Me: *wants nothing more than a tank with beautiful fish*
Axolotls: *want nothing more than to ONLY eat pretty fish; completely ignoring plain female guppies*
Axolotls should not be housed with fish, especially tropical fish! Their temperature needs are vastly different. The fish could also decide that axolotl gills are a delicious treat and eat them.
!!!!
My axolotls are full grown and their gills are much too large for the guppies to eat. The guppies also completely avoid the axolotls because they are food. That’s the whole reason I have them. I buy nice feeder guppies when there are good colours available rather than just plain ones. Yes I know guppies need quite a higher temperature but they are food. So I don’t care about them. They can’t hurt my axolotls and my lotls are happy which is all that matters.
Sorry I don’t feel like literally giving my axolotls the fish. I let them catch them. Who knew guppies could live and breed in cold waters.
P.s if you’ve ever seen guppies they spend their time closer to the top of the tank/the middle where the lotls are usually at the bottom of the tank so they never interact.
This is why I’m always telling you people to ask before you attack. You don’t know the situation.
Listen, I could have sex and a have a child on an iceberg. Does this mean I should? Nah.
The reason your guppies are at the top of the tank is likely because they are stressed. They are generally very curious and explore all areas of the tank when they’re comfortable. Not to mention, feeder guppies are usually riddled with disease and parasites.
I did not attack you. i simply gave information. in no way was i rude or nasty. I just thought you may have gotten misinformation from a pet store as it unfortunately happens often. I was only trying to help.
Unfortunately though, i do have to agree with @water-spots with the possibility of disease with feeder guppies. Please at the very least keep an eye out for disease.
Thank you for replying though.
I also imagine its hard to make sure they eat the right amount if theres a large supply of food that can also avoid them. Not to mention the cruelty to the guppies
To answer all three of you: I can tell the signs of illness in guppies so I only bought them when they looked good (I haven’t bought fish in almost a year, they just keep breeding) and I ALWAYS quarantined them. My dad is the chemical guy, I’m still learning but he added all the stuff to make sure they were good to go (he takes care of the tank chemicals). So I’m pretty sure they’re all healthy now (since it’s been so long) I obviously watch the guppies to make sure they aren’t getting sick.
And I feed my axolotls every other days. Sometimes 3 days depending on how much they ate. So I know they’re getting (probably more than) enough food. I’m always checking forms to try to learn more about them.
I know it is cruel to the guppies but my axolotls used to eat all 12 in a couple days. All of a sudden they stopped and the guppies just kept breeding so there are a lot now. I feel it would be quite cruel to grab them with tongs and hand feed the live fish to my axolotls so I just leave them.
I’m sorry I felt attacked, I realize now you were all just trying to be helpful. I just wish people would ask before they even said anything because ALL of you are saying there’s a problem here, acting like I have no idea what I got myself into, but I’ve wanted axolotls for years and to this day I still research them because I worry so much there’s something I don’t know yet.
I’m not saying I’m 100% knowledgeable on axolotls but I can say mine are in good hands.
@yousuredoaxolotlquestions @pinkroseblushx @water-spots @cupboybetta
You can’t visually acern if a fish has parasites, esp not in stressful situations such as a pet store or an unheated tank with predators. The cruelty does not come from feeding guppies to a predator fish but from housing them in completely unfit and inhumane conditions indefinitely until they happen to be eaten. If you really wanted to do this you could set up a heated guppy tank free from predators and transfer them over when the Lotls need to be fed. It is continual cruelty to animals to house them in the same tank willingly, especially when you could be feeding the Axololtls earthworms cruelty free with healthier Lotls as a result. This is not the only option available to you it is the one you chose to pursue.
They have been there for over a year. They are fine. You can tell when guppies are sick though and if they have parasites they show signs of sickness. I know exactly why you think it’s cruel and let me say it again I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE GUPPIES. They were meant to be food. And my axolotls DO eat earthworms but don’t you think it’s also cruel to cut up a living worm? They are feeder guppies. No one cares about their normally short lived lives. Get over it. Yes I choose to pursue it so my axolotls can have a choice between different fish, shrimp AND worms. How unhealthy they must be, obviously with their well balanced diet. Sorry you don’t like my situation, but posting about it isn’t gonna make me go out and buy $200+ worth of stuff so their FOOD can be happy too. I bet worms aren’t very fucking happy in a styrofoam cup but look where you find them.
Theres a big difference between feeding a creature in the way that minimizes suffering of the prey and what you are doing, which is just cruelty. You’re keeping living sentient creatures in stressful situations because you like the idea of your Axolotl eating them. And you really can’t tell. Some parasites cause noticible differences but not all. You are telling yourself you can because it makes you feel better about keeping them in the same tank, same as you told yourself that the gills are safe despite that not being true either. You are not listening to the facts about the situation you created simply because you created it. The fact of the matter is you are forcing one group of living beings to live in cruel conditions in order to keep another group of living creatures in unhealthy conditions. You can call the guppies food but they still have emotions and theys still are living things. If you had a type of fish that ate axolotls would you force them into water hot enough to cause them intense stress to live indefinitely just because they are now food? Would you not be upset if you saw someone being cruel to axolotl for no reason simply because they decided that axolotl have no value? There are simple facts that cannot be disputed her. 1 you are treating the guppies in an extremly inhumane way 2 you are not providing proper diet or environment to the axolotl.
Blah blah blah I bet you’re not even a vegetarian. You think your meat is cruelty free? ITS CALLED LIFE HONEY. Yeah I’d be fucking upset if I saw axolotls being used as food, oh wait THERE ARE SHITHEAD PEOPLE WHO EAT THEM (which I fucking hate) but you know what?
There are people who raise and love chickens but they don’t lose it at the grocery store just cause there’s chicken there. You know why? Because that’s life, they can accept it because they’re MATURE. Unlike your, obvious, baby ass.
For the last time this has been happening for years. They are
Fine.
Guppies are small compared to axolotls. Do some fucking research for fuck sakes.
Guppies couldn’t eat FULL GROWN axolotl gills EVEN IF THEY WANTED TO!
They would never even get close because axolotls are predators who snap at anything that comes near them.
The guppy would be dead long before it got anywhere near a gill.
I watch my axolotls. Do you think I leave them for months on end? Fuck no. I check them every fucking day. Their gills have never been damaged. They are literally the ONLY threat to each other.
IF THE GUPPIES WERE HARMFUL I WOULD REMOVE THEM.
STOP BEING SO FUCKING FULL OF YOURSELF YOU UNKNOWLEDGED FISH FREAK.
Go shove your opinion up someone else’s ass or better yet your own because IT. IS. SHIT.
MY AXOLOTLS ARE SAFE, HEALTHY AND HAPPY. THEIR FOOD IS FOOD. THE GUPPIES LIVES DON’T MATTER.
P.s of you’re so butthurt about them getting guppies wait til you hear the LIST of treats they’ve had. INCLUDING BETTAS. WHOA HOW CRUEL. It’s a fucking fish. Cry me a river bitch.
Also do you think it’s fair to only feed a turtle pellets? No because it wants fucking fish like it would get in the wild. Axolotls are MEAT EATERS.
They eat fish dumbass.
You are acting like a pathetic child. Several people are trying to help you improve the welfare of your axolotls and your guppies, but you get defensive because you think you are an infallible pet owner who has never done wrong to your animals. You could not admit to a single damn thing. You were unwilling to change anything about your care and that makes you a goddamn terrible pet owner. You don’t give a shit if your guppies are being abused because “they’re just fish uwu who cares” or if your axolotls are threatened because your ego is so far up your ass you can’t see a damn thing. Instead when you continue to be called out you resort to insults and caps lock screaming like a brat. Admit your mistakes.
Your header says you love all animals but you do not. You admitted you do not care about fish welfare. These fish are allowed to live in a stressful environment because they are smaller than your axolotl. You do not love all animals. Only the ones you see fit to have as pets. You are abusing and neglecting fish and that is not ok. People don’t know everything about welfare. These peope understood that and tried to help you but you insist on being a perfect caretaker. It’s pathetic.
You can’t claim to care about animals if you knowingly abuse them under the excuse: “They’re just fish”. If there are perfectly nutritional food options available and you decide to feed live simply because YOU want to, yes, you are being needlessly cruel. Even worse, you refuse to provide adequate care for the animals you’re using as food…and despite your claims, even feeder animals deserve to live good lives.
If you truly love animals, you would have taken this opportunity to learn from other people with experience and even do your own research.
You seem to be pretty young (given by the fact that you’ve said your father handles a lot of your tank maintenance), so I’ll refrain from personal insults, but I will say this: One day you will feel really, really stupid for having said all this.
-Mod Walrus
Nobody is saying “don’t feed your animals live things”.
They’re saying “it is cruel to leave animals in enclosures with their predators when they aren’t going to be eaten any time soon”. What you’re doing is equivalent to keeping multiple birds in a cage with a cat. The guppies are animals capable of experiencing fear and pain, and as such deserve as much respect as your axolotls.
Also, live food can be used if an animal won’t take anything else, but humanely killed food is always preferable. Being swallowed alive by a predator is not a good death, and “but it’s natural!” is not an excuse.
Lastly, fish will breed under highly stressful circumstances, it’s not an indicator of wellfare.
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