My Lesser Siren

[momeara420]

My question for you all is... first off i have a siren.. i really enjoy watching him .. i do have him in a 55gallon fish tank.. He is in the tank with fish.. which is extremelly cool to watch him interact.. Well im guessing he is a \"HIM\" because of the swollen look to his head.. my second question is im thinking about moving him to another tank by himself but before i do so i want to find him a mate.. If you know of anywhere that i can purchase another lesser siren of a female species please let me know.. I really enjoy this creature and its diversity they are really awesome to own and friendly at that.. i hand feed him ROSIE RED MINNOWS on occasion but he mainly eats frozen bloodworms, frozen brinshrimp, and beefhearts.. any information you can give would be outstanding. Thanks

[Peter Lembcke]

I would recommend moving him to a tank of his own. It might be fine to keep it with fish, but species mixing is almost overwhelmingly a bad thing, with all the potential things that can go wrong.

I would advise against getting a second animal. The main reason for this is that sirens are aggressive animals, and I have had animals kill each other in the past. Same sex aggression is most common, but they will get aggressive between sexes as well. If you do attempt this, you need a heavily planted large tank, with several hiding spots for each animal, and a lot of care during feeding. Keeping two with fish is definitely not a good idea.

You'll also have to consider that sirens are not easy animals to breed. Jean Raffaelli has had success at his zoo, but he's the only person that I know of who's had fertile eggs. I certainly wouldn't discourage you from trying; it would be great to hear of, but just very unlikely.

Another issue is the probability of finding a female of the same species of siren. Right now, there are only two species of Siren (intermedia and lacertina), but evidence suggests that there may be many more species based on genetic information. I don't know much about this, but it is possible that a male and female of separate species/subspecies may or may not be compatible.

Keeping sirens together is possible, but you really need a large tank to pull it off; 55 being the absolute minimum that I would try. If you're looking for an animal you can keep in groups and potentially breed, you'll want to look into dwarf sirens (Pseudobranchus).

[momeara420]

well im sure they are a rare and hard to find species.. but im not sure i can agree with the 'Aggressive Part" my siren seems to be attached to the "Red Devil" i have in my tank .. when my Siren decide to start hanging out behind the rocks, and the "Red Devil" followed.. then the other fish in the tank started to nip at the Siren and my "Red Devil" would be the first to chase them away.. just last week my Siren decided to burrow himself underneath a log i have in the tank.. and well few days afterwards i came home from work and the "Red Devil" had dug a hole under the same log and now lays sideways underneath the log with the Siren.. "VERY ODD" but i thanks for the opinion.. i do plan on moving the Siren to another tank.. but before i do so i wanna find a female.. to "ATTEMPT" to mate them.. So if anyone knows where i can find one please please please do tell.. Thanks

[Peter Lembcke]

I wouldn't say that they're rare or hard to find, but they are aggressive. They can and will kill each other if the tank is not set up right, and even if it is there's still the chance of problems cropping up later. They can be very territorial and they're strong enough to damage each other.

[momeara420]

Yeah, i guess i can agree with that.. i dunno, when i first got him i could like reach my hand in the tank and touch him.. and like grab him and stuff.. and the other day i did reach my hand in the tank to feed him and he did try to attack me instead of the food... which was a "FIRST" he bite me.. well i guess u can consider it that but isn't it more of a Beak in its mouth and its teeth are in its throat.. thats what i got from the research i did.. i mean he broke skin but it didnt hurt at all just felt like.. when a koi fish sucks on ur finger.. it was like the suction of that but the pressure of my baby rat snake bite.. was weird.. but yeah .. if you guys know of some where on the east coast.. preferably MD.. that i can find another one that would be awesome.. Thanks

[Jennewt]

I can't see how getting another siren will be good for anyone (you or the sirens). These are not animals that are likely to mate in captivity. If you are interested in captive breeding of amphibs, I'd recommend working with something where you are more likely to have success and less likely to have the animals injure each other.

Isn't a red devil a cichlid? That doesn't sound like an appropriate tankmate. They are aggressive and require warmer water than your siren should have.

Good luck!

[momeara420]

I know what you mean.. look my tank is weird ppl.. everything that everyone has told me would happen hasn't .. like i dunno all of my animals are wierd.. lol not just my fish .. I have a Male cat i bought as a female.. vet said was a female and all... and then one day. BOOM female has a "you know what" lol.. and my dog is more like a person then a dog.. and well i have 4 fish tanks.. 3 of which are occupied.. My 29'Tall is occupied with 4 Shubumkin(spelling) Goldfish and a Pleco.. Then I have a 29'BowFront.. That has a baby Wild Ratsnake inside which is one day prolly gunna be the death of me .. but if isnt wasnt for me he would be dead.. he was about to get hit by a car and i stopped the car and picked him up and put him in my 29'bowfront tank. Then i have my 55.. and well insinde of that started with Guaramis, then i bought 2 silver tips.. and they died before i took them out the bag.. so i went and bought 2 konvict's .... male and female.. then i bought a Blue Acara.. Then the Red Devil.. Then 2 "Albino Konvict/JellyBean" Looking things.. and well 1 grew and turned orange and pink and the other Shrunk like from the size of a quarter when i bought it to the size of a nickel.. and its eats more then any other... then i bough a dojo loche.. .then my siren ... and well needless to say.. Male Konvict was with female.. then left and went to the jelly bean... and then my red devil continously stays with my siren.. and my blue acara is just big fat and lazy... and my dojo loche is just a sissy... and yeah the small jelly bean stays with my guaramis.. and my female konvict just recently dissapeared after the male left her.. and well yeah .. all these fish have been together for over a 1yr now .. and i looked all over for a while to find another siren for mine and i just cant find one .. but yeah thats my Children.. lol

[Kaysie]

So you keep all of these fish with your siren?

[Mike]

Yeah, red devils are cichlids, and aptly named. Keeping such a shy caudate with such a territorial and aggressive fish is a bad idea.

[John Clare]

I'm amazed that the siren is still kicking around. Says a lot for its hardiness.