Boris The Bully
Thankfully, we should never have to worry about our son being a bully. He has the size for it but not the temperament. If anything, he has too much empathy. For example, he comes near to obsessing about whether a birthday gift is truly what the other child really, really wants. Other mothers seem to think this is adorable but they don't have to deal with finding THE PERFECT GIFT.
We did have friends with a son who was a bully and they were sort of "well, what can we really do about it." Ahem, watch DinoD shortcircuit and come up with 10 appropriate suggestions in the space of three minutes.
I always said I would NEVER, EVER harbour a bully. That is, until now. Let me explain.
Due to allergies, we cannot have any pets with fur/dander and so that leaves us without many options. Insects and reptiles are just not really my thing and you know I'm going to be the primary care giver here. So my son and I settled on fish.
We bought the aquarium a couple of months ago and have had it up and running without fish for quite a while. I was going to post pictures of our aquarium and see if anyone noticed that it didn't contain anything that was actually alive but I can no longer do that.
You see, last weekend we bought two ornamental goldfish - calico orandas. Our tank is sufficiently big enough that we purchased two of the smallest ones they had (so we could watch them grow up).
All was fine for the first couple of days and then I noticed that one was starting to behave strangely. It started hanging out at the bottom of the tank and not moving a lot (this is not a good sign). There were no obvious signs of disease and the other fish (we'll call him Boris) was doing very well.
Perplexed, I spent a lot of time just watching the tank and it became apparent that Boris was pestering the other calico (we'll call him Thomas). It all came to a head last night when Boris was constantly pushing Thomas around, pecking at him and trying to nibble on his fins. In desperation, I moved Thomas to a hospital tank and bemoaned the fact that I was going to have to buy another fish tank.
Alas, today dawned with Thomas floating belly up in his segregation cell. I didn't proceed with the intervention quickly enough. Now I know he was just a fish but I still feel horrible and I know that Boris is most likely to blame. We have a bully in our midst.
Now in his defense, Boris is a rather excitable fish (something I didn't bargain for with an Oranda). We are starting to avoid walking past the tank as he goes a little crazy (hoping for food as he is also apparently insatiable). I actually worry about opening the top of the tank as I am convinced he is going to jump out one of these times. I am thinking of buying him a larger tank but really, a 30 gallon tank for one Oranda who is only about an inch long?
I think Boris will remain in the current tank and exist in isolation (I am not going to inflict him on any other fish and I am all out of ideas for how to discipline a "bully fish"). My husband suggested buying a much larger fish to put in with Boris but you know he's slightly warped (I meant my husband here although both of them are actually).
The only thing I need to do now is convince my son that we cannot bury Thomas in the sandbox (which he seems to have his heart set on).
DinoD (harbourer of the bully fish).
Thankfully, we should never have to worry about our son being a bully. He has the size for it but not the temperament. If anything, he has too much empathy. For example, he comes near to obsessing about whether a birthday gift is truly what the other child really, really wants. Other mothers seem to think this is adorable but they don't have to deal with finding THE PERFECT GIFT.
We did have friends with a son who was a bully and they were sort of "well, what can we really do about it." Ahem, watch DinoD shortcircuit and come up with 10 appropriate suggestions in the space of three minutes.
I always said I would NEVER, EVER harbour a bully. That is, until now. Let me explain.
Due to allergies, we cannot have any pets with fur/dander and so that leaves us without many options. Insects and reptiles are just not really my thing and you know I'm going to be the primary care giver here. So my son and I settled on fish.
We bought the aquarium a couple of months ago and have had it up and running without fish for quite a while. I was going to post pictures of our aquarium and see if anyone noticed that it didn't contain anything that was actually alive but I can no longer do that.
You see, last weekend we bought two ornamental goldfish - calico orandas. Our tank is sufficiently big enough that we purchased two of the smallest ones they had (so we could watch them grow up).
All was fine for the first couple of days and then I noticed that one was starting to behave strangely. It started hanging out at the bottom of the tank and not moving a lot (this is not a good sign). There were no obvious signs of disease and the other fish (we'll call him Boris) was doing very well.
Perplexed, I spent a lot of time just watching the tank and it became apparent that Boris was pestering the other calico (we'll call him Thomas). It all came to a head last night when Boris was constantly pushing Thomas around, pecking at him and trying to nibble on his fins. In desperation, I moved Thomas to a hospital tank and bemoaned the fact that I was going to have to buy another fish tank.
Alas, today dawned with Thomas floating belly up in his segregation cell. I didn't proceed with the intervention quickly enough. Now I know he was just a fish but I still feel horrible and I know that Boris is most likely to blame. We have a bully in our midst.
Now in his defense, Boris is a rather excitable fish (something I didn't bargain for with an Oranda). We are starting to avoid walking past the tank as he goes a little crazy (hoping for food as he is also apparently insatiable). I actually worry about opening the top of the tank as I am convinced he is going to jump out one of these times. I am thinking of buying him a larger tank but really, a 30 gallon tank for one Oranda who is only about an inch long?
I think Boris will remain in the current tank and exist in isolation (I am not going to inflict him on any other fish and I am all out of ideas for how to discipline a "bully fish"). My husband suggested buying a much larger fish to put in with Boris but you know he's slightly warped (I meant my husband here although both of them are actually).
The only thing I need to do now is convince my son that we cannot bury Thomas in the sandbox (which he seems to have his heart set on).
DinoD (harbourer of the bully fish).
posted by DinosaurD at 11:25 AM
2 Comments:
Definitely a bad idea to bury the fish in the sandbox, because...ewwww....
As for Boris. Maybe get a different kind of fish. Sometimes a fish that is agressive is just trying to limit the dating pool. If you have fish #2 be of another breed, Boris won't feel "threatened."
Either way, he still sounds more psychotic than bullish.
I had 2 goldfish many years ago, Graham the bully and Barry the pacifist. Barry just cruised around the tank having a lovely time, and suddenly Graham did all the things that Boris did. A few days later, Barry was belly up...
Long story short, the man at the pet shop told me that Barry must have been sick, and Graham knew that and basically helped him along. Survival of the fittest and all that kind of thing.
So don't feel badly, you're not harbouring a bully fish.....
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