# Bent spine discus at pet store



## purplemuffin (Aug 12, 2010)

Okay, I posted about this on my journal, but this is a better area for communication. 

A lot of you should remember the awful pet store I went to? Well the discus fish they had is STILL THERE...But this time I got pictures of his freaky spine.









(Note, this is not him at an angle, that's a straight side view. His tail curves down and his spine bends towards us at this angle)









This is him turning to swim away, you can see the..well.. It doesn't look right. Wish it showed up better in pictures. It's hard to catch on photos for some reason.


Discus fish experts. What IS this.. Is this a birth defect that should have been culled? Is it an injury? Something else? The fish has been in the store for at least a month or longer and can hardly swim. Is it even a discus fish? I don't know anything about these guys.

I'd like to know a little more about this fish before I contact people again to try to shut down the store. Now that I have pictures it should work out better. But I'd like to know what exactly this is.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I'm no discus expert at all but that looks like either a defect, an injury, or the results of TB. :/ That poor fish should be euthanized immediately because he can never have a good quality of life. Not with a spine like that.


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## purplemuffin (Aug 12, 2010)

I know, it's awful. I can't believe they've kept the poor thing alive in that dirty tank for so long. So sad. I just wanted to know if anyone had a clue if it looked particularly like any of the three possibilities. Any of them is bad anyway. 

Is there a way to test for TB? I am really concerned about getting this place shut down. If the store is carrying fish in contaminated water that could get people sick (in an unlocked tank at children's reach) the store might get closed, or at least examined. So far no one seems to care.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

The only way to know if it's TB is to do an autopsy and look in the fish's internal organs. If it is, there will be granulomas (growths) that are typical of TB. It's these granulomas that can attach to the spine and cause it to collapse. If the tank is dirty and overcrowded, there is a good chance it's TB.


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## purplemuffin (Aug 12, 2010)

Nasty. Well, he's the only one in his tank, but I don't think it's ever been cleaned. There may have been others who died before, but he's been alone since Thanksgiving or longer. 

I have a lot of images I can use against these people now. Going to send this out to everyone.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You go! I hope the store learns its lesson: fish need proper care!

Best of luck.


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## purplemuffin (Aug 12, 2010)

Heck, everything needs proper care. These are the same people who were linked to spreading parvo around a few years back. They just are awful with anything they touch. Hopefully they won't be allowed to even touch an animal when I'm done.


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## Myrtaceae (Dec 17, 2011)

Goodness gracious. You fight that good fight. Read what you posted about them before, if I recall correctly. These people need to be stopped. That poor little guy.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

If you have seen no other Discus at the store,,could have been that someone brought the sick,malnourished fish in,, and store folk's just could not euthanize the poor creature though it is what I would do.
Could be the poor fish came in with a bunch of other young Discus that have been sold , and somehow missed being culled and again,,the folks at store just tryin to keep from killin somethin at Christmas:lol:.
Worst case,,,they had one specimen shipped to them to gauge public interest, and you could take comfort that they won't be offering more after witnessing the result's of their misguided efforts or lack thereof.

Puppies I have raised, were not offered for sale unrtil they were around eight weeks old and Parvo shots or at least first shot's had already been administered,
Sadly,,lot's of Puppy mills here in Missouri.


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## purplemuffin (Aug 12, 2010)

Sadly this is not the only case of sick animals in this store. It's a mall petstore, one that has caused a lot of animal deaths actually. They forget to give water to the birds, never change tank water, and don't dechlorinate betta water because "it's not necessary"

They do get their puppies from puppymills I believe. 

Trust me..I keep trying to hope for the best. I thought maybe the discus was sort of a store 'rescue', but then I questioned why it would be for sale while in this condition... I come back to this store every few weeks after time and time again telling the managers what's wrong. Time and time again the last animals who were sick have passed away and they just get more animals. 

The only reason he hasn't been bought yet is the price. You wouldn't believe what the people shopping were saying. They thought he looked "cute" with his bent spine.


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## Arashi Takamine (Mar 3, 2011)

Cute? An animal that has an obvious injury is cute? I would have punched someone if someone told me Kai had looked 'cute' with his popeye.

Unfortunatly...People really are stupid. I complained a lot at a Rainforest cafe for spotting popeye in one of their fish in their big tropics tank and they did nothing but looked shocked I knew what I was talking about.

I was ticked for hours after that.


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## gidgeystartedit (Nov 13, 2011)

Geez, I remember reading another one of your posts about that petstore.
SOOOO SAD. I mean, I thought Walmart treated their fish bad (They are selling fruit tetras though, meanie Walmart)
I have a guppy with a bent spine. Similar to that, sorta. I would take a pic, but she's a little shy, and I lost my camera on vacation. 
It might be a birth defect? Possibly? Did you ever see normal fish in there?
My guppy was born in my fish tank so I know mine's a birth defect. She's special.
She's living long... lol.


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## Badjer (Oct 25, 2011)

That's just sickening. I will never understand why inhumanity to another living creature is considered ok in pet stores. I wish you the best of luck trying to shut this place down for good purplemuffin!


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