cross!

I went into my local pet shop on Monday for guinea pig stuff looked at the fish, they had one blue betta. I said to the chap this fish looks tatty, he says yes cant understand why. He was in with guppies, I said I think they are bullying him.The chap said he had been in there about 3 weeks and would move him to another tank. Went in today and the poor fish was behind the filter torn and tatty. The girl said they had no where else to put him. I said I would take him home. I thought he would be dead on arrival. He is currently in clean warm water. I have put some stress coat in, but he is on his side and doesnt look as if he will make it. At least he isnt being eaten alive by the guppies.

Awww, i find pet shops cruel the way they treat bettas...i went on saturday to pets @ home for some plants and i always look at the fish even though i refuse to buy them from there anymore. They had VT's that where in with mollies and neons, tatty little things there was a dead one or near enough dead on the bottom of the tank. I mentioned to the lady on that section she said she'd remove it later!!
Thought they would take more care with there fish but obvisously not that fussed...makes me cross too.

Hope he pulls through poor little guy

Did they make you pay for him? Hope he pulls through.

It is a tragedy the way most lfs around where I live treat their Bettas. I seem to see at least one dead one or on their last fins(legs). Whats upsetting is the high percentage of clerks that know less than I do! I even had one suggest I take mine to the vet! If I had a extra $100 laying around I'd buy a new tank.


Out of around 30 stores I've been to only one that has upgraded their stock from plastic cups to long necked vases with spiraled bamboo. The little guys were actually receiving a w/c as arrived! Nicest selection at a lfs I've
seen. Only charging $12-$15 apiece without the vase.
I
I have a sneaky suspicion that they may breed their own Betta stock as they have a variety of many different spawns visible on the showroom. I'll
be doing my darn best to tap them for all kinds of info!

I didnt pay for him. He is still the same it looks like his back end ( half way down his body)is a different colour. I just gave him a pellet but he just pushed it..he doesnt seem to be able to swim...he has some real weed in his little tank and he is laying on top of it, he just keeps moving his head to breathe...really sad to see at least he is in the quiet

How sad but good for you giving him a chance. Good luck hun and I hope he pulls through this but if not at least he isn't being tortured anymore

Fish shops really need to learn to care for these fish before decidng to sell them

I know what you mean. Ive given up helping my lfs they never listen to me. I want in today and then had about 6 femle VTs 3 PK males and one chewed up male VT all in the same tank killing each other. there was about 4 females floating at the top almost dead And the male VT was really bad.

kizmo ask who is in charge of the shop. say you want to contact them about the conditions the fish are in. It usually works.
I think my little boy has gone, at least he had a few hours peace and quiet. I am going to leave him in there until tomorrow morning poor little thing. Just about sums up the way bettas are looked after x

Yh ill try next time im in. All the other fish there are well looked after exept the bettas. Well to be fair they do look after the males and females well but they just dont know how to tell them apart if the males dont have long fins so they just leave them to shredd each other.

Sorry he was in such a bad state you gave him a wonderful last few hours x

Did he pass away?

I'm very sad to hear about the little guy. I was at a private owned LFS the other day and all the bettas had scraggly droopy tattered tales and just looked forlorn. A couple were even laying on their sides, just unhappy and sick. I pointed it out to the sales guy and you know what he did? He picked up the cups and shook them, then set them back down. So of course the dying bettas got up for a second and he thought that was good enough. "I don't know. We just put medicine in." He completely didn't care. I had to leave or I would have slapped him. Makes me irate. Yes, bettas can live in cups, but that doesn't mean they like it. Humans can live in prison cells, but that doesn't mean we like it. I've actually considered getting a part-time gig at the conglomerate pet store up the street so I could take care of their bettas. But then, there's a competing conglomerate pet store right across the street... Sigh.