[Closed] SNAKEHEAD FISH

Not sure why anyone would want to - you would need a massive aquarium/pond and they are not the sort of thing that I would want escaping into the local eco-system.

Sorry not very helpful but do you seriously want to keep these as pets?

Crikey. Just don't release them into the river or fish pond as they will decimate all other living aquatic lives in no time. Especially other fish or even small mammals.

They taste good with silky smooth meat if you intend to eat it.

They can grow rather big too and as a kid we used to catch or to fish them but never as pet rather as a meal. If I am not mistaken they are usually in pairs ... can be aggressive in the wild.

Why people import them into the country I don't know as it is a rather dangerous fish for local river.

YOU can now get them in dwarf size and are nothing like the monsters you are on about,think i posted the wrong title

The dwarf ones grow to 20cm from what I've just read. You must need a fairly big tank for them. I think I saw some at a garden centre in Newport staffs, but could be mistaken. I would sooner keep an ornamental fish than predatory but each to their own.

[url= http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article817553.ece ]Psycho Predator is Sid Fishious[/url]

Hmmm. ..what ever happened to the humble gerbil. ..

Whilst I think keeping fish is boring, I prefer things you can interact with personally, that is a damn good looking fish. I have a bit of a thing for lion fish too so maybe i'll get one of those.

that is a damn good looking fish

[img] [/img]

😯

Edit: it's the photo from the link above, I assumed you were commenting on that. Either way, to say that a fish is damn good looking strikes me as a little odd... 🙂

[img] [/img]

?

So which of these are you referring to?

[url= http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=3190 ]Dwarf snakehead[/url]

As usual all snakehead taste good ...

My favourite is still Asian Climbing Perch (Anabas testudineus) as they very tough and their heads are as hard as a rock. You can hold them in your palm with no problem at all but do watch out because they would open their gills out of water and there are spikes. They can survive without water for sometime. Caught a lot of this as a kid. It's a common fish where fishing them is fun. Hardy fish and could "walk" with their gills in search of water. If you keep them in a tank they will jump out so you need to cover them. Rather aggressive towards other fish too if they are hungry. Can grow to about 10 inches maximum ... never caught one bigger than that as most are around 5 - 6 inches in length. Their babies are very cute. They can live for 3 - 5 years easily if well look after. Mine I just put it in a bucket ... lived for nearly 5 years.

[url= http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/101913-some-pictures-of-oddball-anabantoids/ ]1st in the pic - Asian climbing perch[/url]

[img] [/img]

Look at the climbing perch being used for food. Note how they cut the spikes of their gills and how they chop off the head.

[img] [/img]

Used to chase black Talapia (white/pink Talapia is fatter and farmed) etc in the street during monsoon flood ... arrghhh those were the days.

p/s: snakehead can be cooked: steamed, curried (local called it curried fish if I can recall) and deep fried with batter.

Have a look at the Rainbow Snakehead (Channa bleheri)..thats quite attractive and doesnt get enormous. Make sure you have tight fitting cover over the tank as they are infamous for escaping. Then you find them weeks later under the fridge looking like the one in Organdonors pic.

I have a bit of a thing for lion fish too so maybe i'll get one of those

yeah, it'll love being dragged from its home in the wild, crammed into a plastic bag and half suffocated and frozen whilst sloshing about amongst its dead brethren, all to satisfy your whim.

Hey, slimjim78, there's an animal research centre just down the road from me, about 6 miles ride if you want to really have a go at animal cruelty. But being in the job I am, I know certain information about things that might come in handy, don't try and put the windows through in your complete animal-cruelty fuelled rage, they are just a façade with bricks behind them to stop muppets like you causing any real damamge 😀

bradley - Member

.....in your complete animal-cruelty fuelled rage

And yet it appears to be your post which has gone into an impressive rage fueled rant, with completely unjustified references to [i]"muppets like you"[/i].

😀

The monster — from south-east Asia — has a mouth crammed with fearsome teeth, can “crawl” on land and survive out of water for up to four days.

Needless to say, I'm a little terrified....

DrP

Bradley, it's simple - wild fish, with 'wild' being the word of note, like Lion fish, deserve to live in the wild.
Where did the fish in your animal haven research laboratory come from?

If you have to keep an animal in an unnatural environment, choose one thats so deformed through succesive inbreeding that it would no longer survive in the wild.
Although this too helps fuel a generally cruel trade.

Or live ignorantly instead.

But being in the job I am, I know certain information about things that might come in handy

Rant to Follow.
How many more will suffer at your hands until you realise that same?
Somehow, I think they are all doomed to a life of sawdust and hot light bulbs..etc..

But they're not wild are they jim, lol. They have been kept and bred in captivity for so long that just by me, 1 person, simply refusing to keep exotic pets isn't going to change anything. Wild animals are not domesticated. I stood and held, and don't shoot me for it, and purchased another snake today down the local reptile store. What wild snakes do you know will let a mere human pick them up and handle them for 15 minutes? None, because they are WILD. I wouldn't ever try to captivate a wild animal.

It's the sole reason I do not keep spiders, specifically Chilean Rose tarantulas, because they have not been kept and bred in captivity long enough to guarantee that that particular spider isn't wild.

How do you find out and learn about anything without keeping it in captivity? Your cat/dog/goldfish, whatever pet you may have, would die at the first illness it stumbled upon if it wasn't for captivating them as pets and researching them.

They are not doomed to a life of sawdust and hot light bulbs if it's all they've know, that is life. Also in regards to sawdust, sawdust would very quickly kill a reptile, along with hot light bulbs, which is why you use wood chippings large enough for the snake to not ingest accidentally and put a large metal guard around the bulb to prevent the snake from curling around it and cooking itself alive.

I try my best to look after my pets, which includes 3 fancy goldfish, 3 dogs, 6 chickens, 1 leopard gecko, 1 royal python and 1 corn snake which I am collecting tomorrow, reason I didnt purchase today is because I don't have the tank set-up yet, causing the least stress possible by ensuring the tank is ready to go from the off.

It's people who neglect their animals that bring a bad name upon keeping exotics. Most captive animals will live longer than their wild counterparts due to an enhanced lifestyle, perfect conditions, guaranteed diet, no risk of being hunted by bigger predators.

No it wasn't a threat mate, just me stating that I know things about stuff that if I wasn't in the job I am, I wouldn't know.

1 person, simply refusing to keep exotic pets isn't going to change anything

What wild snakes do you know will let a mere human pick them up and handle them for 15 minutes?

Your cat/dog/goldfish, whatever pet you may have, would die at the first illness it stumbled upon if it wasn't for captivating them as pets and researching them.

all domesticated animals quoted. dogs have lived alongside man for (probably) ten's of thousands of years.
Plus, all of the above are likely to have much superior immune systems to our own.
We learn plenty enough studying wild animals in the wild.

They are not doomed to a life of sawdust and hot light bulbs if it's all they've know, that is life. Also in regards to sawdust, sawdust would very quickly kill a reptile, along with hot light bulbs, which is why you use wood chippings large enough for the snake to not ingest accidentally and put a large metal guard around the bulb to prevent the snake from curling around it and cooking itself alive.

the point is, given the choice, the snake would go for the heat of the sun, and natural habitat over wood chippings and a light bulb.
There's a simple way to test this theory.

Most captive animals will live longer than their wild counterparts due to an enhanced lifestyle, perfect conditions, guaranteed diet, no risk of being hunted by bigger predators.

I would rather live my current lifestyle amongst my own kind, free to roam wherever I choose - than be held captive in a hermetically sealed environment, pumped full of vitamins and studied/monitored 24/7, to ensure I lived a full and extended length life.
wouldn't you?

It's a battle of morals isn't it, we're not going anywhere lol.

All domesticated animals quoted, but corn snakes, royal pythons, lion fish and leopard geckos are all domesticated too...

Yes, let's agree to disagree.

I see the attraction in looking at exotic creatures, but will never agree with keeping them.

corn snakes, royal pythons, lion fish and leopard geckos are all domesticated too...

I beg to differ. We've bred some colour & size changes into some of them, but they are in almost all circumstances, outside of a natural environment.
Lion fish? belong in the sea. Stinging things.