The Puffer Forum

Just curious...

Do you flush it, burry it, donate it somehow to science, taxidermy.... ?

I have buried a larger one but usually flush or garbage can.

If the fish is very special to you and not too large, you can bury it in a potted plant and keep it as a memorial. If it's large, you could bury it in your yard (deep! and cover it with stones or something so animals can't get to it), and if it's a special friend, you could plant a tree or bush by it.

Myself, I tend to flush the body. It seems crass to some people, but I don't think the fish mind, and when I die, I'll just donate my body to science or get cremated or whatever's most efficient and useful, so respect for bodies doesn't seem like a huge deal to me.

Anyway, as Gill from "Finding Nemo" said, "All drains lead to the ocean!"

I'll be cremated & made into a reef: http://www.eternalreefs.com/?gclid=CMrU ... KgodLEDXrg

Straight into the terlit...

My niece buried my 11-13ish year old GSP in the bed of the creek behind my house, as I was in Iraq on deployment when he died. He was too big to flush, but she grew fond of the little guy and decided he deserved better than that.

I read somewhere that flushing fish can cause problems to the environment and native species, so I always either bury or just throw away my fish.

I was thinking the same thing but since LPG didn't say anything (& she WOULD have!), I didn't.

I would hold a memorial.

I never had any fish die under my care *knock on wood* and I'm not looking forward to that day.

There is certainly a non-trivial chance that flushing could potentially introduce pathogens into local water supplies. But that also depends on what happens with your flush. We have a public water supply, but sewage service is not available here. We have individual septic systems with such waste handled fully within the property borders.

After all, if your water from tank partials goes into public sewers, the same contamination risk is there.

HTH

I'll sound harsh here but, I put them in the freezer in multiple plastic bags until trash day and then they go in the trash. I know it adds plastic to the environment but a majority of our trash is incinerated and turned to energy. I have difficulty burying a puffer because I have dogs, tracking hounds with noses that can smell 2-3 day old scent. They would find a buried puffer in a matter of minutes.

Plenty of hobbyists cannot easily bury pets due to lack of available and/or suitable land. Commercial cremation is not a realistic option. For renters and cliff-dwellers, trash disposal is the best option in most cases.

If it sounds harsh, well, the real world frequently is just that.

I have a bird, 2 dogs & a cat, buried in my backyard. My stepdaughter brings her animals.

At home we have 2 dogs, countless birds (injured wild ones that didn't make it plus a few pet ones), mice, fish, and probably more. The latest losses have been cremated as eventually my mom is going to move and as silly as it is I hate to leave their bodies behind. You never know what kind of landscaping someone will do. It's silly but it is what it is You do with what you're comfortable as it's for us, I imagine the dead couldn't care less. Dealing with bodies is for the living.

Fish we flush or bag and put in the garbage. There have been a few that I didn't want to toss like that but I live in an apartment.