Can I Cremate My Puffer?

[countrygurl84]

I had a porcupine puffer fish that just recently died last night and i am not going to flush him, i want to cremate him and put him in an urn necklace, anyone know how i would do this? do i just light him on fire and let him burn?

 

[Etunes]

lol, i am sorry but this is funny. i have never heard of anyone want to creamate there fish. umm.... I would either just throw him in a fire but it is done with people in a furnace. And to effectively do it i would think you would need a furnace. If you were to just throw it in a fire though it would not effectively do it. You could make a furnace. How i dont really know. Maybe out of really thick tinfoil and propane torches. But to effectively do it you need a furnace.

 

[Andrewz00]

awww im sorry to hear that... ive had a few fish over the years that ive been very attached to... we always buried them in the backyard.

i highly doubt you would be able to accomplish this at home... the average temperatures need are about 1,600–1,800 °F..... and what is left over isnt actually ash... it is dried bone fragments which then need to be pulverized to create that "ash" type material. you would have to build or buy some type of brick oven.

 

[mellawson]

First off I'm sorry you lost your fish and second cremation probably isn't the way to go...don't take this wrong but have you ever smelt burnt fish? blech and again don't take this wrong but since you have never done it before chances are it won't go smoothly and I would think this isn't something you want to get right in the middle of and realize it wasn't such a great idea. Maybe bury him and plant a flower?

 

[Andrewz00]

awww im sorry to hear that... ive had a few fish over the years that ive been very attached to... we always buried them in the backyard.

i highly doubt you would be able to accomplish this at home... the average temperatures need are about 1,600–1,800 °F..... and what is left over isnt actually ash... it is dried bone fragments which then need to be pulverized to create that "ash" type material. you would have to build or buy some type of brick oven.

just to clarify heat levels...

300 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit – a normal kitchen oven.
400 to 800 degrees Fahrenheit – hot enough to temper steel.
800 to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit – Metal glows red-hot.
1200 to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit – Metal glows orange. You can forge and harden iron.
1800 to 2600 degrees Fahrenheit – Metal glows white-hot. You can forge and harden steel.
2600 to 3200 degrees Fahrenheit – Iron melts.

 

[HN1]

If you really want it cremated properly, take it to a vet. They offer cremation for lost pets. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Andrewz00]

ive had hamsters cremated before... the vets staff always looked at me funny, but it was a member of the family!

 

[mellawson]

I didn't know vets did that cool well maybe not cool but I'm glad you have the option Countrygurl.

 

[sgc0286]

lol....sorry

 

[countrygurl84]

any ideas y my puffer died?

so before my puffer died he got sick and had like white stuff all over him, looked ilke he was peeling, i called my pet store where i get all my stuff and she wanted a picture of him so i took her in one and she gave me an antibiotic to put in the water called maracyn plus, i put this in the water in the morning and he died the same night. now i have another puffer in the same tank and he is starting to do the same thing even though the antibiotic is in the water, what do i do so he doesnt die too? oh and whatever the heck is killing everything off also killed a big hairy hermit crab as well today. i am lost.

 

[mrg02d]

Sounds like he had ich or something. And the Maracyn is probably what killed your crab. Your new puffer is suffering because you have some kinda parasite or whatnot infesting the tank. He is now infected. You better get him out of the tank and into a QT. Id post pictures of him on this site and try to figure out WHAT he has before treating with more stuff. ALot of those meds are HARSH.

If this fish dies too, id wait a few weeks before putting any more fish in. You may need to completely redo your tank since you put Maracyn into it.

Sounds like terrible advice from a vet to just dump Maracyn into the tank like that. It needs to be measured and done in a QT tank, no? Poor crabs.

Id just bury the fish and say a prayer. Id deffinately not try to cremate a fish and then wear the ashes. That just sounds weird to me.
MAtt

 

[Freshie In Disguise]

Well, I cremated my rat and my gerbil by putting them in a metal coffee can and placing them in the woodstove. You could also use a burning barrel, a fire pit, a fireplace, or a fire in the ditch, law providing. I don't think they make metal coffee cans anymore, they're mostly plastic now, so you might try a soda can, pickle jar, pie pan with foil over it, or something else. I guess I don't really find this funny. It's a bit different, but I find it hard to laugh over anything dying.. Unless it's an exploding mosquito or something...

 

[KMyers18]

Its a shame you cant eat a puffer! Might make a decent sandwich!

 

[harmy4993]

Its a shame you cant eat a puffer! Might make a decent sandwich!

seriously? this may seem weird to you and we get that, but this person feels strongly enough about his pet that he/she wants to keep their pet with them always. maybe being in insensitive A$$ on this thread isnt really approprate.

 

[Zer0]

Anybody who cremates their pets are weird. Flush the fish and bury the others. I mean... I even flushed coral once.

 

[BigJim]

Have some respect for Countrygurl84's feelings! This fish obviously meant a lot to her.

Oh, by the way, they still do make metal coffee cans. They're just a little harder to find. I horde those and abandoned milk crates.

 

[austinsdad]

I agree with Jim. Gotta respect other's feelings.

 

[austinsdad]

I'd like to ask...no, insist everyone stay civil for the remainder of this thread. I think the original poster asked a question that is important to them. Let's keep the jokes and judgemental remarks out of this.

Thanks all!

 

[cabezon]

My condolences on the loss of your pet. Unless you are of strong constitution I would not recomend doing a cremation yourself. You are not going to get the dried ash you are looking for, just a black carbon.

See if a funeral home can do it for you.

 

[BigJim]

I think we need to review our lessons from Bambi: "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." It's not just aimed at you Zer0. The sandwich comment was particularly tasteless.

The one thing I've been impressed with is the level of civility here on AA. I've been on other forums where I could say the cloudless sky is blue and get flamed by people. That doesn't happen here. I'd really like to see it stay that way. Nothing discourages a person like dumping on them and their opinions or questions. Everyone here has started from nothing and learned their way up. Reading and asking questions is a fantastic way to learn and that's what AA is all about. I really don't want to have ask the moderators to start locking forums. Try to put yourself in the other person's shoes when you answer a question or make a comment. If you received the response your just wrote to one of your own questions, how would you feel? Please keep your fellow aquarists in mind when you post.