seahorse seems to be shedding? and its blocking its mouth, is this normal?

[rylin]

jeese i feel like such an idiot with that subgect.. as i posted earlier in this forum, i just got my first seahorses 2 days ago.. they havent been eating any of the foods ive been offering them (live brine, frozen mysis) but one has been eating pods in my reef regularly. the yellow one i got I have never whitnessed eating.. well this morning he seemed to be sort of "gasping" for air type movements.. then this afternoon i saw this thing hanging from his mouth.. it looked like a piece of skin, but everytime the seahorse would suck water in and out of its mouth the skin would go in and out.. i thought about trying to get it off but i figured better to leave the seahorse alone.. well now i went back in and i see that the skin is in its mouth.. and hes back to having those "gasping" for air type movements.. its not violent at all hes just moving back and forth a bit whenever his gills move.. the other seahorse doesnt do this at all.. so im thinking this might be preventing him from eating? and i noticed around his whole little nose/mouth it seems to be shedding a little. do seahorses shed? or is this some sort of sickness? sorry for the stupid q's.. just dont know what to do..

[Will]

definately sounds like a disease known as snout rot. if that's what it is, it's definately the reason why your horse isn't eating. i don't have a ton of experience with diseases, so you might want to go to seahorse.org and search their forums for "snout rot." im sure you'll find lots of anecdotal information. unfortunately, snout rot is often fatal; since you found it early, though, it may be reversible.
fourhand2

[rylin]

thanks for your quick info, ill look on seahorse.org right now

[rylin]

defenately snout rot. i called the LFS.. and ill be bringing him back there tomorrow. i dont think theres anything i can do for him as a beginner.. i feel terrible for him because i know it will probably be fatal. i just hope my other horse will be okay. thanks for the quick diagnoses four.

[Will]

taking him back is a good move. hopefully someone at the store will be able to nurse him back, though it's doubtful. sorry you had to get a sick horse from the start :(
fourhand2