ricktavious

Obviously, this is more of a "guesstimation" type thread since we don't have any stats to back this up. By caring homes, I'm talking about people who give them water changes, feed them properly, do not neglect them, and are willing to learn and make changes if needed. Obviously, some people assume pet stores are correct when they give bad advice, but have good intentions and do care about their betta's wellbeing.

What do you think?

Dino

Very, very few.

Kiwwi

I voted on the 21-40%

KittieKat

i think having any home would be better than slowly dying in a petstore...

Tazmiche

from caring fish owners i have met here in UK i can say that only 3 have been aware that they are best alone etc. I have to say they have followed basic guidelines from stores and said they loved their bettas but they die too soon. When i tell them my knowledge they are shocked.

Therefore i voted 21/40% as i feel lack of knowledge is a HUGE problem!!

Barbrella

Considering how many "IPonds", tiny betta vases and other torture devices are selling, I would sadly say that probably less than 20% of pet store bettas end up in homes where they get optimal care. I think I'm probably overestimating the number as well.

0morrokh

I voted 0-20%...every time I walk into a petco or petsmart it seems they have a whole new shipment of bettas, and if there's that many good betta owners around, I have yet to meet them...

LuvaBetta

I agree with Taz, knowledge is the problem. People buy them and with the best of intentions, keep them in a small goldfish bowl (those aren't good for the goldfish either!) of cold, unfiltered water and clean them occasionally. Because that's what everything and everyone in the pet store says! Can't you just hear Mom yelling "You wanted this fish, if you don't clean out this bowl I'm going to flush him down the toilet!"

The people that bother me are the ones who receive the proper information and don't make any changes.

COBettaCouple

I wish it was more, but I think a majority go home with people who don't know or don't care about giving them proper care.

MissMTS

I think that it is definetly less than 20%. I partially blame the fish stores because they sell all of those "betta bowls" and vases and things. People look to pet stores for knowledge and guidance, and the employees aren't even educated on the basic needs of betta fish. I think that is the same reason so many people bring goldfish home in bowls, when infact, they need a lot more space than tropical fish do plus filtration, etc.

Peterpiper

0-20%, sadly people see them in the jars at the LFS and think its ok.
100% for FishLore members!

Blub

chickadee

I voted 0-20 as I truly believe that in a lot of cases the fish die in the stores before being bought. I think IF they make it to a home, any home, the owners do at least try to do the right thing to the best of their KNOWLEDGE. I thoroughly agree education and knowledge is the key here. They are lied to just to promote sales in the stores. If people knew the extent of the products needed to keep them properly they would NOT buy them. They are considered, sadly, expendable fish as the Asian market sells them for a few pennies just because the value of life is nil there and they breed them by the thousands and can sell them cheap. The show quality fish are where they make their money and the others are sold for what ever they can get for them. When you purchase a fish from a vendor on aquabid and have it sent to a transhipper you are basically feeding into their game. The transhipper is the one who makes the money on the deal and the Asian supplier gets rid of the fish they don't need for more than they would through a chain store. I bought ONE fish that way and he was the unhealthiest little fellow his whole life and was miserable. I took care of him and medicated him and gave him a tank of his own and babied and coddled him but he got no better and eventually I euthanized him. (Nate a week ago)
I hate the way fish are treated but I nearly got arrested at Petco in Lincoln and the friend who took me there will never take me back. I got into a heated argument with the salegirl who I overheard tell a couple that bettas could live in dirty water because they lived in mud all the time in the Orient. I nearly had another stroke and the salesgirl had the security people escort me from the store. The couple did not buy a betta from her.
I am not advocating violent behavior and I am ashamed that I behaved so but it was very hard to think that this is the type of advice that people are given. "Don't worry if the tank is not cleaned, they are used to it." or "They live in puddles so this little box or bowl is plenty big."

Just my

Rose (my green tea to settle my nerves now)

Blub

janoue

I don't think the homes are so "uncaring" as "uneducated". Does that make sence?

chickadee

Yes this is what we are trying to say is that they are being given bad information when they buy the fish and do not have the resources all the time to find the right information. There are a lot of them who do not have access to Fishlore.com or any place like this and if they do not have someone around who has learned how to care for fish the proper way, they are not going to find out usually. They believe the people that SOLD them the fish know what they are talking about and are their friends and do not realize that all they are doing is making sales and have no reason whatsoever to keep that fish alive. In fact, it is to their interest for the fish to barely make it through the gaurantee period. Ka-ching!! another sale!!

Rose

armadillo

I'd say 0-20%, like the majority did.

They've victims of their own beauty, their relative availability, and the myths that go round about their minimum living requirements.

Allie

0-20% I know most of them at our lfs don't even make it out o the store. Just b/c it's cheaper to let the fish die than to treat it doesn't make it right.

Drea

We have a lfs that get 50-70 bettas in a week. When I asked them, why don't I see that many in your store? The clerk said, well some just don't survive..it takes us a while to get them out of their bags!!!!!!!!!!!! So I said, so you just stay STUPID, and keep ordering large shipments, you won't get any of my business. They laughed at me!

janoue

I know. I was at my lfs the other day and they had a ton of dead betta's in cups. I asked them where thier Java Moss was and they said, I can't sell it to you because it came in frozen off the truck last night. I said " was this the same truck your fish come in on?" and he "yes". I walked out. It was way too much to handle. Stupid Stupid Stupid. Thats a bad word in my house, so you will have to excuse my language.

Blub

COBettaCouple

It's a sad statement on greed & the cheapness of life in our culture.

Blub

COBettaCouple

I'm not sure that any of the animal rights groups here put any effort into better treatment of fish.

Blub

Narcicius

This is hard to say because bettas that end up in bad homes, usually die and are replaced perpetually.

valentine

i think it's a low number but i've been doing what i can for almost a week now (valentino only showed up last wednsday) to make sure he has a good home and telling anyone who will listen about they problems with keeping them in those prison tanks, so maybe the number will go up

0morrokh

Our ASPCA focuses more on large animals I think. I'm sure PETA is going after fish bowls but not a lot of people take them seriously...in fact all they tend to accomplish imo is making us reasonable people look bad because they're so over the top. There are organizations of hobbyists as well as many individuals here going after various things related to fish but I have yet to hear of anyone making a ton of progress. And any progress is on the local level, as in changes in store policy or rarely changes in policies of larger chains of retailers, but not (to my knowledge) in actual legal protection. The way this country is set up, legal progress can be a very very slow process...and nowadays our politics is all about money so there's very few 'high up' people who would even try to make changes, unless it benefits that person directly (which requires a large amount of public concern, another thing generally lacking in this country). So I guess a lot of it boils down to public unawareness. Unfortunately, although it's not too hard to tell everyone 'bettas shouldn't be kept in bowls', changing public opinion is a lot harder cause most people prefer keeping bettas in cheap tiny bowls, or just don't care about fish, or are wrapped up in 'more important' political issues.

Shaina

That was me, 5 years ago in my freshman dorm when I got Cap'n Jack Sparrow from my LFS. He was an amazing Betta, but I shudder to think of the conditions that poor guy was in: he had a 2.5 gal bowl with gravel on the bottom and one plastic plant, and I would change the water every week. I fed him only the betta food the store sold me. No heat, no filtration...was told I didn't need it and that my "tank" was plenty big. I loved that fish but completely neglected him without knowing it. Poor guy only lived 1.5 years.

Hearing all you guys talk about your betta's and their personalities makes me want to try again, as a much more educated betta owner. Perhaps if I get the bigger tanks I'm looking into, I'll convert my 10gal to a betta tank. Try to make up for my previous failure :-(

ricktavious

I'm surprised they let you buy a 2.5 gallon bowl for a betta......most pet stores like saying bettas love tiny hovels so they can sell their stupid decorative .5 gallon bowls.

If you try again, your betta will love a 10 gallon tank. I have one of mine in a 10 gallon and he absolutely loves it. I think I'm going to have to try to find a way to get 10 gallon tanks for the two other bettas