July 17, 2011

Pets In Crisis . . .

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Remember this little guy? At least we thought he was a guy. Then we thought he was a girl. But he turned out to be a guy.  And now he’s gone missing. 

If I’m being honest, I am sad. Because he was cute and didn’t look at me with crazy eyes like the bunny does.

It’s been a week now.  I’m pretty sure he’s not coming back.  Now we have an empty turtle habitat in our back yard and a little boy who’s down to one pet fish.

Did I mention that something is seriously wrong with the one pet fish?

He’s a two year old Beta.  They don’t traditionally live a super long time. I went in to feed him last week and he was floating on his side on the top of the water. I thought he had certainly left this fish life for the next.

Hannah gave the tank a flick and he started swimming, although in a sort of gimpish Nemo fashion. Ever since then he’s been bent in half, swimming in circles and banging into the side of the tank.

So my compassionate readers, I’m imploring you to help me – what is the humane thing to do for this fish?  Do we wait it out? Do we send him “to the ocean” {another Nemo reference}. It’s hard for RedDog to watch his fish like this.

Your thoughts would be so appreciated.

4 comments:

TracyS. said...

Okay- we had this problem a few years ago. It was heartbreak for my 8 year old. We all thought it was dead. We had a heartfelt funeral with hymns and everything for the beta. Then as we were scooping it out of the water for burial, it started to flop halfheartedly. The kids thought this was Lazurus in real life. But it only lasted 2 more days, when he gave up the ghost for good. Give your kid plenty of time to say good bye. I've never been a fan of flushing: thinking of your pet amidst the raw sewage is not really the most comforting thought.
(I did have one beta that lingered for months semi-paralyzed, but that was unusual.)
Good luck.

Aiketa said...

Oh... this is hard. I don't know what is the best to do here, all my fish died right away... I buried all my fish at our garden. Don't flush it.
I agree with the comment before, give them time to say goodbye.

The Queen Vee said...

I wish I had some good advice, I hate to think of that poor fish lingering for weeks.

Apis Melliflora said...

I say let nature take its course...but if you don't like that answer, there are how to posts out there. There also seems to be a "don't flush" consensus.

Cute turtle, I hope you've found a safe home.