Goldfish can't open mouth

I have 10 goldfish in a 1000L pond and one of my beautiful Bristol Shubunkins I wanted to breed is unable to open his mouth. It's been about 4 days now and he tries to eat each feeding time but just can't open his mouth to feed. The pond is heavily planted and have done a 90% water change. I have tried with cotton tips to try and open his mouth for a look but they must have different mouths than my mouthbrooders as I can't seem to grip anything to open up his mouth. He still has a decent body so he's not wasting away but am keen to hear any experience or advice that could help me, like I said I was gonna separate this guy and my lovely lady Bristol as a breeding project.

 

I'm a little uncertain here because I don't raise gorgeous goldies like yours - I take goldie surrenders, usually common & comet, treat & eventually re-home in private ponds such as yours. But I didn't want you to go unanswered.

I've seen this kind of locked mouth with fungal infections, bacterial infections & on occasion, when a goldie has injured their mouth going after an inedible. Generally I do a very up close examination for anything that looks white or fluffy that would indicate fungal infection & because I'm in Canada without regular access to antibiotics, quarantine the goldie & treat with malachite green. If I can get my hands on them & the mouth does not have signs of fungus, I'd isolate & treat with kanaplex & maracyn 2. Very clean water in the isolation tub.

I know this may be too little, too late but I hope this helps or that your goldie is already making strides towards recovery. Please update us on how he's doing? Thank you.

 

This sounds a lot like the fish is choking. When fish have large bits of veggie, substrate, or plants stuck, they can't open their mouth, leading to starvation or suffocation if they don't remove it themselves. The best thing to do is take out the fish and check in his mouth. If you see something stuck in the throat, be cautious when removing it as you can cause more harm than good, then use some tweezers

Hope he recovers well

 

This sounds a lot like the fish is choking. When fish have large bits of veggie, substrate, or plants stuck, they can't open their mouth, leading to starvation or suffocation if they don't remove it themselves. The best thing to do is take out the fish and check in his mouth. If you see something stuck in the throat, be cautious when removing it as you can cause more harm than good, then use some tweezers

Hope he recovers well

Hoping we hear back from qldmick but it seems the issue is that having taken the fish out & attempted to examine its mouth, the mouth cannot be opened. They can't examine the mouth's interior or remove any potential obstruction. That's what they need solutions to overcome.

While there are other possible causes of a locked jaw, including actual lock jaw, if the mouth cannot be opened, they cannot identify a cause or remove any obstruction. The few goldies I've had with a locked mouth that survived have ultimately responded to infection treatment that if effective, permitted progressive opening of the mouth.

You're right that if the jaw does not unlock & barring veterinary intervention, even hand feeding liquid fry food will be impossible & the animal will not survive. It's a pity & I really hope the water changes & treatment are enough to begin to address this issue so the fish survives.

 

Hoping we hear back from qldmick but it seems the issue is that having taken the fish out & attempted to examine its mouth, the mouth cannot be opened. They can't examine the mouth's interior or remove any potential obstruction. That's what they need solutions to overcome.

While there are other possible causes of a locked jaw, including actual lock jaw, if the mouth cannot be opened, they cannot identify a cause or remove any obstruction. The few goldies I've had with a locked mouth that survived have ultimately responded to infection treatment that if effective, permitted progressive opening of the mouth.

You're right that if the jaw does not unlock & barring veterinary intervention, even hand feeding liquid fry food will be impossible & the animal will not survive. It's a pity & I really hope the water changes & treatment are enough to begin to address this issue so the fish survives.

I didn't get your message earlier. I managed to open his mouth by lifting the top lip up instead of trying to open his bottom jaw, it wasn't hard to do and he wasn't handled for long and strait back in the tank. He had no obstructions and no signs of fungus or infection inside his mouth. I just feed them and he's the same as before, trying to feed but unable to open his mouth at all.

 

I didn't get your message earlier. I managed to open his mouth by lifting the top lip up instead of trying to open his bottom jaw, it wasn't hard to do and he wasn't handled for long and strait back in the tank. He had no obstructions and no signs of fungus or infection inside his mouth. I just feed them and he's the same as before, trying to feed but unable to open his mouth at all.

I'm glad you got a look inside but I'm at a loss so far as personal experience goes. I'd try hand feeding liquid fry food or pulverized frozen if you can at least. I did do some brief research & came up with lock jaw, something I've not dealt with. I can't tell you how reliable the info at the link is but I'll provide it here: LockJaw goldfish Koi; diagnose symptoms and treat; gfe.

Have you tried posting this directly to the goldfish forum? Those keepers may have more experience with illness that affects long-term goldie populations. If you'll give me a moment, I'll search the archives here to see if suggestions have been made in the past, then re-post here. Bear with me.

I didn't get your message earlier. I managed to open his mouth by lifting the top lip up instead of trying to open his bottom jaw, it wasn't hard to do and he wasn't handled for long and strait back in the tank. He had no obstructions and no signs of fungus or infection inside his mouth. I just feed them and he's the same as before, trying to feed but unable to open his mouth at all.

Searched fishlore & while what I found was mostly about goldie mouths locked open, this was the most pertinent thread. The info being relayed here certainly suggests simpler treatment than the article I linked to.

SOS Fish mouth won’t close | Freshwater Fish Disease and Fish Health

Hope it helps your little guy.