What can we do about Wal-Mart Bettas?

[marknmelissa]

I was at Wal-Mart the other day and stopped by their fish dept. (couldn't help myself) to look for a female betta. I couldn't believe that they had their male bettas (in the small cups of course) stacked 6 high and 10 deep. I can't imagine how the poor guy at far back and center position would possibly have a chance of actually finding his way to a home. And do you really think someone takes the time to move them all in order to feed them on any kind of regular schedule?!?!?

I just had to vent. I guess the only thing to do is tell management and stop shopping there until they fix these kinds of things.

-Mark

 

[aridiar]

I don't think I've ever see it that bad at our walmart, but you can tell that there is no way they could be taking very good care of them, except the WalMart out by my dad's, I think they honestly have healthier tanks than any place I have seen b4, and they never seem to have more than a dozen or so bettas, tho they never seem to have any females. Tho you have to consider that I don't think there is a LFS in the town my dad lives in

 

[Devilishturtles]

Try talking to the department manager. Explain to them what is wrong with that situation incase they don't know. And tell Management. And I'm telling you this from my own experiences.

Most WM managers very much dislike it when customers are angry, because that means less sales, less customers, etc. Next time you go there, if the problem isn't corrected, talk to the store manager or an assistant store manager. I got in this really crappy shipment of fish in, that stupidly my associate accepted! (but that is another story) and some of the koi were pretty sick. I treated the tank and they were getting better. That night, wed. when they came in, this lady came in and saw them. She got soooo upset. She called my store manager, the district manager, and even corporate offices complaining about my dept! I got a ton of phonecalls the next day from the WM bigwigs...not very fun....but I just laughed in their face anyways, apparently the women called my tanks the worst she had ever seen....funny that is, cause they were pretty spectacular if you ask me! But, to get to my point, and sorry for the rant, complain..In WM world, it will get you somewhere...atleast in my part of the country.

I order 45 bettas a week, on Wed.( the wholesaler sells by lots, so it is either 45 or 90) and they are usually sold out by the following Mon or Tues. that is just WAY too many bettas, I feel for the poor things! Hope you can solve the problem
!

 

[snifflyfro]

crazy that all of your wall mart's sell fish, mine doesn't and when I asked they looked at me like I had 4 heads

 

[Christmasfish]

Squeaky wheels do get greased..my daughter and friends set a petition complained to ours and set small changes in motion. better than none!

Yet the other day EVERY tank had 6 or more dead fish...eeew! All the plecs, all comets. Except oscars..no dead in that tank for whatever reason. I was surprised. And teh QT tank on the sink counter was bare too. Somebody messed up big time.

 

[MikeWinLDS]

You could buy all the Bettas, though they'd just get more to replace them.

 

[Hypostomus]

I've seen the same situation at the Wal-Mart near my college. All of their goldfish were lying on their sides at the bottom, unable to get up, the oscars (all 30 of them in a 30g tank :/) were covered in ich, etc. The bettas-- I would almost say they had the better situation, except for the fact that apparently no one there has ever heard of "water changes." A while back me and my friend complained about the small size of the cups they were using and they upgraded to larger bowls, but the bowls almost have the same amount of water as the cups because they just let it evaporate away.

However, the Wal-Mart near my house was just renovated into a "Super Wal-Mart." I haven't had a chance to take a look, but before it was of the local Petco's quality. A few dead fish, and employees that knew diddly squat.

But I agree with Christmas and Devilish-- try working with the management, a lot of them will be willing to change the situation if they think they'll sell more fish for their efforts.

 

[snapcrackler]

when I asked they looked at me like I had 4 heads

LOL people do that to me all the time

Seriously though....

FREE THE BETTAS!! Run into the store naked and race them all out of there with gas powered shoppingcarts and fly them back to the river!

 

[pkremer]

I recall reading a posting in one of these forums titled, "No Fish For You!" saying how it would be nice if you could prevent certain people from buying fish...hehe...in Wal-Mart's case, it would be nice if we could prevent certain stores from SELLING fish!

I actually just got back from shopping at Wal-Mart, and I always cruise by the fish just to check them out. The main problem with Wal-Mart is that 8 of those tanks are all sharing the same filtration and water! I noticed a pink gourami tonight that was infected with ich, and so I looked at all the other tanks, and sure enough, there were ich infested fish in all 8 tanks! I found an employee and mentioned it to him, and he said, "Oh...is that what they call ich?"

I was kind of shocked he'd even heard of it! He had no clue how to treat it, and just ended up leaving a note for whoever does! If a pet store constantly had diseased dogs, cats, and birds, you'd think somebody would step in and shut them down, but apparently fish don't have the same 'rights'. hehe!

I don't think there's much you can do about it, just keep letting the employees know when you see problems and complain to the store's management like has been mentioned, but don't expect too much. Those employees sometimes have to cover 3 departments, and they don't know anything about any of them.

I think the vast majority of us would like to be able to say to Wal-Mart, "NO FISH FOR YOU!"

Paul

 

[Chevy_Cowboy]

I agree with you guys 100%, I'm a newbie to fishkeeping, and have made alot of mistakes in the past, but these stores treatment of beta's is just disgusting.

It's NOT just walmart though, the petco and petsmart I was at the other day had just as many gasping beta's in those tiny little 12oz cups as walmart. The water was a tad cleaner at the pet stores but the cups were identical to the ones walmart uses, and I saw 3 or 4 dead ones (and several more that would be dead in a matter of hours) at both stores.

At PetsMart there was a little boy looking at them, and he picked up one of the cups... one of the employees scolded him and said "THEY DONT LIKE BEING PICKED UP!" I said "they don't like being in 12 oz cups in week old water either but that doesnt seem to stop ya." She just gave me a dirty look and walked away

 

[Christmasfish]

HAhah! Oh you DIDN"T!

OMG!! These employess at the majority of these places get huffy enough when my big mouth kids are around..an adult type saying SOMEthing! How dare you!

She was prolly afraid that the kid would drop the cup adn force her to pick up the icky fish And worse!!!.....replace its water!!!!


My betta SHerbert wobbled his own self off the edge and spilled across the floor to nearly my foot in an attempt to get me to buy him (what else could it have been?)
And you would have thought refilling a 6 oz cup was the biggest chore ever to that huffy little twit..! With her huffy burdened attitude and his bright little eyes going ~~heeelp meee~~...... I broke precedent and spent my own money on a retail animal. And am happy I did.

As for the covering dept thing kremer..that can only work to a point IMO. faking the funk on bedding...and faking with LIVING things are too dif scenarios. If they look like they are suffereing or there are some obviously dead, you need to crack open a book off the shelf or manual for the dept and see if you can do something.
Unfortuneately fish are not covered in eh definition of animal as far as ASPCA or laws. If lucky they can qualify as livestock in a state and at least have the FDA and health dept. protect them

 

[Deitta]

I have an Animal Food Warehouse near my home and so far it is the most superior fish store in my town! I took a long time looking at thier bettas before selecting one. They are located right by the sink with lighting and they told me they change the water 50% every other day. I looked for a long time, all were active, none looked sick, none had very much fish poo in it (not more than 1 days worth)! And when I started to pick one out, the fish guy actually steered me more to another one saying that the 2nd one was more active and just seem to have more personality. The units are small <4 cups, but all the fish looked healthy.