Main Symptoms: Something is hanging out of the anus.
Causes: Feces, intestines, uterus, hairworms, milling headworms
Curability: Depending on the cause.
Treatment: Only possible with worms
symptoms
external symptoms
- Long threads hang out of the anus for hours.
- Short red or milky threads hang out of the anus at least temporarily.
- Guts (reddish blisters) hanging out of the anus.
Behave
internal symptoms
photos
Photo: Matthew Rieger
Guppy drags a string of feces behind it.
Photo: Moritz Hertel
Swordtail females with extremely long droppings
Photos: Carsten
Guppy with intestines hanging out of the anus(?). The problem occurred with several guppies in two aquariums. The guppies then became emaciated at different rates and died. A first treatment with Gyrodactol against skin and gill worms (active ingredient: tosylchloramide sodium 3H2O) seemed to be successful. About 4 weeks later, the symptoms reappeared. Another treatment was unsuccessful.
The bulge on a dead guppy could only be wiped off with a little force. Possibly because it was part of the body, or at least had grown into it.
At 100x magnification nothing was visible in the smear.
Another owner had a similar bladder hanging out of the anus of a female guppy from birth. The animal still appeared healthy at 6 weeks and was eating and lively. Because you could see that there was feces in the bladder, it was probably a piece of intestine.
Photos: Michael Dierloff
Goldfish with intestines hanging out of the anus(?). After a few days, the bowel was no longer visible.
Photos: Olaf Ventzke
Female guppy with protruding uterus
Photos: Bernd Dilssner
Catfish with milling head worms
Photos: Rüdiger Wackwitz
15.12. (Pictures left): A reddish blister appeared on the anus of this honeycomb catfish, which slowly but surely grew.
December 16th: The temperature was raised to 28° and alder cones were placed in the aquarium. In the evening the catfish became noticeably lethargic, although honeycomb catfish are rather calm anyway. He seemed so powerless that he could no longer hold on to the pane.
12/17: The blister was much smaller and seemed to go away. The catfish was still battered.
18.12. (Pictures on the right): The bubble was gone. The catfish seemed fit again.
Possible causes are intestines that have been retracted, sporozoa, or cysts.
Photos: Ronny Dietzel
Catfish with a transparent bubble on the anus. Such blisters on the anus seem to occur more frequently in catfish. Possible causes are intestines, eg a piece of intestine in case of constipation, sporozoa or cysts.
causes
Strings of feces hanging out of the anus are mostly harmless. Sometimes fish drag long strands of excrement behind them for several hours.
If long strands of faeces often form, the faeces should be closely monitored. Slimy and white stools can be caused by intestinal flagellates, hairworms or worms.
Viviparous toothcarps can experience problems during birth where the female’s uterus appears to be protruding from the body.
In some species, the intestines can also hang out of the anus. This is reported e.g. B. Red of Rio and guppies. The bowel may slip due to a blockage, e.g. B. by eating artemia eggs with shells out.
treatment suggestions
If there is only an occasional string of droppings hanging out of an individual animal’s anus, no treatment is necessary. It is important to consider whether the feed is nutritious, varied and suitable for the fish species.
Against flagellates and worms is treated with the appropriate remedies.
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If a uterus hangs out of the anus, healing is probably not possible. In all known cases, the females have died.
A protruding intestine can go back into the body without treatment, possibly only after several days. Jerky movements, e.g. B. during transport, trigger the regression. But please don’t do any experiments to find out which impacts a fish can take.