Feeder Fish

[CFC]

This is the debate that goes on and on, there is and will probably always be cultural differences between Europe and the US which reflect in this topic.

No you cannot buy feeder mice, as i said it is illegal to feed a live vertabrate animal to another animal, my girlfriend feeds her snakes on frozen mice. I have never seen a live lobster on sale in a supermarket but you can buy them from fishmongers near the sea, these are invertabrates not vertabrates so are not covered by law.

At present there is no law in the UK dictating how large a tank must be to house a fish, however many european countries are bringing in a law that says a 40 litre (10 US gallon) tank is the smallest tank that any fish can be housed in including bettas so the UK will probably follow.

I know there is dead fish in flake, the main part of algea disks is actually white fish too. The ethics isn't about what the fish needs in its diet but about the suffering caused to the condemend fish, a prisoner on death row isnt chased around the yard by a pack of lions first before his/her execution are they?

 

[Perky]

In the wild big fish usually swim a lot and usually don't know their surroundings off by heart but in a tank they are in their surroundings hardly ever change and in the wild if a big fish is their the little fish scatter and the big fish has only a few to try to eat but in a tank, if you put 50 fish in for food, the big fish can go for them all because sooner or later they will have to look for food but in the wild the big fish would go somewhere else for food instead of waiting.

 

[ryan]

As you and CFC have said, putting feeder fish in a tank leaves them with no escape route and the face a certain death in comparison to the wild were they have almost unlimited space to hide and try and escape from the predator.

 

[Perky]

So why do I read things like:
My BGK loves live amano shrimp
or
My lobsters favourite food is neon tetras, he will creep up on them when they sleep and gobble them down

 

[Mustang5L5]

When i kept baby Oscars, i used to buy Zebra Danios or small neon tetras as feeders because they would be sold for $0.99 and be cheaper than the feeders actually. Also, the oscars couldn't really catch feeders too quickly so they would often be in the tank for weeks at a time. At least i had something nice to look at in the meantime.

I also feed baby mice to my two Tarantulas.

 

[staredecisis]

I also feed baby mice to my two Tarantulas.

Aww. That would be too sad for me.

 

[TheWaterBoy]

As far as being "natural" I dont believe it is because of the lack of space. But what is the difference between throwing some feeders in a tank to be eaten and butchering hundreds and hundreds of cattle to feed us? or hunting, you dont always take them down on the first shot so sometimes they run wounded. I guess its just up to the individual. I couldnt throw in the fish to be eaten, I would feel to guilty-->

 

[rsz]

So why do I read things like:
My BGK loves live amano shrimp
or
My lobsters favourite food is neon tetras, he will creep up on them when they sleep and gobble them down

I expect those comments came off people who live in the US or some other country where they're allowed

 

[keith]

can I use guppies for fishing bait? I think the crappie would LOVE them!!!

 

[CFC]

So why do I read things like:
My BGK loves live amano shrimp
or
My lobsters favourite food is neon tetras, he will creep up on them when they sleep and gobble them down

Feeding live shrimp is perfectly legal, the law only covers vertabrates.

Some fish will only accept live fish as food and will starve without it, i have kept 3 such fish (chaca chaca, xenentodon cancila and acestrorhynchus falcirostris) and have had to purchase guppies and small tetras at "pet fish" prices to feed them and keep them alive.

 

[keith]

so what about use for fishing bait?

 

[sumer_kay]

No you cannot buy feeder mice, as i said it is illegal to feed a live vertabrate animal to another animal, my girlfriend feeds her snakes on frozen mice. I have never seen a live lobster on sale in a supermarket but you can buy them from fishmongers near the sea, these are invertabrates not vertabrates so are not covered by law.

Hrm, tell me if I'm wrong here, but imo why is it better to buy a pre-killed mouse or fish than a live, and let the fish/snake kill it? The are breed to be killed either way, why is it less cruel depending on who does it? It's okay to eat cow, and chicken, but not fish? Isn't fishing killing a vertabrate to feed it to another vertabrate (we eat them don't we?) Dead is dead whether you agree with the law or not...So in the UK you can't hunt pheasant or wild pig, or deer or bear?or you can kill it as long as you don't eat it? I don't agree with killing, but c'mondouble standards sux. =) Can predator fish live without meat of some kind whether it be frozen, minced, live or flaked?

 

[staredecisis]

Hrm, tell me if I'm wrong here, but imo why is it better to buy a pre-killed mouse or fish than a live, and let the fish/snake kill it?

Hopefully the way the pre-killed animals are killed is a little more humane than being digested alive. I'd like to hope so, anyways.

It's okay to eat cow, and chicken, but not fish? Isn't fishing killing a vertabrate to feed it to another vertabrate (we eat them don't we?)

Some of us are vegetarians, and some of us are against fishing, too.

There is no real way to get around the double standard truly, but I think the issue here is not the fact that the animals are bred to be food, I think it is the manner in which they die that can be considered inhumane or cruel, and thus illegal in the UK.

 

[sumer_kay]

There is no real way to get around the double standard truly, but I think the issue here is not the fact that the animals are bred to be food, I think it is the manner in which they die that can be considered inhumane or cruel, and thus illegal in the UK.

I guess I can understand that, thanks for taking the time to explain your opinion =)
I just don't like thinking of any little fishies being ate...but then I guess some of us (fishies included have to eat)

 

[staredecisis]

I just don't like thinking of any little fishies being ate...but then I guess some of us (fishies included have to eat)

Hehe yes indeed, a fact of nature I've had to learn to accept. Trust me, I wish somehow we could get lions and sharks to be vegetarian, but something tells me, if no animal ate any other animal, there might be some kind of overpopulation/disease problem in nature.