Is it cruel to throw sea monkeys away?

[Nahnottoday]

MIL got the the kids sea monkeys for Xmas I've only been the one bothered about them. They freak me out more than anything and can't bare the thought of bringing them to the new house.

Are these the type of pets you give away? Are they pets I don't know 🤣

Put them in a pond if you’re going to feel bad?

They need a saltwater habitat so putting them in a pond would kill them. I'm surprised they've lived since Christmas as they don't normally have a very long lifespan.

What's a sea monkey?

They're brine shrimp, Proper.

My mum threw them over the fence as she was scared they’d grow huge and bite her on the toilet.

I think they’re scrimp so could go in a normal fish tank as food.

Ask a local fish keeping group someone might take them

They will die soon anyway

God what an awful thread this is.

Take out ‘sea monkey’ and replace with ‘puppy’ or ‘kitten’ or ‘bunny’ and the tone would be very different.

They are living, breathing creatures...
Of course you don’t ‘throw them away’, how fucking vile.
You bought them, you look after them or you sell/give them away to someone who will

We fed ours to our friend's fish. I was surprised how long the lasted. We had them for months!!

Some truly vile people on here

They are living things ffs

do sea monkeys breathe?

Lovely @SueEllenMishke !

They are often used as fish food. Some people breed them specifically to feed to their fish.

You can't grow dogs and cats from a powder from a toy shop for £5 though so they're slightly different.

Google a fish keeping site, however they’re past their ‘sell by date ‘ already. As a pp said, given that they’re in tap water they can’t last much longer.
They do say that freezing them, like live prawns and other shellfish shuts them down into a catatonic state when you might feel more able to say goodbye to them but I don’t actually know .

These things should never be sold as novelty pets.

Of course they breathe, slippery - they're a type of shrimp.

The local fish keeping group as suggested by pp is a good idea if you really can't keep them for the few more months they are likely to live.

do sea monkeys breathe?
They are shrimp, they breathe through gills on their feet

You can't grow dogs and cats from a powder from a toy shop for £5 though so they're slightly different

The fact that are hatched from dried out eggs and are sold in toy shops doesn’t change the fact that they are real, live animals....

My ds got some at Christmas and there's still two of them wriggling about. I'm rather hoping that they're the last ones. I don't see them as pets but don't have the heart to flush them!

@DullDullWeather

So are headlice.

Very similar actually, in constitution and capability.

I trust that any headlice in your family are carefully nurtured into a raging infestation?

I trust that any headlice in your family are carefully nurtured into a raging infestation?

I doubt anyone buys headlice for their DC as a Christmas present!

An unwanted and parasitic intruder - something that's harming you - is different from something you've willingly brought into your home.

People throw unwanted plants away. Is that "fucking vile" too?

No, it’s not cruel. They are just a brine shrimp in the same family as sea fleas. It’s no more cruel than killing an ants nest in your kitchen.

I do hope none of the people having a fit of the vapours over this have ever eaten shrimp.

They are so goddamned ugly. If I had a dog that looked like that then I'd have to flame thrower the fucker Ripley style rehome it.