too.
 

inigomontoya

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If by any chance you get stuck by him again, put your hand in as hot of water as you can stand for awhile. The heat helps break down the venom and brings the pain down. Maybe it will help reduce your other reactions too.

This and Benadryl - I got hit by a stingray at Padre once and did all the research and this is pretty much the best you can do. Soaking in the really hot water does help diffuse the pain. I have bad allergies and also have an epipen because of them and find Benadryl to really help with the body's reaction to the venom.
 
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