Tiger Oscar Seems Sick?

Question
We just started to take care of my son's 3 year old tiger oscar. He/she is about 13inches long, in a 55 gallon tank with no other fish other than a bottom algae eater. They have grown up together with no problem. The tank was recently moved to our house (8 days ago). The oscar will not eat, and his lower jaw is open all the time and seems to be swollen. He also looks like he's "coughing". His color is good, and he is "decorating" his tank like usual, but won't eat. Is he sick? Or is his not eating due to tranfer? And do you think it has anything to do with his lower jaw?

Answer
Hi Diane,
 I don't know what is happening with the lower jaw, but I can say that it would be very normal for an oscar to not eat for several weeks after moving his home.  They are very sensitive to that sort of thing.

 They are also very sensitive to "their people".  So for instance, parents often find that an oscar will stop eating when a son or daughter (who took care of it) heads off to college.  Oscars can easily tell the difference between different people and they get "depressed" when one of their people goes away.  This can last weeks or even months.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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