# Blood Parrot



## TTTT

I saw Blood Parrots at my LFS that were dark colored, for like $10. In a tank above them were Redish orange fish labeled Blood Red Parrots for $25 dollars. They looked like this.








The orange fish in the front^
I like the Redish orange ones but I was wondering, are they dyed? I want one but I would never, ever buy a dyed fish because thats extremely cruel.


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## Gills

I wasn't aware that the blood parrots were dyed...my understanding is that involve cross breeding b/w two other cichlid species (red devil or red terror?), hence the color.

I hear you, dyed fish make me cringe! Why, people, why!


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## frogman5

they do dye blood parrots theres a few videos on youtube of dyed parrots...but the blood red parrots are awesome fish


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## TTTT

Yeah they do dye blood parrots... 









I might just have to get a Blood Red Parrot since they're not died


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## Buggy

the red-orange blood parrots are natural color. They are all a cross between two species of cichlids, presumably a red devil and a midas. They get about 7-8 inches and are VERY agressive as they get older. They can't close their mouths to bite but they will ram other fish and kill them. They need at least a 55 gal tank and should be kept with other semi agressive fish of comparable size or at least faster then they are.


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## NatBarry

These orangey coloured ones are not dyed, this colour comes from the 2 fish which are cross-bred but you can find dyed blood parrots such as the blue and green type.
Nat


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## TTTT

Yeah, I don't think any stores in Cincinnati sell dyed fish


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## big_fishee16

the original blood red parrots aren't dyed. They are natural colored. And they are hybrids. Some of them (green, purple, blue, etc) are dyed to make them sell better


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## crazyfishlady

Here's a company in Hong Kong that will tattoo your fish with lasers. (http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/item.php?news=850)


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## lovejonesx

As much as I love the odd type fish,...I stay away from blood parrots, _(even though they look awesome sometimes, the original crossbred...) _ b/c I'm not into crossbreeds. Much less the other dyed ones. Why?
LJx:chair:


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## justintrask

Blood Parrots are really hit or miss for me. I have seen some that can close their mouthes, and i like them a lot. The ones that can't... bleh. As for the tattoo'd fish crazyfishlady posted, I read that article also... I am wondering how badly it effects the fish. If there's an article in PFK, it can't be too bad? I still wouldnt trust it. Love a fish for its natural beauty.


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## Buggy

Here is a pic of my blood parrot. She isn't severely deformed like most of them...looks very much like her parent...and although she can't close her mouth anymore she has no trouble eating anything she wants and biting what\who she wants (this usually means me!)

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r212/Buggy66/Fish and Tanks/IMG_0199-1.jpg


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## justintrask

She's very gorgeous Buggy. I have heard horror stories of BP's being just as eager to breed as convicts, and crossing with just about anything.


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## Buggy

Thank you Justin, she is my baby and a big camera ham. LOL

Most blood parrots are sterile and can't reproduce but they are very eager to try! They will lay eggs but they generally won't hatch. There has been some recent success with getting viable eggs and a few people are successful with raising them but it's still pretty rare.
Mine builds her sand pit but has never laid any eggs and since I don't have any male cichlids for her to breed with, she is just going through the motions.

From what I understand, the different methods for dying fish have differnt effects on them. Stripping the slime coat and dipping them seems to be the most tramatic and will weaken the immune system leaving them suseptable to disease. The dye also fades quickly leaving you with a natural colored pale fish. I have two pink painted fruit tetras that are 2 and 1 yrs old respectively and they are both still colorful and so far have never had any sicknesses. Tattooing is only marginally better but is still very stressful on the fish but the results last longer, sometimes the full life of the fish. This is the method used for puting flowers, hearts and other designs on fish...usually used on mollys. Painting is the least harmful but the color doesn't last long at all. The jellybean Parrots (shown in the above pic) are dip-dyed.

I am personally against the practice of dying, tatooing and painting fish and the general opinion is that if no one buys these fish then the damand for them will eventually drop and the industry will stop doing it. Unfortunately, I don't see this happening any time in the near future. I'm affraid it would take a major global wide boycot to completely put the "fish painters" out of business.


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## Cggamer12

Yea, some of them are dyed. I'm not much for that, but some of them do look cool. 

However, I'm almost certain that mine is naturally colored. I've had it for about 5 years, and it has grown significantly, and now has great color.

This pic is from a while ago, but it now has an even darker orange.


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## Buggy

Yes, your fish is natural colored and like mine doesn't have the severe body deformaties found in a lot of them. Very nice looking fish.


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