A. gigas

[tricksterpup]

How can you come to that conclusion from one question? Looking at sibiyan's other threads, he stated he kept venomous snakes (black Mamba ). If someone has enough dedication to keep one of the most venonous snakes in the world I'm sure an Arapaima wouldn't be to out of line. The cost to keep/house this fish may be to much for you, but he may be a millionaire who knows. This is the first time I've heard about them being illegal to own. They are almost always on Aquabid and many other internet sites sell them. I'll have to look into the law thing. I say if you want it and can properly care for it get one.

Its the same adage of I can own a Tiger but should I?
Its an endangered animal, Unless he plans on breeding them and trying to keep the speicies alive this way, then if he has the space and money I would say yes. But I have seen to many collectors in the past that can not do this. I say pass on the fish. Being able to have it doesnt mean he should.

 

[Larissa]

How can you come to that conclusion from one question? Looking at sibiyan's other threads, he stated he kept venomous snakes (black Mamba ). If someone has enough dedication to keep one of the most venonous snakes in the world I'm sure an Arapaima wouldn't be to out of line. The cost to keep/house this fish may be to much for you, but he may be a millionaire who knows. This is the first time I've heard about them being illegal to own. They are almost always on Aquabid and many other internet sites sell them. I'll have to look into the law thing. I say if you want it and can properly care for it get one.

They are on the list of illegal fish in Texas which is where I live and the original poster lives.

 

[sibiyan]

Seriously, you would not be able to safely keep a fish like this and afford the enclosure. And plus the laws are against you as well.

Yeah I know all about laws like I've said I've dealt with venomous snakes for the past 10+ yrs and work very closely with local fish and wild life officers... I've also had crocs that attain larger lengths then A. gigas. As far as housing the fish I'm in the process of building a 2500 gal indoor pond. I know that that isn't a life long home but I always have some thing on the burning for the incase deals that come up. Like for instance when and if A. gigas were to outgrow what I had him/her in I would transfer the fish to a buby of mine that owns a living materials center and is USDA/USDI certified. He has a perm. home for the fish just can't have at this point in time do to the fishes size atm. Other fish in the enclosur would eat the A.gigas if he added the fish now. Thanks for the response.

 

[graphicdesign_r]

Indigenous To Texas

People with money that are from Texas don't have to obey LAWS. I mean c'mon LAWS were not made with rich Texans in mind!

Just ask G.W.! Like DUH! :huh:

 

[sibiyan]

an arapaima should not be kept in anyones home at all. unless u plan on having a gigantic tank like seaworld to house it. selling animals like this to just anyone is one of the things in the aquarium hobby that truly truly sickens me. the only place this animal belongs is in its native environment or in a nice public aquarium that houses it properly. arapaima gigas can grow to 10 feet long as someone said and easily weigh 300 pounds. not something that most people can easily care for.

I understand what you are saying a fish that big isn't for everyone, not even for 1 person out of 100 i'd say. Just so you know I feel the same way about the pet trade. Nothing gets to me worse than a person selling a fish,snake,turtle,dog,cat, or exotic period and not informing the buyer of the animal. As I've said I've dealt with snakes for many many yrs and I've been very active in writing my congrass man and city mayor about laws. For instance a dad and kid go into local pet store and see a baby burmese python. Very nice snake about 12 in. long and make an impulse buy. The pet store doesnt inform the buyer that the burmese python can attain a lenght of 6 ft. it's first yr. and averages about 12-15 ft. So what happens is this snake gets to big very fast and the owner doesn't know what to do with it. Next thing you know it's on the 5 o'clock news about a pet python attacking the neighbors dog. Then the city is bent about snakes saying they are bad and is pushing to ban them in city,county limits. One persons actions are hurting a whole hobby. What I'm trying to say is that I understand that you don't think that A. gigas should be owned privately. I also understand that I don't impulse buy when it comes to animals. I put alot of time into researching the animal in this case A. gigas and have a backup plan incase I have to get rid of the animal. I don't take pet store advice for I've seen it be wrong way to many times. If you only knew how many ppl buy baby red pacus and the pet store fails or flat out lies about the size that the pacu will attain. So in conclusion please don't be judgemental of me because I want something that you believe is not ownable because of the common error of people. I DO take alot of time to check all my P's and Q's before I bring home a new animal.

Thanks

 

[Larissa]

I think that many people on this site (including myself) jump to conclusions when dealing with certain "tankbusting" fish because many of them are readily available in the aquarium trade and are not appropriate for the average home aquarist. As far as A. gigas goes, as I said, it is listed as a no-no on the TPW page so unless something's changed, they are illegal here. I personally don't care if you keep an illegal fish or not, provided to can house it properly, however I wouldn't do it.

 

[sibiyan]

No I'm not going to break any laws I'm going to contact TP&W and see if there is any way I can get a permit to own this fish but other than that I have to many other animals and to much money wrapped up in my hobbies to throw it away for an illegal fish. Thanks for letting me know and directing me in the right direction.

 

[misopeenut]

just a thought, what do you feeed them?

 

[snakeskinner]

Sibiyan, you need to work with the Fed's first. CITES is where you need to get your permits first, then Texas should be a piece of cake. Texas World Aquarium has Gigas and I know the Tulsa Zoo has one around 7ft.

I just had a friend that had bought a couple around a foot long and was planning to setup a large tank but they were growing amazingly fast (like 8 inches in a month) so he decided he didn't have enough time to prepare and passed them onto someone else (maybe texas world, not sure). This guy had all his permits and such and had experience with them in the past, just not raising them from young.

misopeenut, you'd feed them prettymuch anything you could find. In the wild they eat reptiles, amphibians, birds and other fish. Feeder rats would likely be a good food I'd think with some other varying foods. I don't think you'd feed a fish like that everyday, probably similar to a snake, big meal and then give it a few days. KYle

 

[moesha]

just a thought, what do you feeed them?

anything that will fit in its mouth, fish, birds, and any other small animal that it comes across.

i wasnt judging you sibyian, just stating my opinion on private owners of "monster animals" be it 15 ft snakes, alligators, tigers, pirahna, arapaima or whatever else people want to own just bc its "cool" to have something that can kill, hurt, or seriously injure a person, pet or the environment if they escape. if i sound like a pet nazi sorry, i just think that some animals are not meant to kept in a cage at the house.