[Picture Framed75]

Hoping someone could fill me in on some info.

How long can an eel survive out of water?

This morning, I awoke to find that my chainlink eel had jumped from one of my tanks. I found it lying motionless on the floor in front of the tank. I went to bed at 11 and awoke at 7:30. So it could have happened at anytime between. After a moment of silence... I went to bag him for the trash can and realized he was still alive. (Scared me near death) lol

So I quickly got him back into the tank. His skin was obviously dry and has since shed, like a snake. Something that I was not aware that eels could do. This was at 7:30 this morning, and the eel is still alive and seems to be doing well. It has used the rockscape in the tank to peel the remaining skin off. The new skin below seems very bright and vibrant...

So, the question remains, How long can an eel live out of water?

Could he have been there for hours, or did I just get lucky and he had jumped out just minutes before I awoke?

 

[Twitterbait]

They can survive for hours. they exude a mucus coat over themselves when they jump out. all you have to do is throw them in the water and they will shed it. I do recommend sucking out the slime and skin they shed off. Glad to hear he survived the carpet surfin'...

 

[Picture Framed75]

Thanks for the help. Much Appreciated...:thumbup:

 

[Twitterbait]

No problem... I have seen it before, it can really be wierd :lol:

 

[funi42]

I had an eel that went carpet surfing a few years back, where the tank was it jumped out right at the bottom of my stairs, needless to say when i turned the corner I jumped and ran back up to my room! lol i thought it was a snake at first and I HATE snakes:worm:

 

[VWD]

I agree that they can survive for some time

 

[DebsSisterFlo]

that's interesting, I never knew that! Glad to hear your eel is ok!

 

[JennM]

Hehehe!

The same thing happened to me a couple of years ago, here at the shop. I know eels are infamous for jumping - and all our tanks are covered.

This time it was a cheetah or peppered eel, probably about 18" to 2' long. I came in to work to find it dry and wrinkly on the floor, and the cover of that particular tank had been left off. Store closes at 8:00 PM and re-opens at 10:00 AM so nobody can know for sure just how long it was on the floor. Eels are nocturnal so it likely happened sometime during the dark hours.

When I discovered the casualty, I was mad. I called my (now ex) husband (who had left the cover off the tank) to give him the customary wifely blast of you-know-what for his carelessness. I had the phone cradled between my ear and my shoulder and I was giving him what for, I put a bag on my hand so I could pick up the dead eel, invert the bag with the eel inside and dispose of the thing.

While I was preparing to do this, he asked me, "Are you sure it's dead?"... to which I replied (in a very naggy tone...) "YES I'm sure it's DEAD... it's dry, covered in lint and rigor mortis has set in!" The eel was coiled up, very dry and stiff (hence my statement about rigor). As I'm saying this, I lean over to pick up said stiff coiled eel, still cradling the phone so I can use my other hand to invert the bag. OH and I'd put the cover back on the tank before I started (like closing the barn door after the horse is gone...). As I went to invert the bag, didn't the darned thing start to squirm!! So suddenly I'm hollering expletives of surprise into the phone, my (ex)husband began to laugh hysterically... meanwhile I'm suddenly trying to lift the cover off the tank, wrangle the unexpectedly very much alive eel back into the tank. In the shuffle, the eel thrashed himself and splattered that sticky slime all over the front of the tank as I tried to steer him back into it. I finally got him back in, he took two big breaths, looked around and then casually slinked back into his pvc pipe hidey hole, as if nothing had ever been wrong.

To this day, Scott and I laugh about this... it really was funny :funny: I guess for him it was a funny payback for my giving him h-e-double-hockey-sticks

We kept the eel for another month for observation - just to make sure there were no ill effects from his brief stint as a floor model. Today he's alive and well and living in a 225-gallon tank in a neighbourhood about 8 miles from here!

Jenn

 

[Twitterbait]

that is awsome :lol:

 

[Cylenchar]

Yeah, I'll be buying a snowflake tomorrow and need to make sure that I get a good covering for the tank to prevent carpet surfing.... Problem is that he is going in the refugium until the 125 is fully set up, and the refugium has the hob skimmer and hob overflow and return line...... I see lots of duct tape in my near future....