Red Devil ate plastic

Question

He's the red one in th   Hi Ron I really hope you can help me. I have a red devil cichlid , about 8 months old. 6 inches long. I placed him in one of those plastic dividers they sell in pet land to separate him from the other fishes. He bit a hole through the divider and came through. But he had a piece of the plastic in his mouth. I was asleep but my wife woke me immediately. I couldn't see the plastic piece but he kept his mouth open and seem like he's trying to spit it out but nothing came out. I took him out of the tank to see if I could see the plastic in his mouth but saw nothing. This happened yesterday and today his mouth is still halfway opened and he has a little swollen spot on the bottom left hand side of his mouth. I took him out of the tank and tried looking in his mouth and gills to see if the plastic was still there but didn't see anything. he is still active but can't seem to eat because he can't move his mouth. What do you suggest I do? It's hard seeing him in pain like this I had him since a baby.

Answer
Hi Dan,
  That is a tough situation.  It is possible that the plastic will work loose, but more likely you are going to have to get it out of there with a pair of tweezers.  

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>