Find Leon's new merch at www.leonthelobster.myshopify.com What is it like to buy a Lobster from the grocery store seafood section and keep it in a saltwater aquarium at home as a pet? This video shows you just how this went.
I love how you went from "might as well put something in this old tank" to "I should probably get a bigger tank for my good boy Leon". Pets really are like that.
I hate how grocery stores sell little lobsters that are not even fully grown yet. That's animal cruelty. It should be against the law to catch and sell small young lobsters. I like lobster once in a great awhile, but me myself just cannot cook one alive.
Repent to Jesus Christ! “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 NIV
Poor little thing was so hungry and weak it took 'em a few days just to regain its strength enough to use it's little pincers and even one claw. That's a really sweet thing you did for this little guy, man. Thanks Mr. Lobster man, you're one standup fella.
I'm glad RU-vid recommended me this. What a fascinating video. It was so sad seeing him motionless in the box, but it was awesome seeing him so active.
"Rescued" from a tiny tank only to be placed in another tiny tank 🤣🤣the only chance of release this lobster had was death... that this man refused to give him
@@meorrrrw4020 well we don't know anything. Maybe he will get a bigger tank in the future. And I guess to be able to move around again is better than being boiled alive. Also lobsters indeed don't move around much at all
@@meorrrrw4020 lol still better than the tank in the grocery store. besides that he will probably get a bigger tank. some people just love to complain..
yeah... you are right UV... @Meorrrrw is a short sited un-empathetic fool of a child... don't take them serious they just want to get a rise out of people like a teenage troll...
I'm 37 and got emotional in the grocery store at the lobster tank literally 3 days ago. I've never grown out of feeling awful for those poor, delicious little creatures. They're so beautiful. And the tank at the grocery is so...ugh. Horrible.
Imagine thinking your life is only going to be misery and then one of the giants takes you away and suddenly life is amazing. You did a good thing. ❤ My stepdad used to always tell me that if you're gonna keep an animal for food it should have a decent life beforehand. Leon isn't going to be food in this lifetime, but he deserves a good life regardless.
Man has yet to fully understand the magnificant creatures that share the planet with us. Saving this noble creature is an act of compasion and intelligence. Thank you.
While I generally refrain from flowery language, I do agree with you. It is an immutable fact of our universe that the vast majority of life has to consume other life in order to continue living. But we are among the few species of animals that have evolved the capacity for empathy, compassion and mercy, which is a prerequisite for co-operation - the undisputed foundation of our success as a species. So we should cherish this ability, and use it where we can, because it makes us more human.
We're not too swift are we? Thousands of years here and we're still trying to grasp that other creatures besides humans are important. Hell, we don't even respect our own species much. It's sad, yet sad isn't even the right word for it. People that do things like this make me happy though. @@BB-nz5sk
Damn, I'm so happy for this lobster. He just sat and accepted his fate and then he realizes he's alive and is gonna live out his life in a nice big tank with food every day. Wholesome
Hello Brady - I'm a marine biologist. Loved your video! You can tell a male from a female from the first set of pleopods or swimmerets. On the male, the first pair are hard and large. On the female, they are small and flimsy. Leon (or Leona) almost looks a bit like he / she is approaching molt. I see that from the dark / bluish tinge I see around the knuckles. That is not the best identifier. If I could look at one of his / her pleopods under a scope, I'd be able to tell with 100% certainty. Also, lobsters LOVE to hide in cracks, crevices, holes, etc. If you got him / her something he could hide in, he'd love that. When he does prepare to molt, he'll flop on his side and appear like he's dieing. Don't sweat it. Sit back and enjoy the show!
You can also tell by their claws and tail, males have a large crusher claw that’s more rounded while females have a small crusher claw. And females have a wide tail, while males have a thinner tail. Also you don’t need to look at their swimmerets through a scope to tell if they’re male or female, it’s very easy to tell with the naked eye. So the guy in the video should easily be able to tell!
@@solarr5143 Neither claws nor tail are a great indicator of gender for lobsters as they can vary across age range and within the population. Looking at the pleopods will guarantee correct identification. Please note Solarr that I was referring to determining molt stage when I mentioned looking at pleopods under the scope NOT gender identification.
I loved to see this lobster get saved too, and treated so well. But at the same time, I want to eat lobster! They're so tasty! Is it weird that I feel I could be eating lobster while I have a pet lobster in my tank? I would never eat one that's been established as a pet and I bonded with (of course!)
That's a nice thought, but lobsters are antisocial and naturally aggressive toward each other. That's why retailers put rubber bands on their claws when they're sold as food. For the same reason, it's not really safe to keep more than one lobster in an aquarium.
“He grooms himself a lot, particularly after eating, kind of like a cat. He grooms his whiskers, and even his eyes” I’ve never found a lobster this sweet before
I know it's a lobster, and probably not on the same level as a dog or cat, but he genuinely looked bummed out in the box. Almost like he knew his time had run out. The change in behavior and the association of your presence with feeding was so cute. He seemed super happy keeping busy in his tank. They live a pretty long time in the wild if they avoid predators so mayby this would be a good pet. I'm glad he's happy and healthy
I think any creature with enough cognition to like, experience any sensation at all, probably doesn't feel good about being taken completely out of its normal environment, presumably fed terribly if at all, and then kept in a tiny box. I don't mind eating lobster, but this way of doing it seems absolutely terrible.. They should keep them in a proper big tank with enrichment, then take them out and kill them quickly when someone buys them.
To be fair, having a pet is not about how much it can give to you but how much you wanna give to it. I have dogs, they amazing, but I also have plants, and I love to take care of them, see them grow, bloom, etc.. They do almost nothing but I feel very attached to them just like my dogs, if one of them starts dieing, or get sick I get sad. Anything can be a pet, you just gotta enjoy taking care of it.
@@CabezasDePescado I think that's true, and I wonder about lobsters, because they don't exactly have brains. They're very similar to insects in that you can get stimulus and response, but they have one of the most primitive brains of any living creature out there. To the point that you can't really call them brains. They're closer to meat robots than they are to vertebrates like mice and rats. They don't really have the ability to feel pain. But empathy is a human superpower, so we're able to project how we would feel onto a creature who can't. And I think that's pretty cool. Because it means that we as a species are able to ask questions about how we ought to treat others. And that's important considering the fact that we've terraformed this planet to feed ourselves and create ecosystems simply by existing. Considering the needs of the life around us is something we need to do more often, and not just in the way we feed ourselves, but in things like urban planning and other areas.
Came back today after watching the latest on Leon and happenings in his household. Wow, what a long way Leon has come! So grateful he is safe, adored and thriving!
I’m 70 and at one time, living in Jacksonville, FL, I started a small brackish tank with just some red claw crabs I bought at the pet store. I’ve always been happy with fish, much happier with the tiny shrimp…but crabs? Man, I just love those little crabs!! We moved to Alabama so I had to set them free but I live just down the road from Mobile Bay so I’m really jonesing for some fiddlers in a little partial salt tank with lots of sand for them to dig in. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed your most recent video of Leon so I’ve gone to the beginning and will watch them all. Thanks so much!!
The intensity behind watching that creature go from being devoid of hope submitted to its fate, to getting the strength to use its claws again and watching it attempt to understand the world around it, is immeasurable. Thank you for saving him.
❤ I wanted him to pick the little one up on the right, its of course been eaten now. Probably boiled alive. Anyways, I hope he can go back and find Leon a friend, perhaps a Leona? They can make a home together ❤
I can't believe I watched 15 minutes of a store bought lobster just doing lobster things. This has helped me notice and appreciate their beauty. I've always thought lobsters look like creepy giant insects, but there certainly is something beautiful about them.
yeah i've been up all night and was like "ah a boring video probably of some guy showing us ads and other wasting time material" but no he gave it a chance
You could just see how “depressed or maybe resigned to his fate” at the store and in the box. He had no strength left to fight. Thank you for giving him a chance.
Well, he is a bug after all. When they get too cold, they basically fall asleep until they warm up. Those super market tanks are kept cold, to keep them sleepy.
fun fact, lobsters in captivity love to rearrange their surroundings, and even Leon was moving the shells and substrate around. if ur able to, try to give him a few large rocks he can stack around, itll offer him stimulation as well as a secure place to hide
As a scuba diver, I've seen wild Lobsters in the Ocean. They actually swim backwards faster than a human can swim forwards. They flap their powerful tail to soar through the water. They keep swimming backwards until they've landed in a cave-like spot between big rocks so their back is protected by the cave and they can defend their front with their large pinchers. Leon needs a hiding place where he can feel safe. This is probably why you find him backed into a corner.
One of my favorite dives was night dive off the island of Cozumel swimming to a flat spot in between two large coral habitats and seeing how many lobsters came out in the night. Once you got too close they kicked their tail/abdomen and dispersed in seconds leaving behind a cloud of sand. Crazy seeing only a handful in the day and what looked like a hundred in the night when the surface is quieter. Never saw that many lobsters at once again since that dive
I dive for lobster in scotland. Ive spent alot of time studying their behaviour. Youre gonna wanna give him some kind of structure to hide under. The find it very stressfull to not have something to hide behind/ under
As a scuba diver of many years, I noticed lobsters are always hiding under or in between rocks during the day. Some rocks for hiding and some sea grass would make a very nice, natural environment for your little friend 😊
They don't experience cellular degeneration, like humans do, so they could, in theory, live indefinitely. If they don't die of predation, they basically live until they get so big that it takes more energy to molt their shell than they can take in.
@@MrRemakes Yes! And there’s a group of people hoping to care for a lobster over several generations to make a leviathan lobster god! It’s both horrifying and very interesting to look into.
I'd recommend giving him a hide and something to climb over. The reason he loves eating those clams is because it's a form of enrichment. Something to keep his brain working. Giving him a place of refuge and obstacles to overcome will definitely improve his quality of life.
@@hdskl2150 Yes, but we're not as simple as crustaceans. I'm sure he loves eating them, but he also loves the challenge of getting it out of the shell.
Many many years ago Mark Harmon and Pam Dawber were dining at a restaurant. There was a lobster tank for diners to pick their lobster for dinner. Mark and Pam bought all the lobsters and returned them to the ocean and set them free. Always had a soft spot for the two of them after reading that story.
He needs a cave to hide in. That's why he's doing the "yoga" thing against the side of the tank. He'll feel more secure if he has a cave to back into. Otherwise, great job, and great video!
i never thought about how weird it is, being a pet in a tank of water. you've got a small little world to live in, with some basic ground, maybe a structure or two. a mysterious cylinder full of liquid, and at certain times of the day food descends from the heavens
@@CeeDoubleU corny, but then again this world was created by racist people, the same racist people who see " a whole world" inside of a prison tank. This is not the ocean. its a prison. Stop using your historical racist mentality . Both you and NAAN
Lobsters have social bonds and feel emotions like anxiety. They are quite complex creatures.. you should get your lobster a little hidy hole! that will be like a warm security blanket
When I was a kid in South Texas we brought blue-claws in from the bay... and kept them in the bathtub before boiling. One time a crab escaped onto the bathroom floor -- and bared his claws in defiance. My mother said "this brave little guy lives" -- She put it into a pot, drove back to the bay and released it into the soft, warm Gulf waters. .
I think that's especially cool because she returned him on the basis that he had good survival instincts and actually tried to escape to begin with, which means he's probably the most likely out of that batch to survive re-integration to a wild environment.
@@unapologeticapollo4254most bugs are half alive, can barely think, and have the brain the size of a grain of sand. You are comparing that to crustaceans especially lobsters who are one of the smartest crustaceans.
Please do a follow up video!! I would love to see how your relationship develops, and how you continue to enrich Leon's habitat. THANK YOU for sharing this beautiful and remarkable journey with us, showing once again that all living creatures are complex and worthy of love & respect.
I very much appreciated this video! As a kid I used to get the little crawdad's from under the flat rocks at the lake our town was named after. I'd take them home & grow them up. We would put them in the nearby ponds to control algae & bugs. They also had feline-like personalities & would eventuality take angle worms from the hand. I was surprised when one spring after over wintering in the basement they spawned! Where so many we had to find other ponds to release them into. I've ALWAYS wanted to try lobsters but we are a long way from saltwater & back then the only place that had the setups were in the biger cities a long ways away & very expensive.
I’m picturing this guy driving around with a “who rescued who?” pet adoption bumper sticker, but instead of a silhouette of a dog, or a cat, there’s a silhouette of a lobster.
It's male, females have a broader tail underneath for sake of carrying large clutches of eggs. Don't worry too much about what you feed them either, even if it's rotten, lobsters tend not to be too fussy on how fresh their food is, unlike crab, lobsters will even eat crab too actually. If he casts/molts his shell at any point don't worry about removing it from the tank as he'll likely eat it too, which is pretty common for lobsters to do as it helps with nutrients to build up and harden the new shell they're growning. I'm an ex-crab/lobster fisherman so have seen plenty of them and their habits.
Even his color got better. The dark got darker and the bright spots got brighter and more defined. Dude couldn't be happier and healthier. Awesome video.
This is one of the Happiest videos ive seen here on The Tube of You!! Joyous!! It's so wonderful to see Leon living his Best Life with You!! Fabulous stuff!! ❤️🦞 Love Mel in UK xx
We have been watching several of your episodes with Leon. I can’t tell you how impressed I am with the pssion you have with this event. I have learned quit a few things about lobster from your videos. Please continue with your videos and thank you for the entertainment. Tell Leon hi from m Kansas!
He must have been so weak and debilitated and maybe even depressed, he couldn't use his claws, and was so clumsy. You literally rehabilitated him! Thank you for this lovely story!
@@sallurossyg through a bunch of Google searches online I found out that a blue lobster is 1 in 2 million lobsters. Pretty special lol Actual red lobsters like how they look after they're cooked are 1 in 20 million. They aren't naturally that red. The most rare are cotton candy colored, split where they are split down the middle (dark brown and orange for example) and white albino which are 1 in 100 million.
Thank you for doing this ! I always wanted to save the grocery store 🦞’s I cried as a little girl every time I would pass their tank in the seafood department 😭 ironically I grew up to be allergic to shellfish 🦐 so I couldn’t eat them if I wanted to but I honestly have never had the desire . They are beautiful! Thanks for the up- close view . So nice to know at least one got away and made it to an awesome home ♥️🦞
We kept a purple lobster for years in our marine aquarium at home. He was delightful and interactive, always waving hello whenever someone would approach the tank. He doubled in size, easy.
Touching ❤ thank you for doing this. Even if driven by curiosity instead of compassion, it doesn't matter. The act was grand. Watching more of the video and seeing you help the right claw get useful and mobile again, I realized it was compassion that you had, and lots of it. Thank you again.
Poor thing. He got lucky. Now he just needs a bigger tank. A lot of people don't know how long they can live. The oldest one ever caught was 140 years old. The ones you see in the supermarket or restaurant tanks are usually 5-7 years old.
lobsters are technically immortal, just molting can take a lot of energy they might not have which can make them cash out, but if they have the energy to molt they can just keep going forever unless killed by prey or some shit
I've kept a lobster and watched it shed its skin, I had a spare 5ft 100 gallon salt water tank that I'd previously used for tempeterate salt water things, like sea animonies that were fun to feed shrimp too and watch as they shoot off little mini anemonies that'd cling to even the side of the tank and grow there, also had star fish that could be hand fed. So decided when I broke this tank down to use purely for a lobster, but kept a few slug type critters, that'd hide until the tank needed cleaning, then they'd appear from in the crevices of ocean rock and start moving around on the glass. This isn't a hobby for anyone and understanding the salt water column, nitrate and nitrite levels etc plus good filtration, maintaining good levels of bacteria are all important when creating a set up. It's something that nature in the wild takes care of on its own
He sadly isnt. Because when you buy a lobster from the market, the market will just order another one. So if you want to "rescuing" a lobster, just dont buy one
I kept 4 crayfish (we were supposed to have them for dinner but no) rip cutie biggie and the two other crayfish + the 10000 kids they had who also died 🪦
Look how organized this lobster is: when he arrivee in the aquatium, he put the oyster shell on the other side of it, and when he got oysters as food and ate them, he put the shells with the other shell. Amazing.
When you were cutting the rubber bands off it was pitiful how he didn’t even try and move, like he had just given up. Never thought I could care so much about a lobster, but I love Leon. He improved so much, really amazing to see. If you start a gofundme for a bigger tank I would donate!
What a wonderful video. Interesting, relaxing, no yelling, edited well, the list goes on. Liked and subscribed. Brilliant video. Really enjoyed the inclusion of the cat, albeit brief. 10/10.
There's something very sweet and humanising to me about him picking up the shell and placing it to somewhere else he likes, then once again with another smaller shell. After all, don't we all like to decorate our own spaces in ways we like? Very sweet video.
I had a blue crayfish for a while. He exhibited very similar behavior. I'd arrange the small rocks and things in his tank, and by morning, he'd have re-arranged most of them. In fact, he seemed to have a preferred place where he wanted things. He'd push all the rocks and things to the same spot every time, no matter where I put them. It's a level of behavioral sophistication that I didn't expect from a crustacean. I've found that many of the creatures around us have more complexity than we often give them credit for, and seeing it just requires us to pay attention for long enough.
I have a pet lobster and he always is redecorating his tank, it's really cool! He shovels the gravel around with his face and is always remodelling his house.
Had no idea why YT recommend me this video, but I ended up watching the whole video and I glad I did! I never knew a lobster could be so cute. Hope Leon is happy now in his new home.
what the hell... thts kinda weird. because it was recommended for me too and apparently 262 other people who liked your comment were probably recommended it also . the algorithm has a mind of its own.
Thanks for sharing. I have been successfully keeping American Lobsters for eighteen months, so some quick tips for anyone else attempting this: it is critical that you get them from the store and into the tank as quickly as possible, as their gills and exoskeletons will be damaged if they dry out. Salinity of 32 PPT (ref the Gulf of Maine); PH of 8.2 to 8.35; temps bet. 54 F - 61F. Temperature is critical as they are cold water animals. Above 64 F, their metabolism increases: during summer, the Gulf of Maine's temps max at 61F, so my 'yellow zone' is 62 - 67 and my 'red zone' is 68 - 72 (can be transitory). Their 'death zone' is above 72 F. As Brady stated, add calcium, minerals and iodine or they'll end up with shell-wasting disease. It is critical to have lots of gravel in the tank: this will help w keeping the water cold and will give them something to do. They are master-manipulators of their environment and must be able to move the gravel around to create berms & craters. No decorations in the tank, whatsoever...they will get destroyed. Don't feed clams, as they wreck the tank's water. No live fish, either. Feed only saltwater creatures like shrimp and Atlantic Ocean fish. Lobsters are highly intelligent and moody, like octopuses. I routinely have interactions with my lobsters that are startling and jaw-dropping, including mimicking, cooperative effort and reciprocity. They are fascinating.
while i like crab, shrimp, and crayfish... lobster is a bit too sweet for my tastes. though a huge clawed pet lobster, wouldn't mind it. if i had the tank equipment or permission to own it. both i don't have.
Interesting! Thanks for the tips! Just wondering, I remember that the reason why stores rubber band the claws because they will attack each other if they don't. Is it a normal behaviour? Or is it due to being trapped in an uncomfortable way for so long? Ie. If you rescued two, can they be rehabilitated and live happily together? Also... you said 18 months. Is that their normal life span?
@@TheEDFLegacy Lobsters are very territorial, solitary creatures. They would fight each other, often to the death. Their claws ae banded so they don't injure each other and become unsellable. Also, holding tanks keep them at very cold temps, putting them in a state where they aren't active and don't need to eat. Lobsters don't age like other animals, and no one really knows how long one can live, though biologists estimate they will live 50-65 years in the wild before dying from predation, injury, infection or a rough molting. In theory, they could live beyond a century. No one knows. A 1 & 1/4 lb lobster is about seven years old, BTW.
@@brooklynrobotworks9866 Interesting! Thanks! 🙂 It makes me wonder how they can catch so many crab inside a crab cage, considering the territoriality of them? I've seen Deadliest Catch, and I don't see how they can have so many in there considering how territorial they are. Or how they don't attack each other when they are inside the holding tank of the ship.
