Animals everywhere are getting some of the coolest wheelchairs, like the turtle that now gets around on wheels, but it’s not just land animals. Leighton Naylor, the owner of a tiny Fantail fish, saved his fish’s life by creating a fish wheelchair. Yes, you read that right, an underwater fish wheelchair made from recycled tubing.
The image of Einstein swimming around in his fish wheelchair quickly went viral after surfacing on the Internet. It’s not everyday you see a 25 cent goldfish with his very own wheelchair! Yet, Einstein isn’t the only fish that needs one.
If a fish gets a swim bladder infection it can make it impossible for them to swim upright, as the swim bladder is crucial to a fish’s buoyancy. Einstein, and many other fish around the world experience this same problem.
There are several approaches fish owners have taken to create the perfect wheelchair for their underwater friends suffering from swim bladder infection. Some fish get cork wheelchairs, and others get wheelchairs made of recycled tubing, like Einstein pictured below.
Leighton, a 32-year-old warehouse worker from Blackpool, Lancashire, said, “Einstein’s been suffering with ill health on and off for about two years. He’s always been a fighter so when he sunk to the bottom one day and couldn’t get back up again it was a very sorry sight. It broke my heart to see him so helpless. He looked so depressed.”
Leighton started doing some research, and spent 3 hours constructing the tiny little life jacket/ fish wheelchair. “I wanted to build something that would allow Einstein to move his fins a little bit and be comfortable at the same time.”
At first Einstein wasn’t too impressed. “He wriggled a bit a first and he wasn’t too keen on the idea. He kept catching on to plants and getting stuck but since I’ve rearranged the tank to make it disability friendly he’s been absolutely fine.”
Since the float prevents Einstein from reaching the top of the water Leighton uses special measures to feed him now, and Einstein seems plenty happy about it.
Einstein lives with his fellow goldfish friends Frank, Pat and Blondie. “They’re one big happy family now, but he’ll have to wear it for the rest of his life.”
“People have said I’m crazy but every animal is a valued family member and I do my best to help every one of them.”
In the future Leighton looks forward to teaching Einstein new tricks. “I’ve tried to train all of my fish but Einstein’s really shone above the rest – he’s my star pupil. He can already swim through my fingers and through hoops using a feeding wand. I was just getting him into fish football before he got sick.”
“People can be dismissive of goldfish as pets but they are intelligent animals as Einstein proves.”
This owner saved his underwater friend with a fish wheelchair made from a sling and an old wine cork. Leighton saw this idea while planning his goldfish’s wheelchair but thought the cork idea looked a bit uncomfortable.
Another example of a floating fish wheelchair:
