Snake wine in Vietnam

I took this photo in Hanoi, Vietnam. It shows two dead snakes: a cobra and a vine snake, in a wine bottle. Rows upon rows of these bottles can be seen for sale throughout Vietnam.

While I couldn't judge Vietnamese culture (if that is what this is) I can't help thinking that this is not a sustainable practice. As a snake aficionado I can't help be horrified by it and would very much like to know whether it serves any purpose.

Any other views, comments or points of information would be welcome.


{I got a comment - which I did not post - from somebody saying that Snake wine is good for one's health and that they can sell them over the internet. I'm not too keen on promoting this as I know that several species of cobras are threatened, and as I do not know how these snakes are killed. Sorry to whoever posted the anonymous comment.}

Spectacled Caiman

Here's the ultimate unconventional pet: a spectacled caiman. I've heard of people keeping American alligators which they'd 'hand raised,' but a spectacled caiman goes somewhat beyond that. What's more, this caiman was being kept in the Philippines - half the way around the world from its native South America. This one is currently in a poorly funded and thus ill-maintained wildlife rescue center in Manila. Personally, I cannot see how it is possible to responsibly keep any crocodilian (the 'safer' ones are all threatened or endangered). Other views are obviously welcome, as long as they are logical...

Freshwater Shrimp

Freshwater shrimp are more of a “utility pet” then an anything else. Having said that, observing their rather complex social interactions tend to be quite fascinating so, even if you keep them as one might a janitor fish, you may still find yourself spending time observing them.

Pros:
Immensely easy to keep and can be fairly interesting to observe.

Cons:
Small and will not interact with their keeper in any way (with the occasional exception of catapulting themselves to cover).

Housing:
All shrimp need is well-oxygenated, de-chlorinated water at room temperature. You can easily keep 20 shrimp in a 15 gallon aquarium, as long as they are all provided with hiding places and ‘perches’ to call their own. By perches I mean anything they can stand on, hand under, cling to, etc. In my aquarium I keep several freshwater plants (in a plastic container so the shrimp don’t make a mess with the soil) as well as rocks, a piece of a terracotta pot, and a floating stick which the shrimp like to hang from.

Utility:
Shrimp are awesome at eliminating detritus and algae, thus keeping the water clean. My little file snake doesn’t appreciate a filter in its aquarium so I keep shrimp in it to make sure I don’t get build-ups of faeces, etc.

Breeding:
Shrimp will breed themselves. All you have to do is keep an eye of them. You will be able to tell when one has eggs (in the species I have they form a green mass under their body). Remove these shrimp from the main group until you see small shrimp swimming around in the separate aquarium. Remove the parent shrimp and keep the baby’s fed on sinking fish-pellet crumbs, bread crumbs, etc. It’s a bit tricky to keep the water oxygenated as you cannot use a pump (it would kill the babies) so I suggest you use aquatic plants to provide oxygen and keep them in an open-top, wide aquarium.

Feeding:
As I said, shrimp will happily feed on algae, etc. However, as I have quite a few in the same aquarium, I supplement their diet with sinking fish food. Spread this out so that all the shrimp get to eat, not just the strongest ones.

Final Notes:

Like other crustaceans, shrimp shed their exoskeleton as they grow. I generally just leave it in the aquarium and either they or the feeder fish I keep with them eventually eat it. I guess it serves as a form of calcium.

Crayfish

I will eventually get around to posting something about my freshwater shrimp, but I thought I’d start off with the real kings of crustacean pets – crayfish. Shrimp are useful… but crayfish are just captivating.

Pros:
Industrious and very active, crayfish provide the observer with thrilling and captivating behaviours to watch.

Cons:
Not the easiest pet to keep, water quality is essential with crayfish. If your oxygen level drops or if pollutants build up you will loose your crayfish – I’ve lost one myself.

Housing:
The species I’ve got is completely aquatic, so my aquarium setup is for a purely aquatic species. However, certain species may temporarily venture out on land. As I mentioned above, water quality is essential, but mine do not take kindly to a pump being placed in their 15 gallon aquarium (fine for 1 crayfish – I suggest you always keep them separate as they may fight). Therefore, I use feeder fish to ensure that the water is suitable. They can be used like a miner’s canary – if they start swimming close to the surface, trying to gulp in oxygen-rich water at the top, it’s about time you changed two thirds of the water. I don’t usually wait for my fish to start ringing the alarm bells, I usually just change half the water three times a week (the crayfish don’t enjoy this much, but I don’t like to take risks. Avoid strong water currents, especially if you decide to use a pump).

In their aquarium crayfish must be given the opportunity to dig. My aquaria are set up in three sections. The first is just plastic (see photo), but the crayfish actually seem to enjoy this. The second is a flat slab of decorative rock. The third is about an inch of gravel. They seem to love to climb up sticks and plants towards the surface. I guess it given them a better vantage point from which to catch feeder fish… However freshwater plants + crayfish = mess. Use very well washed plastic plants (unless you want the crayfish to eat them, in which case most live plants will do).

I keep the water at Philippine room temperature – about 20^oC usually. Make sure to remove the shed shell immediately when they shed to preserve water quality (I usually just change the water immediately after they shed).

Feeding:
My crayfish will eat very nearly anything they can get their pincers on (that would probably include my finger). Their absolute favourite if bloodworms, but I’m not too keen on feeding them the same food all the time. They occasionally get their pincers on a feeder fish (which probably illustrates why they are called ‘feeder fish’). I give them a small piece of lettuce to toy with each week. Otherwise their stapes are two types of fish food – floating pellets they compete for with the fish and sinking pellets they have to look for among the gravel. They seem to do fine on that.

Final Words of Advice:
Avoid the pincers! Those things are painfully powerful, believe you me. Especially if you’ve got a relatively large crayfish. However, you can still pick them up relatively safely. If you grab them with your thumb and index finger on the main exoskeleton plate – right above and behind the pincers – they cannot reach you. They will try, and they will get unnervingly close to succeeding, but they cannot reach you. When a sinking pellet happens to land on them they get so angry at not being able to reach it that they start blowing bubbles to try and bump it of…

Freshwater snails: New Observation

This is interesting… I’ve discovered that my freshwater snail will very gladly eat floating fish pellets! They even seem to actively reach for them from the sides of the aquarium! If any of you share my peculiar affinity for strangely unconventional pets, have similar snails, and happen to come across this post, please try it and let me know if your will eat them as well.