'Diary' entry: Armando

Armando:

The hairy larva thingy pictured above was one of several that appeared in the bowl I leave in the garden for mosquito larvae to grow in for the fish. They were in there for probably a couple of weeks, and appeared to go through the same stages of growth that mozzie larvae do, only they were approximately 2cm in length. I put one in Armando's bowl to see if it would interest him, as he's been unwell again lately. While he appeared keen and chased it around for a while, I think it was simply a bit too big. I didn't bother giving it to Angelina, I just put it back in the garden bowl. Interestingly, there were no mozzie larvae at all while these things were present in the bowl, and now they're gone the bowl is full of mozzie larvae again.

Armando has been very poorly for a couple of weeks now. He seems to have difficulty swimming again, and has shown less interest in his food. Rather, he still seems hungry, it's just that the physical act of eating seems to be a struggle. Also, his poos have gotten pale- normally the siamese fish poo is a dark colour. I have no idea what could be wrong with him this time, even though his disability was initially caused by dodgy water last year.

I realised yesterday that the cold nights have made his water considerably colder than it should be. This doesn't appear to be affecting Angelina at all, but it could be stressing Armando, so I have been sitting him on top of the coffee machine. I feel bad about having it on all day, but this is the closest thing we have to a heating pad at the moment. Armando hadn't eaten for two days or so, but today I noticed that a bunch of late-stage mozzie larvae had grown in the garden bowl, so I scooped them up and put them in his bowl- he enthusiastically ate them all, albeit slowly, and later wiggled at me hopefully as if he wanted more, so I put a few more in and he ate them quickly. Hopefully a mozzie larvae diet and a warm environment will be enough to bring him good again.

Gam thinks it's time to euthanase him by putting him in the freezer, and I must admit that yesterday I thought Armando might be giving up, but I think he hasn't quite done so yet. As long as Armando looks like he has the will to live, I'll keep looking after him. The dodgy water incident last year really messed him around. I suppose it's something of a miracle that he's survived this long.