#animals daily

[blueearth]

Brazillian Rainbow Boa

Epicrates Cenchria

Lifespan: 10-20 years

Average weight: 0.90kg - 1.14kg

Average length: 1.5m-2.0m

Habitat: Tropical evergreen forests, tropical savannah

Carnivorous

Nocturnal

Polygamous

Solitary species

Threats:

Pet trade

Habitat destruction for agriculture, ranching and urban development

[catnamedcoal]

I’ve been trying to leashtrain Coal…. you can 👀 how he feels about that

[animals-daily-ish]

Today's animal is...

The humble Amphiuma means!

Amphiuma, two-toed amphiuma (Amphiuma means) is an aquatic salamander widely distributed in the southeastern United States that can grow from 39 to 1,042 g (1.4 to 36.8 oz) in mass and from 34.8 to 116 cm (13.7 to 45.7 in) in length. It's commonly, but incorrectly, called "congo snake", "conger eel" or the "blind eel". Adults retain a single gill slit on each side of the head. They are black, dark grey or dark brown in color. They have four legs that end in two toes.

Care in Captivity

These guys are not reccommended as a pet. There aren't many breeding records, meaning a large portion of them might be wild caught.

Tank

That being said: The required tank size is 120 gallons (~454L) for adults. When having reptiles/amphibians/etc you can choose to get bigger tanks as your fella grows, tho It's not neccessary and most of the time you can buy the big tank from the start (only animal I've seen that was recommended to size-fit enclosures were african snails to prevent them from getting lost while looking for food and making them sometimes smaller, tho it was still not required :p). You want to aim for a tank 2-4 times longer than the length of your salamander, half width to twice size of your pet, but the bigger the better.

Make sure that there is a fitted lid on the tank so they don't escape, they are nearly blind so avoid sharp decorations, keep a 24/7 dark hide. Keep temperature at their preffered warm 80 fahrenheit (26°C). It's a standard temperature that you'd need to keep with a heater in a regular tropical tank! (tropical = guppies, betta fish, neon tetras etc)

Real plants are a good choice for filtering - you're gonna need it. Their bioload (poop) is big so you need good filtration. Normal plants can be unplanted by the holy amphiuma. A good natural filtration method is planting certain potted plants into the water (only roots). It's called hydroponics (link to a tutorial video from SerpaDesign), which is planting house plants in fish tanks. It helps the tank with filtration and makes the plant grow from absorbing the bioload.

They spend most of their days burrowing and hiding. They live on the bottom, meaning a shallow and wide tank is better than a high and narrow one. They need either sand (that will pass thru them if eaten) or big rocks they can't swallow. They eat like a vacuum, so gravel is forbidden as they can choke. Good choice is muddy soil (tho messy) and dead leaves ("leaf liter") is reccommended for hiding.

Husbandry

Feeding should be done 1-2 times per week or two depending on the meal and amphiuma size. Their main diet should consist of mostly worms and pieces of tilapia and shrimp (few worms/etc per feeding session). Occasional treats can be frogs, snails, crayfish, loaches, smaller salamanders etc.. Note that you shouldn't leave the live prey after the feeding in the tank, as they can damage the slime coat of the amphiuma and kill it.

They shouldn't be kept with tankmates, but there are records of them living peacfully with other fish. It is suggested that you don't keep two large animals in one tank. The mighty Amphiumas are hunters, meaning anything that fits into their mouth will get devoured. Beacuse of their slimy coat it's possible that the fish the amphiuma won't eat will damage It's slimy slime.

Thank you for reading! This is just an introduction post to this animal, so before deciding on buying one please do indept research!

Sources: Wikipedia, Monaco Nature encyclopedia, SLERhelp, this post on r/Aquariums + few other for clarification

Footnote: I first saw them at an exotic animal Expo (?). I did little research but they seemed cool. Today is the first time I actually researched them and I can say confidently that they ARE cool. In a way they remind me of axolotls with how easy they are to wrong-do (like with the tankmates. It kills me everytime for some reason lol). Maybe it's just beacuse they are both amphibians? Idk but i love them!!! Not very exciting as pets (just like axolotls) but I hope I can get one one day, hopefully by then there are more of them on the market and are captive-bred!

[animals-daily-ish]

Welcome to Daily Animals! A blog where I write about animals that sparked my interest!

Today's animal is...

The Misrepresented Blobfish!

CW: Animal harm

Blobfish, flathead sculpin, Psychrolutes phrictus

You might've seen more photos of this guy looking like in the 2nd image. This is actually not how they look in nature - the slimy look comes from it being taken from deep water. Blobfish look like gelatinous blobs because they live in the crushing pressure of the deep sea, where their squishy bodies (few bones, less muscle, jelly-like tissue) are supported by the water, allowing them to float effortlessly.

"However, according to scientist Richard Arnott, this viral image of the blobfish is nothing more than “a vast bullying campaign.” The fish only looks like a miserable, pink lump when it has been torn from its home, and suffered devastating tissue damage due to the rapid depressurization as it was dragged to the surface. In its natural habitat—thousands of feet underwater—the misunderstood blobfish looks like a normal fish. Here’s what you need to know about these deep-sea creatures."

When brought to the surface, the immense pressure difference causes their bodies to decomp press and expand, losing their structure and morphing into the droopy, "ugly" form we're familiar with, but underwater, they look more like normal, tadpole-shaped fish. Beacuse of the sudden pressure changes, they do feel pain before dying (as their bodies essentially "explode" or turn into jelly due to rapid decompression, a process called barotrauma).

Blobfish in the Wild

In the deep sea, blobfish behave like sedentary, energy-conserving "lie-in-wait" predators, drifting just above the seafloor with their gelatinous, low-density bodies to passively gulp passing small crustaceans and organic matter, rather than actively hunting, a lifestyle suited to the crushing pressure and scarce food of their habitat. They reproduce by laying eggs in nests, often near others, and hovering over them for protection.

Habitat

They grow to about 1 foot long. These tadpole-shaped fish have bulbous heads, large jaws, tapered tails, and feathery pectoral fins. Rather than scales, they have loose, flabby skin. They don’t have strong bones or thick muscle—instead, they rely on the water pressure to hold their shape together. That’s why blobfish collapse into a squishy mush when they are pulled up to the surface.

Since they live in the deep sea, most of the research comes from what scientists gathered from the dead specimens pulled to the surface.

Blobfish are usually found in dark, cold habitats deep at the bottom of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, between 1,970 and 3,940 feet deep.

Most known marine species live in the higher surface levels of the ocean (above 650 feet, where there is still light). The pressure, low temperatures, lack of oxygen and harsh conditions make surviving in those areas hard for most organisms. That's why the animals living there adapted — the giant squid, the anglerfish, lanternfish etc.

The Deep Pressure

To adapt to their enviroment, these fish don't have a swim bladder - a sac filled with gas that helps control buoyancy (that for example goldfish have). In the extreme pressure, the organ would implode.

Instead, the animal’s soft body has a high water and fat content, which helps them withstand the high pressure. The thick layer of jelly-like flesh under their skin makes blobfish slightly less dense than water and allows them to bob along the seabed.

Lifestyle

As said before, they eat by waiting for prey to come to them. They sit and wait on the seafloor for something to drift into their large mouths.

They don't have any natural predators, but the lack of other organisms at the sea floor and their feeding style still makes their life a challange!

Fun (?) fact: in 2013 it won the ugliest animal title!

Sources: Animal Geographic, AZ Animals, CNN, Australian Museum, Twiloghtzone (lanternfish image), Livescience (giant squid image), App. (angler fish image)

Footnote: People say that the blobfish is ugly/funny looking but I just feel bad :( how can you as a scientist not realise that will happen if you take it out of the water? I never see people representing how actually cool this fish is! That's why I wrote this (partially, also to feed my glutonous special interest). Is it funny only to me how they described him as gelatinous??

[blueearth]

Tiger Shark

Galeocerdo Cuvier

Lifespan: 12-15 years

Average weight: 385kg-635kg

Average length: 3m-4.2m

Habitat: Tropical and subtropical waters

Carnivorous

Nocturnal

Largely monogamous

Somewhat social

Threats:

Overfishing (juvelines caught in bycatch)

Commercial shark finning

Habitat decline (coral bleaching due to climate change)

[blueearth]

Scarlet Macaw

Ara Macao

Lifespan: 40-50 years

Average weight: 1kg

Average length: 81cm

Habitat: Tropical evergreen forests, tropical savannah

Granivorous-herbivorous

Diurnal

Monogamous

Flocking/social species

Threats:

Poaching for feathers and pet trade

Habitat loss (deforestation)

[animals-daily-ish]

Welcome to Daily Animals! A blog where I write about animals that sparked my interest!

Today's topic is...

Finding nemo - how to find tankmates for you aquarium!

Every fish tank owner had to ask themselves when starting their tank: "What fish should I add? Which ones will suit the other already in the tank?"

This post will explain what things you need to consider before adding a fella into your aquarium!

Basics

First things first: are you planning on getting a bigger aquatic animal or just fish?

This is crucial to consider as the first thing. Most animals of that sort that would live in a tank (amphibians, bigger fish) will eat/attack/get attacked by even guppies.

Are you making a community tank? A breeder?

You need to take into cinsideration everything about every animal you add. For example, some fish need higher PH, temperature, water level.

Where to start

To start your research you will need to get their basic info. You can write the example questions below to start off! Important: don't trust the AI over view. It's actually crazy how much misinformation it can give to you. I personally saw it 2 times in action and if I didn't check it on actual articles I would have 2 dead animals, probably. It sounds exaggerated but AI often mixes up information or species names, assumes you are asking about something just slightly different enough to make it so you're totally misinformed.

You can Google these questions:

- Xyz fish tank size

- Xyz fish water temperature

- Can Xyz fish live with tankmates

- Does Xyz fish live in groups

- How to feed Xyz fish

- Can Xyz fish live with Abc fish (look it up for every animal you will have in there)

- How big does Xyz fish get (sometimes you will see tanks that seem kind of small for an animal a certain size — websites put smaller sizes or the minimum you're looking at can be outdated. See if you are comfortable with keeping animals that are a certain size with the tank you have/are planning to buy)

- Xyz fish care guide/sheet

- Xyz fish tank examples (or xyz tank on for example pinterest. You will see how other people arranged the tank for the specific species, tho anyone can post and it's important to remember that some enclosures are going to be improper)

If you have any questions, contradictory information etc: it's actually good! Google more, even if it's "just a fish". They are small and "replacable" but you have to remember that their welbeing rely on how well you research.

Footnote: its the 4th post, as the name may suggest they arent gonna be daily mostly on work days (or if i forget.........)