# What do I do with the sea monkeys I have? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 29, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524 "2012-12-29T22:01:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/1 "2012-12-29T22:01:34Z")
Yes, I know, brine shrimp-I bought them for a couple of my students (for me to show them life cycles and such), but now, a month later, not only are they getting big, they appear to be mating! Saw a couple of them swimming around while in apparent copulation. Will a pet store take them? No, not about to flush them unceremoniously down the toilet… ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/2 "2012-12-29T22:20:34Z")
Teach them to fly? ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/3 "2012-12-29T22:23:25Z")
You can feed them to fresh water aquarium fish. They’ll die soon in fresh water, but the larger fish will eat them much faster. Your dilemma is, pretty much, the dilemma any teacher faces when breeding living things for education purposes – that’s why we don’t do these demonstrations with kittens or puppies, as examples. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/4 "2012-12-29T22:26:51Z")
This probably just reveals me as a callous boor…but…why not? Why not simply drain 'em down the kitchen sink and whirl the garbage disposal for a few seconds to finish the job? Why not dump them in the toilet? They’re little more than insects. Marine invertebrates. If you do it quickly, they won’t suffer. (It is believed by many that they _can’t_ suffer; they don’t have the nervous system for it. But even if this is true, for humanistic reasons, it is best to act with address and dispatch. You don’t want to be the kind of person who does horrible things; that’s very highly respectable.) About the fastest way to kill them is to dump them in boiling water. But it’s also just about the greatest possible shock. I suppose you could slowly pour in gradually increasing amounts of vodka. (Okay, sorry, not funny: alcohol, to them, would be little different than bleach.) ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/5 "2012-12-29T22:33:24Z")
second in finding some fish to feed them to circle of life and all… ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/6 "2012-12-29T22:36:52Z")
You have the students take turns taking them home until they get lost, stolen, eaten, or just plain die. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/7 "2012-12-29T23:46:50Z")
Moved from General Questions to IMHO. **samclem** , moderator ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/8 "2012-12-29T23:48:05Z")
They don’t get very big, but yes, they ARE most likely mating. I don’t think that any pet store would take them. Sooner or later someone will knock over the tank, or forget to feed them, or let the tank run dry, or pour soda into the tank. Problem solved. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/9 "2012-12-30T00:06:21Z")
Put them on ebay for free or on craigslist/ freecycle. “Home wanted, got to have your own tank”. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/10 "2012-12-30T00:15:15Z")
get a dissection needle and some horseradish sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/11 "2012-12-30T00:45:00Z")
Put them in a ziploc bag and drop them off with the receptionist at your local PETA. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/12 "2012-12-30T00:54:36Z")
Get some SuperX Serum, and a gamma ray source, Then conquer the world with your giant mutant air-breathing Shrimp army. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/13 "2012-12-30T00:54:39Z")
Let them breed until you have enough to feed a pet Blue Whale. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/14 "2012-12-30T00:58:11Z")
Take a road trip to Utah and release them in the Great Salt Lake. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/15 "2012-12-30T01:56:50Z")
Is this a serious OP? Cuz’… Wow… ---
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/16 "2012-12-30T02:05:10Z")
Pass them on to another teacher or school. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/17 "2012-12-30T02:10:49Z")
Why not keep them? I’ve never gotten Sea Monkeys past the second generation, but it’s not like it’s a huge responsibility even if they thrive. And maybe you’ll have some to show your class next year! Wouldn’t that be cool? And a much better example of the cycle of life than microscopic monkeys magically materializing from dust. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/18 "2012-12-30T02:33:54Z")
Keep them, and put bits of clay and colored glass in the tank. If they fail to build a sufficient monument to you, flush a few, _pour encourager les autres_ ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/19 "2012-12-30T02:44:23Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Yes, I know, brine shrimp-I bought them for a couple of my students (for me to show them life cycles and such), but now, a month later, not only are they getting big, **they appear to be mating! Saw a couple of them swimming around while in apparent copulation.** Will a pet store take them? No, not about to flush them unceremoniously down the toilet… Well, there’s a lesson for your students in that too! Life cycles and all, you know. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524/20 "2012-12-30T03:22:11Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Is this a serious OP? Cuz’… Wow… Just the way I am. \ > [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > Why not keep them? I’ve never gotten Sea Monkeys past the second generation, but it’s not like it’s a huge responsibility even if they thrive. And maybe you’ll have some to show your class next year! Wouldn’t that be cool? And a much better example of the cycle of life than microscopic monkeys magically materializing from dust. Guess we have a winner-only other option would be to let them loose off the Atlantic coast, but they’d probably all become morsels for passing fish the instant they hit the water. So do I need to salinate the water then? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-do-with-the-sea-monkeys-i-have/645524.md?page=2)