Pets You Bought That You Regret Soon After?

[funnylori]

Guppies. Those buggers drove me nuts. I ended up feeding them all to my bettas.

My cuban tree frogs. I bought two because I had a gift certificate. But I only wanted the smaller one. The big one bullied it and ate all the food so the small one starved and died. Plus, you can't play with frogs. It's not like on TV when they are cute and hoppy all the time. No, they sit there all day until you feed them, then they hop out of the cage and leave gooey brown marks on your walls that are hard to wash off.

 

[Aschamne]

There is the whole field of nano-reef tanks where they have them as small as 5 gal., though they do need regular water changes to thrive.

Nano-reefs do not require any more water changes than any other fish tank. I have had my 7 gallon up and running for almost 4 years now. The only problem I have is the blue legged hermit crabs will kill and eat my astrea snail and cannibalize each other, so every few month I buy 6 snail and 6 crabs.

Art

 

[mrbonzai211]

Guppies. Those buggers drove me nuts. I ended up feeding them all to my bettas.

I honestly can't believe how cruel that was! Bettas specialize in eating larva-- mostly mosquito larva. They are not carnivorous and did not serve any dietary need for your betta. Bettas do not eat fish. The only reason why it killed your guppies was because he mistook them for juvenile bettas and he was protecting his territory. Just because something is inconvenient to you doesn't give you the right to kill it. You could have taken them to any number of pet stores and they would have taken them off your hands. I am honestly beside myself that someone could be that cruel to another living thing. WTF man.... seriously!

 

[bliss]

yeah i used to have a pet rat.

he got all smelly and kept chewing out of his cage for no apparent reason. he was a chubby little thing, ate like a pig, i had him for about 7 months.

then i decided to feed him to my Redtail

 

[RoachGirlRen]

I wonder how many of the regrets here could have been avoided with better research prior to purchase? Seems to me a lot of the reasons people were unsucessful or disatisfied was a failure to provide for the animal's needs, or a failure to understand the commitment they were getting into.

 

[sweetmisery]

I wonder how many of the regrets here could have been avoided with better research prior to purchase? Seems to me a lot of the reasons people were unsucessful or disatisfied was a failure to provide for the animal's needs, or a failure to understand the commitment they were getting into.

Now now whats done is done. No need to preach on how/why we did wrong.

 

[RoachGirlRen]

Just making an observation about a trend in the thread. No need to get ornery. Besides, if I was preaching, you'd know it.

 

[Choobaine]

I honestly can't believe how cruel that was! Bettas specialize in eating larva-- mostly mosquito larva. They are not carnivorous and did not serve any dietary need for your betta. Bettas do not eat fish. The only reason why it killed your guppies was because he mistook them for juvenile bettas and he was protecting his territory. Just because something is inconvenient to you doesn't give you the right to kill it. You could have taken them to any number of pet stores and they would have taken them off your hands. I am honestly beside myself that someone could be that cruel to another living thing. WTF man.... seriously!

Feeding things to things is enjoyable! It's not especially cruel. Yes it may not be natural diet but if it doesn't cause any adverse health effects ... well then it's just a good meal. Once I started breeding feeders the line between pet and food became heavily blurred. If I'm bored with a colony of something there's allways someone else who would apreciated it even if it's me!
I'm on my fourth generation of locusts now but I ate my first when I got bored. It was a reallly nice stir fry. And that injured mantis (as I stated earlier the leg that was busted impaired it's ability to shed, when it had shed it looked like a puddle. I suppose it was only humane) I was sold was boiled and wrapped up in cabbage and rice. Needlessly killing things isn't really to logic... but if someone else can get some kind of nutrition out of it I never saw it as wrong.

 

[mrbonzai211]

Yes but bettas are not predators and do not eat other fish. The guppies died because they resemble juvenile male bettas. They kill the guppies to protect their territory that's why you are never supposed to mix them in a community tank. I understand that animals have to eat, but in this case the deaths of your guppies served no purpose except your amusement.

 

[Choobaine]

well not my amusement since I wasn't there to witness it (not my guppies you see, not even same person). Allthough it would probably fascinate me. Today everything does. I got lost staring at the back of a spoon. I don't really know why. It was nice though.

We used to breed guppies. Horrid things.

Speaking of regretted pets - parents bought fish. Parents then bought more fish. Fish had parasites. 75 pounds worth of fish dead. In Nothern Ireland if you want decent pets catch them wild. The pet shops sell half dead stock. ALL THE TIME! I buy dying stock because there's allways a chance of reviving it AND getting an animal for a discount.

 

[mrbonzai211]

my apologies Choobaine

 

[eelnoob]

Bettas are predatory, they'll eat insect larvae and other fish's fry if given the chance. Now if they only eat insect larvae than that would make them insectivores but they do eat other fishes so that makes them predatory I would assume.


Honestly I would rather feed off any unwanted animals if I could than letting them sit at who knows how ever long at the pet stores suffering.

 

[funnylori]

My Betta ate the fish, there wasn't any bits left for me to clean out of the tank. The guppies drove me nuts, and I certainly was not amused when I was feeding them to my Betta. Why would a waste of money be amusing. At least the Betta benefited with a healthy nutritional meal. It was either that or give them to the tarantula, but I didn't want to risk my tarantula getting some parasite.

 

[Choobaine]

Bettas are predatory, they'll eat insect larvae and other fish's fry if given the chance. Now if they only eat insect larvae than that would make them insectivores but they do eat other fishes so that makes them predatory I would assume.


Honestly I would rather feed off any unwanted animals if I could than letting them sit at who knows how ever long at the pet stores suffering.

I like how you think especially with the quality of pet shops in this country.

 

[Quixtar]

A Rough Green Snake I got from reptilecity never ate in the 2 weeks that I got him/her. I did everything I could to meet its living conditions and tried every tactic to feed the guy. It just started going berserk one day and died an hour later. It took me 2 weeks to receive it after purchasing from reptilecity and it wasn't worth it. Never am I buying from reptilecity again and never am I buying another Rough Green Snake.

 

[vvx]

I kind of regret purchasing the mice a few years back as they really didn't end up being the pet I had hoped. Ended up getting rats shortly afterwards but kept the mice. Not like I spent that much money or time on the mice and they seemed perfectly content to be ignored. The rats are pretty wicked cool though.

 

[Jackie]

How did it commit suicide may I ask?

Haha my iguana drowned himself... he probably got depressed that he threw his tail at my mom so it was missing... or at least that's what i tell myself since I found his head in his water dish. :?

yeah i used to have a pet rat.

then i decided to feed him to my Redtail

I like rats. What I don't like are hamsters. Stupid little things. Biting and just being useless. I fed a bunch of them at work to some corns back in the day.

 

[keqwow]

iguana

Back before the Bearded dragons were the big thing, I had a green iguana. Everyone told me they were like the best pets. I tried handling mine often, hoping to get the calm "dog" like lizard that was promised. That damn thing never calmed down. I had scratch marks and tail whips all of the time. I hated that little bastard. Same went for my attempt with a Savannah monitor. The bearded dragons were the best thing that could have happened to the reptile trade. They get to be the perfect size....big enough to be impressive but not huge. Right from a tiny size they are calm as cats...very docile. On top of being super cool and docile, they also have the most "personality" of any reptile I've ever owned.
As for the folks who hated their ball pythons because they were finiky eaters.....I'm sorry to hear that. The biggest mistake folks make with ball pythons is not giving them a hide. Almost always, if they don't eat, its because they don't have a hide. I inherited a beautiful ball python because the owner couldn't get the thing to eat. I put a cardboard box in the cage with the ball python and he disappeared for about two weeks. As soon as I went to feed him after that, I never again had any problems with him eating.

 

[Drachenjager]

yeah i regret getting the cone shells. those things cost me 3 neighbors and 2 kids...

 

[bugmankeith]

I'd have to say anyone who buys goldfish as pets (and cares about it alot) until they find out the truth how terrible they have been keeping them in a small tank with 10 fish, a bubble filter, and flakes for food. I think goldfish are the most misunderstood pets. Everyone thinks they are the easiest to keep, they are actually one of the most difficult (and expensive) pets to keep. I think 98% of the ones sold die the first year (or week). 1% die over a year, and another 1% actually live to full grown adults

For tank size (or pond),food, accessories,time keeping tank clean, water conditioners,filters, and not to mention how long they could live if kept properly, it's a long commitment.

And those betta fish also are made out to be easy to keep. Yes they probably are alot easier than goldfish being they stay small and dont eat much, but it's people who think they dont need a filter or can use tap water with no conditioners or they stay in a bowl is the reason most perish. I've even seen the ones sold with plants in a vase, the instructions say they eat Plants and not to feed them! Thats crazy and false!

It's really a shame I dont care if there fish. If they are able to be sold saying not how to care for them properly, imagine how larger animals like birds,dogs and cats are faring if we get away with neglect for the smaller animals. If I can buy a fish without knowing how to care for it, then whats stopping the same thing for dogs and cats?

I tell ya it makes me mad!

If you purchased lets say a frog, and were given a free dvd video with it on basic frog care, even if you knew how to keep frogs properly, dont you think that would help just a little bit to educate the people buying that animal? Sometimes people buy animals without researching about them, for the animals sake, why not at least TRY to attempt educating the public with a free video with every purchase. With the extra money each company makes from purchases, take a little of the savings to invest in educational dvd's. If they sell healthy pets and inform the buyers properly, that will help increase sales, and in that case both the animal and company win.