That's "finger" not "figure." Raptor, edit your posts, you lazy bastard.

 

That's cool George. I need to see that the next time I'm there.

 

We'll have a frog party, Luke. Turn off the lights at night, and you'd swear you were in a rainforest. Sometimes, my barking tree frogs get the dogs in the neighborhood going.

 

George, you must be like the strange bloke out of 'League Of Gentlemen'...........only English people will understand

 

Andy-

Is that a compliment?

 

Nice! Glad to know there are other piranha enthusiasts here!

I've raised 6 red-bellies since they were small fry until they grew to be buff, eating machines 5 years later. They make wonderful pets simply because they are easy to take care of and are amazing animals.

The largest one grew to be 8-9 inches and as thick as a man's wrist. The smallest was 6 inches.

Here are a couple of pics from my archives:




Their main diet consisted of about 20 large feeder fish a week. However, "spectator" feedings consisted of:

pork chops
skinless chicken legs
hot dogs
t-bone
*hamsters
*mice
siamese fighting fish (yes... totally unfair. But they were on sale!)

*Not live... I'm not that cruel; they would be the freshly killed batch of research mammals from the lab where I worked.

When they grow older, they also start to eat their tankmates . I've lost:

zebra plecos
sabre-tusk baracudas
thai devil crabs
clown knives
eels (although the eel hides in the gravel, a loop of their abdomen occasionally sticks out; this is the part the piranhas would take a chunk out of and the eel dies a slow death)

There was one fish that held it's own very well. Too well actually. It was a red devil; it was so aggressive that it beat up all six piranhas. I returned him to the store after 3 months.

Fun with your fish: Instead of (or in conjunction with) taking shots in card games or etc, some of the best pranks to play are to blindfold the loser and to hold their arm in the water up to their elbow into the corner of the piranha tank for 30-seconds. Other people would taunt and scream that the fish are swimming nearby the loser's hand and freak them out. Then someone would use a stick and lightly brush the loser's arm from the other side of the tank. Trust me... they'll freak out. Bua hahahaha.

(These fish are actually very tame and harmless after a good feeding. When someone sticks their hand into the tank, they'll usually just swim to the other side).

You may already know this but some tips:
- The trick to feeding them mammals is to first shave off the fur, otherwise fur bits float on the top of the water or stick to your tank ornaments. They also clog the filter. Also, be prepared to fish out the carcass, they usually gut it but leave the rest of the body (not worth eating because of the poor skin-to-meat ratio).

- Keep the tank relatively spartan as they grow older. Plants, ornaments, and stuff get in the way during feedings. Also, bits of paw and tail find their way into these crevices.

- Use a really good canister filter, like Fluval.

Cheers!

 

VERY NICE! Thanks for sharing! I just got more excited!

 

Hitman, those pix are great! Luke & Brian, can't wait until yours get that big.

:gleefully anticipates feeding frenzy:

 

I don't know think ours will get that big. W'ell have to get rid of them when we move to SoCal.

 

You'll just have to get new ones.