hi. i'm from malaysia. i have been keeping snakeheads practically my entire life. i have a forest snakehead now and have experience with giant snakeheads and emperor snakeheads. i have kept snakeheads up to 2ft in length in home aquarium. as i have looked through a few web-sites from america and other western countries, i've noticed that most ppl discourage the keeping of snakeheads as they say it would be overly aggresive and might put the owner in danger. i find this to be totally wrong. they have interesting individual characters and are totally harmless to humans. yes, they would be really aggresive to other fish and eat anything that fits in it's mouth but my 2ft long snakeheads would not hurt me if i put my hand into the water for anything. i have never been attacked by my fish before. even after more than 10 years of keeping snakeheads. in fact in malaysia it's so common to keep snakeheads at home. maybe it's because most snakeheads are natives of south-east asia that we find it not uncomfortable at all to keep snakeheads. i don't understand why it is banned in some states in US. i would like to hear from some of u out there... what do you think about snakeheads?
snakeheads
- Thread starter anthonylam
- Start date
they are cool, too bad i cant find any of the drawfs around here some of them have great colors. i noticed they are pretty aggressive. ive seen gauchas attacking koi.
Apparently snakeheads were found in the wild in Maryland.
So the feds then freaked out and banned all snakeheads.
Then people began dumping their pet snakeheads everywhere to keep from getting arrested.
Or so it seems.
The species of concern was the Northern Snakehead.
Can't be anyworse on local fishes than a flathead catfish.
So the feds then freaked out and banned all snakeheads.
Then people began dumping their pet snakeheads everywhere to keep from getting arrested.
Or so it seems.
The species of concern was the Northern Snakehead.
Can't be anyworse on local fishes than a flathead catfish.
The reason the snakehead is banned in the US is because to many people who have aquariums buy them unaware of what they are getting. When they are small, they are cool looking. Once they start to grow, the owner discovers that he cannot keep something that large. So what does the idiot owner do, he releases it in his local lake or pond or river.
As you know, being from malasia, they are a very hardy fish and before you know it they are out competing the native species. They are eating what the game fish in the state eat as well as the game fish.
That is why they are banned in so many States. They destroy the natural eco system here. In Malaysia they are part of the natural ecosystem. Here they are not.
As you know, being from malasia, they are a very hardy fish and before you know it they are out competing the native species. They are eating what the game fish in the state eat as well as the game fish.
That is why they are banned in so many States. They destroy the natural eco system here. In Malaysia they are part of the natural ecosystem. Here they are not.
anthonylam said:
...are you sure you have experience in 'giant snakeheads?' You said you have had snakeheads up to 2 feet, but I've seen 'giant' snakeheads easily up to 4 feet long. Ever heard of a red snakehead? Those get pretty big. You need to post up some pics, I'd love to see what you have. What kinds of tanks do you keep them in?
Honestly, I'd say that you would probably need a pond for a really big snakehead. That would be really neat, although one thing....they can actually get out of the water and transport themselves to anywhere they can get to. So it'd have to be in a pretty confined room.
well, yeah. once it reached 2 ft in my 4ft tank, i had to move it to a pond in a friend's house as that tank is the biggest i have and i'm yet to built a pond for myself. my emperor snakehead fetched a good price at the LFS. a really really good price. that i sold it to them and occasionally visit it there as it is on display and not for sale. i don't mind selling my fish because i seldom am attached to them as much as i am to my dogs and also, if i want to start over, it would take me only a few months to get a 2inch fish to grow to 1 ft. and it is sold in every shop here. now, i don't keep giant snakeheads anymore as they grow too big for the home aquarium unless i have one that could take a few hundred gallons. but i'll try to show u a photo of my young forest snakehead once my camera is working again. they are interesting and so easy to maintain. extremely hardy. seriously, even a young fish could live in a 40 gallon tank without a water change and filter system for 4-5months! i dont do that of corz but it just shows how easy it is to keep hardy fish like that. they could also fast for a week to 10 days as young ones. and maybe up to 2 weeks for adults. so, it's so convenient for me to plan holiday trips.
they sell live snakeheads there at the grocery stores. i used to be able to go to asian stores and buy a snakehead for 99 cents a pound if i wanted one.ineedabox said:
I'm aware of this.
too bad they dont do that here.
Ok, I can clearly see why they prohibited larger snakehead species, but why, oh WHY did they prohibit the smaller, beautiful species like the rainbow snakehead, or even the frog snakehead? They really dont get big enough to cause any harm.
too bad they dont do that here.
Ok, I can clearly see why they prohibited larger snakehead species, but why, oh WHY did they prohibit the smaller, beautiful species like the rainbow snakehead, or even the frog snakehead? They really dont get big enough to cause any harm.