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Originally Posted by FlyingNimbus  True, I get what you're saying. I just don't think -some- animals even care. Specific ones though. Specifically speaking about already sedentary animals that will literary stay in the same spot for hours, on end without any movement. Like tarantulas, pac man frogs, maybe snakes, certain toads, a few species of turtles(but still in a big enclosure).
I am not saying cram them into a tiny space either, just saying it's all relative for certain things.
Some animals don't even have that evolved of a brain to even notice it... Do you think a tarantula knows what an enclosure is? |
I'd like to add an example of animals that lack an evolved understanding... Let's take crickets for instance. Crickets, can drown in a tiny pool of water even if it just covered their feet...
All of it is philosophical, and you're right one can't really be certain what goes in the mind of even the tiniest of insect... But that notion you have is essentially rid of most of the pet industry, save for dogs, cats, equines, bovines... Which not a bad idea, but some animals don't mind captivity to my understanding. A caged mouse doesn't seem anymore stressed than a wild rodent. In fact, a wild rodent is more wary than a captive bred one... many dangers are likely to fall on a wild rodent than a captive bred one.
But let's look at fish. There's plenty of forums out there for fish, some more successful and the good information they deliver. A lot will agree, that a good sized aquarium isn't really a bad thing for a fish, crustacean, and to my personal opinion some amphibians.
You realize that in the wild there are niches for these specific types of animals? You won't see a bottom feeding catfish, near the top of a lake.
You won't see a beta fish in an open river, extremely large/deep pond. Betta fish/siamese fighting fish thrive in rice paddy conditions. While a bowl isn't good for a betta, I don't think sticking them in a 300 gallon aquarium would do them much good either because they will just stick to a corner trying to find food...
It all depends on the specific animal, heck there are even fish which should never be in an aquarium of -any- size. One prime example would be migratory fish like the salmon, salt water sharks, etc.
There are things I am not opposed to seeing in a special aquarium of a larger size-- such as jellyfish(a perfectly rounded aquarium with no corners for it to get stuck in)... I am not opposed to seeing fancy goldfish in an aquarium, nor betta fish, nor certain cichlids, small fish like guppies tetras barbs etc, catfish(size dependent), african clawed frogs(my favorite aquatics), axolotls, snails, crabs(again depends), crayfish, heck even a lobster(if the right set up is made for it), because a lot of these fish like to inhabit specific niches that if fullfilled would be fine kept.
Even pondfish I don't mind in large aquariums(larger than your average large aquarium). There are people who have really big rooms, a lot of money to blow, a lot of time to spare and build really massive aquariums and by massive, I don't mean what you would think is massive-- I do mean massive as in the kind you would see belong in those "aquarium"(the place)...
A lot of those who keep such large aquariums have a lot of knowledge on what they're doing because they either study it as a major or they study it on their spare time by doing as much research as possible.
If the space is right, then for me it's okay to keep it- but again highly dependent on whether it's a migratory species, or something that just roams a lot....
I had these things called african clawed frogs, small little buggers and I put up 6 of them in a 125 gallon aquarium.... and they mostly used one portion of the aquarium and occasionally ventured to the other.
Their needs were more than exceeded. They are still alive with a friend(in the same enclosure and care), because I had them when I was younger in a different place.
My opinion is that if their needs are more than just met, and they are kept clean, safe, parasite free, acting normal as they would in the wild its okay then. It's essentially a haven for some of them.
But maybe I am wrong, who knows.