RIP Scratchy

[severum mama]

My sick Bolivian ram has gone to the big tank in the sky. Somehow he survived the night but was too weak to even flap his fins, much less swim or eat. In fact, I was in the process of netting him out when I realized he was still alive- twice. I never thought he would make it that long. It was really hard to watch. I called home on my lunch break and found out he was still alive and suffering, so I went home then and the only thing I could think of to do was to euthanize him. It was awful and I bawled my head off. It's so much easier just to find them dead.

I'm hoping it was just from old age. I lost his original tankmate, Itchy, a couple of weeks ago (they were purchased at the same time and I had them over a year).

 

[Rach101]

Im really sorry about scratchy. Im sure itchy and scratchy are playing with eachother up above.

 

[An t-iasg]

Sorry to hear about Scratchy He and Itchy had a wonderful life with you, and I think it was just their time to go.

I'm sure they are together in fishy heaven. I sometimes think of all my previous bettas, swimming together without a divider in fishy heaven....

 

[wilson]

Sorry to hear about that. Im sure Itchy and Scratchy are having fun in fishy heaven

 

[Fluff]

Sorry for your loss

 

[Meredith]

So sorry

 

[swanandmokashi]

Sorry for your loss

 

[severum mama]

Awww, thanks guys. We had a fishy funeral when I got home from work and Scratchy had a proper burial in the backyard.

 

[Guest]

Sorry to hear that severum mama. Its always sad when a fish dies or when its one of your favorites. At least he got a proper burial and didnt end up down the toilet.

 

[severum mama]

Yeah, Itchy and Scratchy were my first Bolivian rams, and the fish that got me started on wanting to keep dwarf cichlids.

BTW my fishies never end up down the toilet.

 

[FishLover14]

Really sorry about itchy and scratchy, i am sure they are swimming above too.

 

[jgc8fan]

Have you ever thought of euthanasia when your fish are dying? If it really bothers you to see them suffer in the tank? I do it with fish that I become attached to rather than watching them die slowly. What I have found that works is to get some type of liqour 80 proof or better (about an ounce), transfer the fish into a container filled with some of the tank water, pour the booze in, and (according to books I've read this is painless to the fish) it will just go to sleep. I've done this a few times and it seems to work just as stated (I just can't stand watching them suffer).

The other method I read was beheading just below the gills with a very sharp knife and a quick cut (supposedly painless as well), but I couldn't ever bring myself to do something like that. 8O

 

[severum mama]

Yes, I said I euthanized him, it was horrible. I used the extremely cold water and freezer method. The reason I didn't do it sooner is because he looked so weak I was sure he would be dead within hours. None of the other fish were picking at him so I thought he would just go peacefully on his own. Too bad I was wrong.

 

[ramfan]

That sounds like it was really sad to watch. You gave both of them a respectful funeral, though. Do you know why they might have died? Were they older when you acquired them? If they were from Asia, they might have had autoimmune disease.

 

[severum mama]

Well, they are South American fish. I hear they only have a life expectancy of 3-4 years, and I bought Itchy and Scratchy on the same day over a year ago. They were pretty big (relatively speaking) when I got them so I'm thinking they died of old age. I wasn't able to give Itchy a proper funeral, I only found parts of him. 8O

 

[ramfan]

I see. Thanks for sharing by the way!