Mom adopted yet /another/ betta last night from Petco.

[FastFly67]

We stopped in there after dinner last night cuz I'm still trying to get ideas and costs for the tank I want. This particular store has some of the worst bettas I've seen by far. They're labeled crowntail or half moon or whatever they're /supposed/ to be but they're all scrawny and have fins smaller than a females. Of course she sees what's supposed to be a male crowntail who's kinda laying on it's side and decides he needs rescuing. She talked to the worker who was dealing with the fishtalks and the lady wrote 'adopt' on the top of the cup. Mom filled out the paperwork and now she has another fish to take to work, free of charge.

[Tifta]

I really do feel bad for those bettas in those small cups. :/ Makes me want to go out and get one.

[Amaranth]

Good for your mom for rescuing!
I was at my local PetCo the other day and was appalled by their bettas, all in about the same condition as you described. It seems that (in my experience, at least) Petco's bettas are typically in less-than-good health as compared to other stores, thought I guess it's unfair of me to make generalizations.

You'll have to let me know how the little guy does!

[Alaris]

The way Petco and Petsmart keep their bettas in small cups makes unsuspecting fish n00bs think they can keep bettas in those small decorative vases or picture frames. So sad.....

[FastFly67]

It makes me wonder if it's their fish suppliers that are qiving them such low quality fish. I work for a large chain retail store and I get incredibly healthy looking bettas. Well I get fantastic looking fish all around. But I also change out their water every other day.

[Innovator]

No offense, but "rescuing" fish through retail stores only promotes restocking of them. My advice would be to not give in to their sickly state and complain to a manager. Eventually, the less people that buy the less those retailers will provide.

[FastFly67]

Originally Posted by Innovator

No offense, but "rescuing" fish through retail stores only promotes restocking of them. My advice would be to not give in to their sickly state and complain to a manager. Eventually, the less people that buy the less those retailers will provide.

She didn't pay for it so they made no money off of it. What's better in your eyes? giving the fish a chance to live or condemning it to death by overlooking it?

[pirateshake]

The petstore i worked at got reimbursed for any dead fish at the end of the week anyways whether it was sold or not. So to say that if they dont sell they will stock less and less isnt really true for all places.
And i have witnessed people putting false labels on betas just to jack the price up alittle bit. its sad but true. And where i worked we got beta's from the supplier in those cups you see. The only thing the store did was change the lids out and put a price tag.

[Purrbox]

Generally the big chain stores are getting the lower quality fish from breeders (Not every fish from a batch of fry is going to be prize winning, no matter how good the parents). They sell their quality fish through other means since they are worth so much more money. The other source is simply the mass breeding of lower quality fish. Since they get shipped and held in those small containers their growth is inhibited and they end up more prone to fin rot and other disease (that blue stuff in the water is medication to help prevent those occurances). As long as there is a market, the fish will continue to be sold in the most economical way possible, no matter whether or not it is for the best health of the fish.