Responsibilities associated with keeping and breeding cephs

[monty]

well, a not-so-minor difference is that bimacs are native to southern California. But the points about picking up parasites and pathogens and whatnot from other animals in tanks are still valid. It's not clear whether it's cruel to release a tank-raised bimac into the wild, either... I know it's questionable to release a cat that's lived indoors and been fed cat food for its whole life and expect it to learn to fend for itself, although I think most of the time they can adapt; I'm not sure where octopuses would fall on that aspect...

Anyway, releasing the burmese pythons in Burma would seem like a better idea than, say, Wisconsin. Likewise for those Snakehead fish.

 

[cthulhu77]

I firmly believe that once an animal is removed from the wild, it is genetically "dead". Rehabilitation sometimes works, if the animal is released exactly where it was taken, but the mortality rate is over 75% for all of the rehabed animals in Arizona that are released back.

The big problem was addressed quite well by Crichton a few years back, when he stated that: "scientists only ask themselves can we, rather than should we." (to paraphrase)

I don't breed all of my captive animals. There is no market for Kribensis here, or for albino garter snakes...what would I do with the young? Cull them or release them? Better to not breed them at all until I have a buyer. The same goes for the dwarf octopus we were working with...I checked with all of the aquarium distributors, and none of them were interested at all. So we cancelled the effort.
Better to study them in the wild, and it gives me another excuse to get down to Mexico more often.

Greg

 

[Animal Mother]

To be fair, I don't think a lot of people "choose" to breed octopus...

 

[Brock Fluharty]

I agree. If my octopus laid eggs, I would do my best to raise the babies. In fact...very few people can breed them if they try simply because of the cannibalism.

 

[cthulhu77]

To be fair, I don't think a lot of people "choose" to breed octopus...

Hmmm. It sounds like several of us have though, doesn't it? Responsibility for the animals you rip out of the wild is not light.

 

[Brock Fluharty]

A lot of us choose to raise the offspring, but not breed.

Breed-To cause to reproduce, especially by controlled mating and selection.

Not many people control the mating of their octopuses.

 

[cthulhu77]

...then you shouldn't be keeping them.

 

[Zeus Zoso]

No fighting..lol

 

[Brock Fluharty]

We shouldn't be keeping them because it could lay eggs that might grow up to adults that take a little while to find homes? he never said that he was releasing them. Just because he didn't find homes right away doesn't mean he is irresponsible...

 

[Animal Mother]

Hmmm. It sounds like several of us have though, doesn't it? Responsibility for the animals you rip out of the wild is not light.

And several of us have been successful. Let's hope that perhaps many more of us will be and can supply the demand with captive bred aquacultured specimens probably cheaper and take pressure off of the collection of wild species at the same time.

Having to assist in the euthanasia of too many hundreds of pets for a few years, I know what irresponsible ownership is.

I would imagine if anyone contacted online stores they could probably find some willing to buy/sell the babies.