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What does everyone think about buying Blood Parrots?? I didn't know if it was an issue such as buying dyed fish (which i have never done or ever will). I just wanted to know if people think it's ethical to buy them or not. Thanks for everyone's responses!!!!

A lot of people think it's unethical because they can't breed and won't really lead normal lives. They also can't physically close their mouths.

EDIT: Don't mind me, listen to someone who knows better lower on the thread.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Silverlight 2004-09-02 16:07][/span]

Actually this has been a point of heated discussion. The opinions on the forum are very mixed. Click HERE for some threads on the subject. I personally have a blood parrot and he is one of the most interactive fish I own.

Yeah, it's been a long debated topic. I don't know enough about the blood parrot and what has been done internally to them. If their shape is changed in some way that hurts them or makes it more difficult for them, I'm against it. Otherwise, it doesn't matter to me. Blood parrots have just never had a look I've wanted so I haven't looked into them that much.

I say having them is as ethical as owning any of the other animals humans have changed through breeding. We've bred bettas to have huge fins that make them slow and not very strong swimmers and some breeds of dog cannot reproduce without human intervention. It all really depends on how you feel about humans taking nature and changing it.

That's just my 2 cents.

Parrots are no more unable to function than fancy goldfish, guppies, or bettas, as CeltGirl points out. They can spawn (albeit unsucessfully, since they're hybrids), eat, grow to full size, protect themselves from most fish (no fish can protect itself from fish it shouldn't be housed with, so no fair bringing them in), swim quite well, etc. All in all, I think it should always be labelled as a hybrid fish, not least to make sure newbies don't get their hopes up if a pair start laying eggs, but I don't have a problem with them being sold. From what I've heard they're sweet fish with a nice personailty and striking adult color. They can't pose a risk to the "real" species in terms of interbreeding, so it's okay by me.

That said - the practice of feeding them hormone foods or otherwise trying to sell them with adult color at small sizes is deplorable, nearly as bad as the all-too-common dying of them. These are both, in my view, completely immoral.

-Molly
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One of the pet stores near me had a breeding pair of blood parrots for sale, they wanted 599 dollars for the pair!!!
Apparently the proud parents have spawned several dozen times, all successfully, and have sired several hundred babies!!! I was pretty amazed! The tank they were in contained 27 of their recently born fry!


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Well, unprintable word. That is hiiiiighly unfortunate. Wonder if it was a different cross than the usual parrot? There's plenty of speculation about what the mix is, and some people market "different" ones, like Convict/Red Devil crosses. Maybe one type is fertile?

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

There's a small percentage (1-3% ?)of males that are fertile. Mine are my favorites, they're personable, funny, & got attitude-they're the kings of the tank. And contrary to what some say, they can eat just fine. One of mine ripped off the head of a cricket. Just stay away from ones advertised as "bubble gum", "candy", "painted", flourscent colored, or if they're really expensive compared to juvenille colored ones(grey, black, brown). I've seen dyed ones go for anywhere from $10. or more.

There's a difference in questions and topics here...

HYBRIDS:
Blood parrots are a widely debated topic, both on here in the forums and in the chat room. I've been involved in more than a couple of these discussions and my viewpoints are rather widely known, so I won't waste pages upon pages with reasoning here. One thing you should check out is this thread. I'll leave it at that for now...

DYED FISH:
THIS is an entirely different subject and I'm COMPLETELY against this. No fish, including but not limited to Blood Parrots, should be dyed. Many tetras and other fish are dyed also. It shortens their lifespans greatly, kills most of them, and is a HORRIBLE process. For more info, visit http://www.deathbydyeing.org...

And for the record, Jellybean Parrots that look a whitish-grayish color are not dyed. They are the offspring of fertile female Blood Parrots and another Cichlid. They are not dyed. Dyed Blood Parrots will appear in colors such as blue, purple, green, yellow, red, or others. Their natural color is bright orange...

EDIT: Helps if you spell your link correctly...

[span class="edited"][Edited by iltat 2004-09-03 01:41][/span]

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

this is a good sight about that "www.deathbydyeing.org"

Dying is definitely unethical

I think the creation of the blood parrot was unethical, but since they are around to stay there's no need to make them live their entire lives in an lfs. If you like them, then buy them and give them the best home possible. Definitely stay away from the dyed ones though as they will not live nearly as long and will be much more susceptible to disease.

Jason