Piranha Live Feeding Ethics Thread.

[koop171]

After reading about the mouse vid and the thread made after it's closing about mods deleting posts. I have decided to do as Oddball sugested and make a ethics thread.

I personally do not find to much harm in feeding Piranha live food such as other fish and worms. I also do not find to much harm in Feeding Piranha a mouse. On the terms that the mouse will die fast. (with 20sec of initial bite) And it will be ate in whole by the schoal.

I do not find it responsible to feed Piranhas ANYTHING larger then the fish. Like a cat Something that is not normally sold as food. Now as I write NOT NORMALLY sold as food I mean the if here in the US we sell mice as feeders to snakes then mice as feeders to Piranha is not bad then either. But you woul not find kittens sold as feeders to snakes here. But if they were in another country then that is fine. Or at least fine in there reigion of the world.

I personally feel that feeding Piranhas some live food is a GREAT staple to there diet. I would not however have a big mouse pit in my house to feed My Piranhas mouse when they get feed live. But I also have toyed with the notion of feeding my Piranhas a mouse when they are grown.

It is a curiosity. A person keeps Piranha and they begin to wonder at some point in time What all this fish could eat. Some people take the extra step to find out what all they will eat. And some will never let the idea leave there mind b/c they do not find feeding live animals like mice to fish like Piranha ethical.

So in short I think we all need to take the things we read and see that have to do with piranha or any other preditory fish with a grain of salt. It may bother some and it may incourage others.

For those of you who find feeding Piranha live something that is wrong you are intitled to that opinion.

For those who find feeding Piranha live exciting or interesting you to ae entitled to that opinion.



Now with this being said I would like to remind you that this thread is disscusion based and in no way trying to sway someone from thinking one way or the other. But to inform each other on what you feel is eithical and why.

Also this thread MUST stay away from bashing ANYONE involed. If this is found out I do encourage the mods to delete posts. Or if it is a must do thing close or delete this thread.




KEEP IT CLEAN!!!

 

[DucatiDragster]

Nicely written.

 

[frontosablkrhom]

i dont think its wrong to feed any fish live food. the mouse was dead in about 3 seconds in that video. before i started collecting fish i collected tarantulas and that turned into giant centipedes. after feeding my centipedes live pinky mice a few times it really started to take its toll on my mind. all of my piranha kill very quicky with giant centipedes it took about 20 minutes of slowly eating they usually wouldnt use there venom on pinkys because there so easy to hold down and eat. what im trying to say are is that feeding a fish like piranha mice/fish or any live food really is a quick death and there is no reason to be so upset by that video especially because his shoal was ready to eat fast. so all in all if you enjoy live feeding cool so do i! post it up! if you dont like live feeding and it hurts your feelings just keep those feelings to yourselves because your only asking to be bashed...

 

[theroque55]

nicely put. i find it very interesting to see what piranhas can do, but never would i like to see something have to suffer for a long period of time.

 

[Hdeuce]

I think that it is fine to feed any fish any species of fish,r eptile bird or mammal. The key is that it should be mature and healthy enough to handle itself, Meaning if you want to feed a piranha a cat, put a full grown living cat in the tank if the piranha can take it down before it gets out the piranha deserves it. The key is that if it gets out then you cant put it back in. And if the animal is injured in the process and escapes you should be fined or even put in jail for cruelty to animals. As far as im concerned it is never cruel to feed one animal another animal, it is however cruel to both animals if you feed them something they cant handle. And a baby animal should be treated with the same respect as a baby human , they should have every chance to reach adulthood.

 

[JoeDizzleMPLS]

i really feel that most piranha keepers are completely uneducated on the topic of live feeding videos, that is why most people are so amazed by these videos. i don't disagree with feeding piranhas live food, they eat live fish in the wild and they are very efficient scavengers, so anyone that says that it is unethical to feed live food to piranhas probably needs to look at their diet in the wild and better evaluate their position.

the problem doesn't have anything to do with feeding live food, it has to do with recording those feedings and posting them on public video sharing websites where people can view them and get an increasingly negative view of piranhas

many newcomers to the hobby see no problem with live feeding videos and most likely see them as great videos of their fish showing their true potential. no offense to anyone on this forum, there are alot of knowledgeable people here, but the vast majority are first time owners with less than a year of experience.

the problem with live feeding videos, and the reason that they are frowned upon by serious hobbyists is that these videos perpetuate the idea that piranhas are bloodthirsty killers.

posessing piranhas is already illegal in many places, including places where piranhas would stand no chance of surviving in the wild... the only reason that they have been deemed illegal to possess in these areas is because of the negative public perception. this negative public perception has been spread to those that have the power to recommend or create laws that make it illegal to possess the fish that we care so much about.

i know that alot of the newcomers to the hobby, especially those that bought piranhas because of their reputation, look at these videos and are impressed by the aggressive behavior, but in reality, it does alot of damage to our hobby. the biggest threat to our hobby is the negative perception of our fish, so responsible keepers should be doing everything they can to help keep our hobby alive.

there are many people out there, including frank magallanes of opefe.com, that have fought to make or keep the possession of piranhas legal, using a strategy of educating people to change the public perception of these fish. it makes it more difficult for people to make arguments to keep our hobby alive when people within the hobby are doing things that are damaging to it's future.

 

[Hdeuce]

Joe, that was an extrememly well thought out and worded post. Unfortunately I dont necessarily agree with it. The posting of live feeding videos shouldnt have any effect on an intelligent persons viewpoint of a pirahna in any way. Intelligent people realise that fish live in water.
I balance it along the same line as owning a pitbull, which i do. It is completely legal for me to own a pitbull where i live, however, illegal to own a pirahna. My pitbull is the most loving and caring dog, he will let babies pull at his ears and my gf' 8 year old son ride him. He'll lick a stranger in the face if they let him. However, many places pitbulls are being outlawed, it's not because of videos released of them attacking cats, its because they are dangerous and people dont show them the proper respect and treatment that they deserve, if fish were only kept by hobbyists and dogs were only kept by pet lovers there would be no problems.
The problem is that idiots buy fish and let them go, or dumba$$es stick their hands in a tank full of hungry pirahna , Or retards buy pitbulls and beat them.
If every animal are given the respect they deserve. By respect i mean fear almost, at least hesitance, before deciding to take on the responsibility of having an animal that could hurt you or someone else. Then the world would be a much safer place for us as humans. And a much more accepting place for strong and or dangerous animals.

 

[JoeDizzleMPLS]

Joe, that was an extrememly well thought out and worded post. Unfortunately I dont necessarily agree with it. The posting of live feeding videos shouldnt have any effect on an intelligent persons viewpoint of a pirahna in any way. Intelligent people realise that fish live in water.
I balance it along the same line as owning a pitbull, which i do. It is completely legal for me to own a pitbull where i live, however, illegal to own a pirahna. My pitbull is the most loving and caring dog, he will let babies pull at his ears and my gf' 8 year old son ride him. He'll lick a stranger in the face if they let him. However, many places pitbulls are being outlawed, it's not because of videos released of them attacking cats, its because they are dangerous and people dont show them the proper respect and treatment that they deserve, if fish were only kept by hobbyists and dogs were only kept by pet lovers there would be no problems.
The problem is that idiots buy fish and let them go, or dumba$$es stick their hands in a tank full of hungry pirahna , Or retards buy pitbulls and beat them.
If every animal are given the respect they deserve. By respect i mean fear almost, at least hesitance, before deciding to take on the responsibility of having an animal that could hurt you or someone else. Then the world would be a much safer place for us as humans. And a much more accepting place for strong and or dangerous animals.

no offense or anything, but i am not seeing any ideas that are relevant to what i posted... i respect your ideas, but you are talking to a guy that probably has ten times as many pitbulls and piranhas as you do... the issue at hand is that these videos seem really cool to people who are new to the hobby or to people that aren't piranha keepers... the problem is that people that are serious about this hobby don't like these videos because they make it that much harder for us to change the perception of those who want to make our fish illegal to possess.

my guess is that you are pretty new to the hobby, so these vids seem pretty cool, but for those of us who actually care, these videos are no good for our hobby... ask anyone who has been in the game for awhile and see what they say.

 

[Hdeuce]

no offense or anything, but i am not seeing any ideas that are relevant to what i posted... i respect your ideas, but you are talking to a guy that probably has ten times as many pitbulls and piranhas as you do... the issue at hand is that these videos seem really cool to people who are new to the hobby or to people that aren't piranha keepers... the problem is that people that are serious about this hobby don't like these videos because they make it that much harder for us to change the perception of those who want to make our fish illegal to possess.

my guess is that you are pretty new to the hobby, so these vids seem pretty cool, but for those of us who actually care, these videos are no good for our hobby... ask anyone who has been in the game for awhile and see what they say.

I dont care about the videos one way or another , My point is that any person with any intelligence at all should regard the videos as a filming of a natural feeding for a dangerous animal. Im not endorsing the fact that people film and post the feeding of their fish, but I dont feel that the videos make the fish any mor dangerous. The fact is that people use the videos to prove their own point about the animal. Instead of arguing about whether those videos are wrong or right the argument should be with the people who are using the video to make their point not the people who filmed the feeding.

 

[JoeDizzleMPLS]

that is the main issue with our hobby... we don't have to worry about the people that are smart enough to realize that these fish aren't as bloodthirsty as these videos would suggest, we need to worry about people who hear the stories about the fish that shred animals to the bone in a matter of seconds and move on to the next kill... obviously that is not the true behavior of piranhas, but that is what the general public believes, and that is why piranhas have been outlawed in certain areas... people are afraid that if these fish are introduced to our waters, they will destroy the natural wildlife and could possibly attack people.