Something Pet Shops Should Do That Could Help Save More Bettas

[keithp]

You state that you do this with one hope that someone who cares will buy one? why on earth do this? you are making the stores job easier. I'm gunna be frank now and I really do not care on the response I get from you. Its people like yourself that actually encourage the sales of these bettas that you say are not being looked after, YOU! are the one who is letting the store know that they are selling the bettas. YOU! are the one who is encouraging more bettas to be kept in bad conditions. What you are doing when you go in the shop is the wrong thing to do, full stop!

I'm sorry but this has really got my goats fur fluffing. You can not save the worlds bettas keithp, the little things that you think are helping are sometimes making this betta ina cup situation carry on in the same way you originally dislike.

I cant agree with you too much, here's some things to think about.

1- First off nothing I do will discourage the selling of bettas, so lets get that straight i'm not even trying to ban selling bettas. If a store is willing to care for there bettas then selling them is fine.
2- By putting the sick ones in front, well, if the pet shop does dispose of sick bettas, by putting them in the front they wont have to suffer for long and die in the cup, the workers will see them and dispose of them ASAP or later that day possibly after hours. Second, (and dont deny people do this), some people who do know about proper betta care may see these sick fish and want to buy them and help rehabilitate them, and sometimes, even the sick bettas can be hard to find colors/varieties, and are worth trying to save from a breeders point of view to say the least. I've seen many on here do it, and knowing bettas still will be sold, it wont change the companies profit if you dont buy. If I am by the betta section and people want to buy a betta I tell them that the store does not care for the bettas the right way so they know before even buying (I try to give advice even though I dont work there) I also tell them not to make the mistake of putting them in small bowls, thats a myth they need small bowls. Like I said I TRY to enlighten people, it's up to them what they want to do.
3-Petco here IS loosing money, that's why they are getting newer varieties in to make up for lost profit on sick "simple colored" bettas.

If Petco were to sell male and female bettas in aquariums with compatable fish (and not 2 males or male/female together), then some people may be surprised and start giving bettas bigger tanks to live in when they buy one. But the species of fish bettas are compatable with, and the # of bettas sold, only 10 if that would make it to an aquarium display. It's so stupid how even simple animal care is hard to find in pet stores.

Oh yeah, and by me there is only 1 betta breeder (has there own store), if you order online you still have a risk of your fish dying and paying for S&H doubles or triples the amount of a betta purchase in store, so that I think is why people feel forced to buy from a store. IMO if you know what to look for, you can find a healthy betta anywhere.

 

[bronzecat]

Funny, cause betta breeders who care about there bettas have more to sell who are healthier, so because they care they make more money. All i'm saying is it is possible to sell healthy fish in a pet store if they wanted to.

Ah, forgot what i was going to say in the first place lol. As a breeder of bettas I can tell you that i probably dont make any profit in the end. When you add up electricity, dechlorinator, food, fuel costs to get supplies, i doubt there is a profit. But, we dont do it for profit, we do it because we want to, because we enjoy it. Thats where the difference lies between breeders like us and national chains.

To make a profit breeding bettas you have to do it on a massive scale, and when profit is the issue corners will be cut. Smaller tanks to get fit more in, less time spent on individual fish etc etc...

 

[modaz]

There is very little profit in bettas, there is some but not much at all. Ofcourse selling them in conjunction with other products does add to the profits but as a hobby as such it does come down to pure enjoyment of knowing that you have had a part in creating something that has the potential to turn into one of mother natures beauties, ok most of the bettas found today are man made so to speak but mother nature still plays a part if not 99%. I import to supply bettas to the UK to people who would like something that isnt usually found in places in the country as yes I have made a good profit but this is my business and a business that need to thrive. Now if the stores actually housed them correctly the profit margin I believe would be so much larger for them, as people will pay more for a fish that is healthy and housed correctly.

 

[bronzecat]

And the difference between your shop Daz and the big chains, is that you do it because you care Thats why your business has grown and hopefully will continue too If independant owners like yourself, kept their stock the way some national chains do, you would be out of the business, and because its a specialised industry the independants dont have the capacity to diversify very far from providing the basic requirements of fish keepers whereas the big stores cater for dogs, cats, hamsters etc etc......

Thats why i support my local independants, well except one lol. I'd rather drive 3hrs to You Daz than buy a fish from one of my locals

Hey Modaz, thought about Hamsters??

 

[modaz]

And the difference between your shop Daz and the big chains, is that you do it because you care Thats why your business has grown and hopefully will continue too If independant owners like yourself, kept their stock the way some national chains do, you would be out of the business, and because its a specialised industry the independants dont have the capacity to diversify very far from providing the basic requirements of fish keepers whereas the big stores cater for dogs, cats, hamsters etc etc......

Thats why i support my local independants, well except one lol. I'd rather drive 3hrs to You Daz than buy a fish from one of my locals

Hey Modaz, thought about Hamsters??

yeah had thought about hamsters lol.

 

[newfishy]

Hey Modaz, thought about Hamsters??

yeah had thought about hamsters lol.

oh god as a child my mom got her three daughters guinea pigs. well 3 guinea pigs turned into 70 in about a year, despite trying to NOT let them breed.

there would be a profit for you modaz, hamster plus hamster equals enough hamsters to devore a small city.

 

[griddlebone]

well... there are no betta breeders in my area to buy them from, only pet world, petco, pet supermarket and petsmart. Pet supermarket by far has the worst conditioned bettas, then petco, and pet word and petsmart are pretty dead even other then size of the cups they are in, which petsmart wins. Its not the policies that are keeping them from being cared for, its the people. policy says that all sick fish should be put in the back and medicated, but really, on a single shift there is only one person for the entire pet section, its almost impossible for it to be done on top of all the tasks there is to do. I work at a petsmart and i personally take care of every betta i see, i inspect them every day on the slow parts of te day and i even spent money out of my own pocket to buy 2 huge bottles of amolock for them between water changes that i do every 2-3 days. I have found several tiny bettas that i ended up buying frozen bloodworms andthings for. i even bought a mini heater, aquarium salt , and a 2.5 gallon tank as a sick tank for anything that comes in bad. honestly, i try to keep them healthy as i can for being in such a small area, but it is so hard to find time at all. my store is newer so we arnt that busy, but once it does get busier, i dont know how im going to be able to keep that up. =/ i try. I never sell anything less then an eclipse 3 system to someone buying bettas cause im a pretty darn good salesman, and i can get them to see my point. no one ever walks out with a fish and a bowl in hand at my store while im there, but one person cant do everything. in Petsmart, there is almost ever 2 petcare associates working, and when there is, its at a huge store that needs the people to work the area... I dont know anyone else who would spend money out of there own pocket to help instore fish. sorry for the long post, but policy says one thing, but there is really rarely anytime to do anything else, and most people wouldnt want to put in the extra mile to make it work, i think its jsut the people fault, not the store, becuase i work there, i know how its supposed to be. =/

plus i think it would be sad not to have bettas in petsmart anymore, i really love them, and there so hard to find nowadays on my area, i cant find any female crowntails at all!

 

[keithp]

Its not the policies that are keeping them from being cared for, its the people. policy says that all sick fish should be put in the back and medicated, but really, on a single shift there is only one person for the entire pet section, its almost impossible for it to be done on top of all the tasks there is to do. I work at a petsmart and i personally take care of every betta i see, i inspect them every day on the slow parts of te day and i even spent money out of my own pocket to buy 2 huge bottles of amolock for them between water changes that i do every 2-3 days. I have found several tiny bettas that i ended up buying frozen bloodworms andthings for. i even bought a mini heater, aquarium salt , and a 2.5 gallon tank as a sick tank for anything that comes in bad. honestly, i try to keep them healthy as i can for being in such a small area, but it is so hard to find time at all. my store is newer so we arnt that busy, but once it does get busier, i dont know how im going to be able to keep that up. =/ i try. I never sell anything less then an eclipse 3 system to someone buying bettas cause im a pretty darn good salesman, and i can get them to see my point. no one ever walks out with a fish and a bowl in hand at my store while im there, but one person cant do everything. in Petsmart, there is almost ever 2 petcare associates working, and when there is, its at a huge store that needs the people to work the area... I dont know anyone else who would spend money out of there own pocket to help instore fish. sorry for the long post, but policy says one thing, but there is really rarely anytime to do anything else, and most people wouldnt want to put in the extra mile to make it work, i think its jsut the people fault, not the store, becuase i work there, i know how its supposed to be. =/

plus i think it would be sad not to have bettas in petsmart anymore, i really love them, and there so hard to find nowadays on my area, i cant find any female crowntails at all!

See if I was working in a pet store I would try to do what you did, your a great worker!!! But your right, 1 person cant do it all, and unless you and a bunch of your friends get the job at once and help each other out it wont be enough to help them all. It's not only bettas, other animals are severely neglected and mistreated, there's just not enough good people out there to help the bad seem to outnumber the good in the stores. By me bettas,goldfish,mice,iguanas, and anoles are the most neglected and as with the bettas, the store never cares for them properly and most are sick or dying.

 

[Syphoniera]

It's unfortunate that EVERYONE seeing mistreated bettas couldn't make some comment, and that at least half couldn't some attempt to contact someone in charge, and make it VERY plain that neglect and cruelty are not good sales tactics - that, and people want to buy healthy fish, not spend mass quantities of money, time and effort only to possibly suffer the heartbreak of losing fish they'd hoped to save.