# feeding live animals to your piranhas



## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

I just saw the post where you were all being called sick.
well I wouldn't go that far, but it is wrong to put live food in, especially when it is a large fish or a mammel.
I am a piranha owner, personally I don't feed mind live goldfish being used, I don't have too much of a problem with that - except the cost.
but mice, or chicks? - now that is wrong!, even f there were no piranhas, dropping a mouse or a chick into a tank of water is bad enough.
I know you are all going to slate me......and yes I am a vegetarian, but it needs to be said.
just because the majority of people agree, it doesn't make it right!


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

I can agree that captivity is different than the wild but do you think piranha's just eat wild berries and oats while swimming down the amazon? The answer is NO. You run many risks in feeding your piranha live food (diseases, etc) but at least they are doing what they have evolved millions of years to do....KILL LIVE PREY









:rockin: Xenon


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

as far as I am aware - although I admit I might be wrong.
piranhas mainly eat berries and insects in the wild. I guess they are also scavengers as most preditors are so the odd dead cow or something like that, and by the way they can take down fish I guess they also eat the occasional fish, but mainly insects and berries.
I'm sure that not many mice or chicks jump into piranha waters in the amazon so its not even the right type of food you are adding...........but at least they suffer, eh?

P.S. I have no problem you feeding them insects - I hate insects!


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## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

true everybody has there own ways of doing thing.if you like to see the piranha in action theres a movie called wolf of the water. (i think thats what it called?)correct me if i'm wrong guys..in the doc it shows piranha in the wild.those suckers eat everything.snakes,rodents,cows,birds,fish,each other.so i say whats wrong with a little treat here and there?


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## Razorlips (Jan 12, 2003)

I don't have a problem with feeding live things to my P's. I normall don't feed them mice or chicks but I still don't have problem with it.

My P's do eat grapes occassionally, lots of feeders, beefheart and a host of other things. Unlike myself, who eats all kinds of meat that was maybe a cow, pig or chicken which I understand was fattened up until they cut off their heads and chopped up the rest of them so I could have that big juicy steak, omlett, or ham.

Man is the biggest predator on earth. Just like P's, we kill things so we can eat. There's just no thrill in keeping P's if all I get is this occassional grape screaming while being bitten in half or the piece of beef heart I throw in. Now that is sick! I can barely stand to watch that poor piece of beef heart, helpless little thing that it is, being battered around and shredded to pieces.

I respect all P owners in what they choose to do with their fish but C'mon, why own them if you can't watch their natural tendancy to rip living things apart.

I once had a Northern Pike that in the wild lived on mice, frogs and fish. I would be depriving him if I didn't feed him what he naturally ate. That's why my P's get most of what they would eat in the wild and then some.

Am I supposed to feel bad if my dog catches a rabit and kills it? It's in his blood and to him, a natural thing to do. If P's didn't want to kills living food they wouldn't.

I wanna be a P myself some day!!!


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

I have to agree with razorlips. I also dont think the main part of their diet is berries. We can ask fishman2 cause he seems to know a lot of scientific information on it but I think they eat more flesh than berry.


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

Razorlips said:


> why own them if you can't watch their natural tendancy to rip living things apart.


well I can see that I'm not going to convince anyone that the fact these creatures are alive is cruel.

so I'm going to answer this question instead.

I keep piranhas for a number of reasons:
*I like the fish, I keep neon tetras for the same reason.
*I wanted fish that got big.
*I wanted fish people would remember after they have seen them.
*I wanted something I had never kept before

so I bought piranhas.


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## Razorlips (Jan 12, 2003)

Like I said, I respect all P owners and what they do. Your reasons are repectable. I've had people say to me that keeping fish in a tank was cruel. Life itself is cruel. Nature is cruel. Feeding that white mouse to the P's was probably cruel in a natural way but not nearly as cruel as what most white mice go through. Most are bred to be lab animals whre they experience extreme torture, are revived somewhat, and experimented on further. Again, we as humans do these things to survive. I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. I have my views and others have theirs.

I can only say what appears to be good for my P's and enjoyable to me. I hope you enjoy your P's in your own way and that your P's are happy. That's what this is all about right?


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

Well said razor!


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

I respect your views, in fact I have never been the kind of vegetarian who trys all the time to convert people to my way of thinking.
I believe it should be personal choice, but I had to point out my views.

I also have to say that this argument here:

"Feeding that white mouse to the P's was probably cruel in a natural way but not nearly as cruel as what most white mice go through"

is one of the worst I have ever known!
Of course their are all kinds of dispicable people in the world, that does not give any kind of an excuse for cruel or bad behaviour - the fact that someone else is worse!


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## Razorlips (Jan 12, 2003)

All I was saying is that it's natural for the P's to kill things like the mouse but to do experiments on them is not something found in nature so I still make that argument.


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

you still make the argument that it is O.K to feed your piranhas with live mice because they could be worse off, they could be having experiments carried out on them?

OK then, that makes alot of sence. ???


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## Razorlips (Jan 12, 2003)

Okay, I guess I'm just a very bad man! I'm now going to through myself into my 75 and let them have at me! Oh wait! They only eat nuts and berries right?


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## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

hey innes ever put a mouse trap down?


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## RBP (Jan 12, 2003)

if you wanted a fish that gets big and no one will forget , you should have gotten a 3 foot pacu and then when you go grocery shopping what ever you buy , you can feed your fish with too.
i havent had the chance too feed my p's mice cauz there too small but they will get there mouse when there ready


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I give my p's feeders occasionally but I would never give a mouse or very large fish that I think may suffer. This may sound totally hypocritical but because I own piranhas but whatever. I love my fish, and I like to watch them take down feeders, but I do not enjoy watching animals suffer.
I put in a crappy about the size of my p's last summer and I had to take him out because they would not kill him, just torture him with 6 p's nibbling on him. I fed him to my rhom...one bite and done. With me it is all about the suffering, I just dont want to see it. But if that is what turns your crank, go for it.


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## RBP (Jan 12, 2003)

i give mine the gold fish ith the longest fins i can find and when they eat all the fins the feeders go too the oscar and pike tank.


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## AZ (Jan 3, 2003)

I thank you for coming out and saying this liek a normal humanbeing in stead of just yelling at us fro mthe start 
I probably wont feed any of my times that i ever get live mice and chicks but frzen mice is a different thing they are already dead adn all you ahve to do is thaw them out and throw them in i mostly feed the m samll feeders so they are usally gone in one or two quick bites.


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

However, nothing says "party" like throwing a live mouse in the tank!!!


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## Razorlips (Jan 12, 2003)

I guess Innes was right. Wouldn't you know it? I threw myself to the P's and my nuts were the first thing they ate!


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## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

that was a good one razor.. funny sh*t ..


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## fishman2 (Nov 27, 2002)

Hey thanks for the vote of confidence on knowledge









But I get my information from watching National Geographic shows like Wolves In The Water and Discovery Channel. Most of it I learned from my own p's and especially from reading the opefe web site. I also have a bigger advantage living just a few miles from Frank (opefe) so that helps. All I can do is just repeat what I have learned. I'm no expert even though I said I was (in joking). But I will post as much as I know or can find out for all of us. To answer the question, p's will eat anything they find eatable, including snakes, birds, cabybara and particularly fishes. Piranhas depending on the species and what I have read do eat some fruits and seeds during the dry season. Anyone who has seen Wolves in the Water with those caribas know they eat birds quite often.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

grosse gurke said:


> I give my p's feeders occasionally but I would never give a mouse or very large fish that I think may suffer. This may sound totally hypocritical but because I own piranhas but whatever. I love my fish, and I like to watch them take down feeders, but I do not enjoy watching animals suffer.
> I put in a crappy about the size of my p's last summer and I had to take him out because they would not kill him, just torture him with 6 p's nibbling on him. I fed him to my rhom...one bite and done. With me it is all about the suffering, I just dont want to see it. But if that is what turns your crank, go for it.


Exactly my thoughts: I feed my reds feeders occasionally, but only small ones that can be swallowed whole or in two bites: quick and efficient.
I fed my p's larger feeders before, and sometimes it took hours for the poor things to die. That just didn't feel good to me...
But I enjoy those vids posted on this and other boards, and I don't have any problems with people feeding "large" living animals to their fish (or reptiles or whatever). It's just not my thing.


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

grosse gurke said:


> I give my p's feeders occasionally but I would never give a mouse or very large fish that I think may suffer. This may sound totally hypocritical but because I own piranhas but whatever. I love my fish, and I like to watch them take down feeders, but I do not enjoy watching animals suffer.
> I put in a crappy about the size of my p's last summer and I had to take him out because they would not kill him, just torture him with 6 p's nibbling on him. I fed him to my rhom...one bite and done. With me it is all about the suffering, I just dont want to see it. But if that is what turns your crank, go for it.


Yeah, one person can see what I am saying!


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

az tha kid said:


> I thank you for coming out and saying this liek a normal humanbeing in stead of just yelling at us fro mthe start
> I probably wont feed any of my times that i ever get live mice and chicks but frzen mice is a different thing they are already dead adn all you ahve to do is thaw them out and throw them in i mostly feed the m samll feeders so they are usally gone in one or two quick bites.


precisely!

oh, and I didn't want to yell, I dont even want to convert people, just make them realise....thats all.


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

fishman2 said:


> Hey thanks for the vote of confidence on knowledge
> 
> 
> 
> ...


thats all very well and good, but my fish are not in the wild, if they were they would probbably die.
I am not trying to make everyones piranhas vegetarian!
but feeding live animals is cruel!

in a zoo,the keeper doesn't through a wilderbeast into the lions pen - no because it is cruel even though it happens in the wild.

and anyway it is illegal to feed live mammels/birds to any type of pet here - I wonder why?


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

Lolololol. Oh well, we all have our opinions...a good comprimise is to freeze the mice before you give it to them, therfore you dont have the "sit and wastch it die" reaction. If you thought that the mouse was bad a friend of mine threw his frats pledge pet, a gerbil in the tank (same one that destroyed the mouse). It was devoured in a few seconds and the only thing that remained was a spinal cord and intact head.

Anyway, that night, the pledges got their pet back, gently placed in its original cage.....minus a body.


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

They must have loved that!
If someone got my pets eaten I would be pissed off, but to find its body remains - now that is a sick joke!


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## Razorlips (Jan 12, 2003)

Okay, I am willing to atleat make it a fair fight between my P's and what they eat so I think I'll have to try out the neigbor's cat. Cats eat fish so it sounds fair to me!







:rockin:


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## fishman2 (Nov 27, 2002)

"in a zoo,the keeper doesn't through a wilderbeast into the lions pen - no because it is cruel even though it happens in the wild."

True, they usually shoot them between the eyes, cut them up and then give them to the lion.  . Besides you are gonna have a hard time convincing a piranha to be vegetarian since their primary food is being a carnivore. Personally, I rarely feed live animals, but it would not bother me in the least to toss one in, even forum posters that I may not even like







Just kidding . Seriously, live feeding of animals to the piranhas is not for the squeemish. But it is nature uncut.


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## AZ (Jan 3, 2003)

> fishman2 they usually shoot them between the eyes, cut them up and then give them to the lion.
> 
> That was soem funny sh*t


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## hydroshutter (Jan 12, 2003)

This is by far the dumbest topic i've ever posted in.

"I like to watch them eat feeders,just not mice" more like "I like to watch the feeder swim for it's life while the piranha is on it's chase for just the right moment to inhale the feeder leaving the feeder to die a painful death, but I like cute and fuzzy mice"

Feeders suffer too smart guy. You have the wrong fish imo. Pacu would suit you a lot more. You probably wouldn't care about the size tank for them either.. Like az the kid putting a 7inch elongatus to a 29 from a 55. Stupid.very stupid.

This is the most hypocritical thing i've read. And for your info, mice are ffffaaaarrrr more nutritional for any piranha than fruits and berries will ever be. Don't give us bullshit that p's main food source are berries and fruits. In the wild, it doesn't matter. The p eats what it can find. So in a way, the p searches for whatever it can find. All the time scavenger from my point of view.

What about the piranha from other rivers that do not have access to fruits and whatnot? Who cares if there aren't pinkies just being dropped in the wild for p's to eat. Neither are goldfish being dropped in the waters of the amazon. And for your information, I LOVE to watch a harmless mouse drown in my aquarium with my piranha watching and waiting to tear the sh*t out of it! You put me in suspicion to being the person who wrote the "your all sick bastards" topic.

I've spoke my peace.







If you have any flame-related comments, I will be happy to address them.


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## hydroshutter (Jan 12, 2003)

One more thing, i'm also a vegatarian. What the hell does that have to do with anything? Your not feeding a meaty animal to a person. It's fish for crying out loud.


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

hydroshutter I think you are argueing against two differant peoples comments and to be quite honest I can't see any point to your argument.
and as for being a vegetarian


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## WebHostExpert (Jan 16, 2003)

I have too say I think it's funny when people get mad about feeding P's live food. If you put anything in the tank that is alive (almost everything) they will kill it and try to eat it. just think they will eat each other. wonder what would happen if everyone suddenly had nothing to eat but each other. would you die or eat. they just eat to stay alive. thats all they have in there life, they don't get a choice on what they eat.


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

I think Hydro made the best point of this thread.







The fruits and berrys comment earlier is truly laughable and I think hydro set it straight. It doesnt matter if he is arguing against 2 or 10 people, he is right. Piranhas are vicious creatures...they are predators....they desire live flesh and blood ....Isnt that why we got into piranhas in the first place? Cause they look awesome and they kill! :rockin:

This thread needs to be put to rest :sleepy2: Get your final comments in cause this one is gonna R.I.P.








Xenon


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

from the last 2 posts I can see their are 2 misunderstandings:
1 - I'm not suggesting that piranhas should eat berries!
2 - I'm not suggesting you leave them to starve!

but since this is the end of the thread I am going to be gracious and accept that I'm on my own with this one :







:


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## fishman2 (Nov 27, 2002)

"but since this is the end of the thread I am going to be gracious and accept that I'm on my own with this one"

Now that is a scary concept for an Englishman to be alone oh2: --- sort of like a single Borg being alone!

Later thread .


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