A Box Jellyfish for a Pet?
April 15, 2009 by Kimberly
My hubby and I watched the movie Seven Pounds with Will Smith a few nights ago, which was fabulous, I might add!
In the movie, the main character has a box jellyfish as an exotic pet in a large cylindrical tank!
What an amazing creature, which just happens to have the most deadly venom in the animal kingdom!
In fact, there have been 5,568 human fatalities due to the box jellyfish recorded since 1954.
Extreme care and caution needs to be taken when caring for a pet of this danger level.
Also, you cannot store the jellyfish with any other creature in the tank, as they’ll paralyze it and eat it.
Although so high venomous, the sea turtle is immune to the sting of the jellyfish and is one of their food sources.
However, it is a fantastical invertebrate that you could watch for hours at a time as it pulsates through the water.
In the wild, the seasons of highest risk are from October through May, although they are quite evident throughout the rest of the year too.
Box jellyfish are concentrated in tropical areas such as Australia, Vietnam, Phillippines and Hawaii.
Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Cubozoa
Order: Cubomedusae
***
I hope you enjoyed this Invertebrate post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…
Live Exotically,
Kimberly Edwards 
P.S. If you haven’t seen the movie “Seven Pounds”, you really must – it’s dramatic, heart warming, a story of love and loss – Fantastic:
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These are dangerous animals that could kill you, no one should keep these as pets!
jeez!
Yes, Mitch – I agree!!!
They are very dangerous animals and people should exert extreme caution when wanting to have a dangerous animal for a pet!
Kimberly
Can you have a box jellyfish in the US with some kind of license or are they illegal as pets no matter what? and if you can have a license to have one, how do you get one??
Honestly, Heather, I have no idea…
I’ll try to look that up and see if I can find information on it.
Good question!
Kimberly
I have had pets that are pretty weird in the eyes of my soon to be wife. I think that exotic pets are amazing and ultimately bring out the best in ones quest to bring out the exotic side of ones like. I most admit I did watch the movie and yes my fiance cried her eyes out! However this is trivial to me and I think the majestic and paramount ways these sea ancients move are amazing………I want to own and begin a relationship with a jelly fish! Do you think this is the right path for me?
Hello Jose…
I know, I know…they’re beautiful and so fascinating to look at.
The problem is, they are extremely deadly – (not just a little bit…LOL) You get bit by one and it could be fatal – not sure if you’re willing to take that risk as an accident (as it always would be)…
…Things happen – How does your wife feel about it, first of all – she is your soon-to-be life partner and her opinion really matters here.
Also, do you have any other pets, such as cats? If so, be very very careful they don’t get interested in checking out this creature at the top of the tank – cats are clever.
Importantly, too, is if you’re going to have children around. If you have children or want to have children, I really must say that a box jellyfish is probably not the right pet for your household.
However, on the same note, there are many different species of jellyfish – it doesn’t have to be a box jellyfish – that are much less dangerous…like the one I was stung on the face by in Australia – very very painful, but not deadly by any means.
Also, I’m not entirely sure what the exotic animal regulations say about owning jellyfish where you live – you may need to look into that…
So, taking all of that into consideration, you should be able to come up with a plan.
I hope this helps you out on your quest for a new pet, Jose…
Thanks for the awesome comment and come on back by again soon.
Kimberly