Gargoyle

Well I can honestly say I have never seen this before...

My daughters male guppy somehow impaled himself onto some plastic grass for the fry to hide in. He did some irreparable damage to himself and I had to put him down to minimize his suffering.

So anyway.. Watch out for plastic grass I guess.. I am still in disbelief that he did what he did.

SHPEPoser

I had the same thing happen with one of my female guppies. I switched from plastic to all live plants. they are better and help with filtration.

Jim

wow, I never heard of that... suicide by plastic. I'm sorry for your loss.

COBettaCouple

i'm sorry for the loss of her guppy. i never thought of that stuff as able to do that.. poor little guy.

Bonochick

That's crazy! Sorry for your loss.

tan.b

thats awful. plastic's not fantacstic then. stick to the real ones, they bend and dont have sharp bits. i have one fake plant thing and i've wondered about its safety as its seems sharp. you've convinced me. thanks for sharing that experience. tan

Jim

If I remember right, you can drop a plastic plant into boiling water for a second or 2 and it will soften it up some... but real plants are always better.

Gargoyle

Well I am glad that it may help some of you... You know the hardest part was trying to explain to my Daughter that we couldn't make him feel better. Really don't want to have to do that again.

COBettaCouple

Yea, when we have kids, they'll have fish if they want and I don't look forward to that talk either.

tan.b

it is hard with kids. i went for the honest route rather than simply replace it with an identical one (like some people do), so he is aware fish dont live forever and do get poorly and occasionally die and its our job to prevent that happening. when our guppies were dropping like flies my 4yr old said " i dont like guppies. they die. i dont want any more of those" so thankfully he agreed to try a diff breed. it is great for them to have a pet though to learn how dependant they are on people and how to care for them and when they get older teach them the nitrogen cycle etc.
tan

COBettaCouple

lol.. people replace fish with identical ones when they die? i hadn't thought to do that.. i'd go with the honest route too.. that's best. and like you said, they'll learn more about fish, aquaculture and responsibility that way.

Gargoyle

I've always chose the honest route. I believe it is my responsibility to teach her about life and death. I even went so far as to show her the process of humanly putting the fish down so he would not suffer anymore.

It was sad but she has so many babies in the tank from him that she knows his legacy will live on even if he did not. It was hard for me to do all of that but it was had to be done and I think she is better for it.

tan.b

yep! i know of various friends animals that were simply replaced (hamsters, rabbits etc), so kids grew up thinking hamsters live for 12 years etc! my mum was always honest with me when pets died and it prepares you as you grow up that nothing lives forever and the fragility (is that even a word?) of life and how we have to do our best to preserve it, but old age comes no matter what you do. my 5yr old understands how to spot a poorly fish and that we give them medicine to make them better, but that medicine doesnt always work.

tan.b

my thoughts exactly. it is important for them to understand the whole cirle of life thing and kids are often quickly distracted from the dead fish with new fish or babies!!

COBettaCouple

amazing.. it's like a plot to a TV sitcom - replacing a dead pet with a duplicate. perhaps art imitates life or some people really have the sense of a sitcom character. : when we have kids and if they chose to have their own fish, we'll teach them to love & care for fish, treat them when they're sick and how to say goodbye to the ones they lose.. like tan (who's probably looking for a good tank to trade for the kids beds now. )

tan.b

OMG! you can read my mind!!! lol a couple of 6 foot tanks would look great in their rooms! - tan

COBettaCouple

lol.. my, my.. what MTS can do!

irishcelticeyes

this may be a dum question...but...how do you put a fish down you can't just take them to the vet and have them put to sleep.