Stupid Pet Store!!

[Elisabeth83]

Everytime I go to this big pet store here they have Bettas in with fin nippers. The poor bettas fins are usually ripped up. Well today they had just got in a bunch of new fish including a bunch of bettas. In one of the tanks they had a bunch of swordtails ...the guy there released the betta into the tank. I go over there and am horrified to see these swordtails acting like piranas (sp?) and just ripping this beautiful red betta every which way. Because he had just released the betta into the tank the sliding cover was open and there was a net sitting there. So I quickly grabbed the net and scooped the betta out

I'm not sure swordtails are fin nippers but they had others in with barbs and tetras and those bettas were being chased too and fins were in shreds. UGH

I finally spot a girl who works there and tell her what I did and tell her you really shouldn't be keeping the bettas in with fin nippers. Then I explained to her how the swordtails were tearing the betta apart and she actually laughed!!!! What the???

There was also a ghost knife fish that was in a tank full of some sort of little nipping fish..not exactly sure what they were but this poor fish all these little nipping fish were attacking its white tip at the end of its tail. So yet again I call the lady over and say..ya know I dont want to have to tell you but I cant just stand here and watch this. She says nothing to me then she watches the all the fish nipping at its tail so she reaches in and tries to make hiding spots with these 2 big leaves they have. Um like that will help when its a 10 gallon tank full with 30 little nipping fish..I think not I am not even sure what she ended up doing with it.

There was also a tank with about 20 young male and female bettas. All of the males fins were in shreds. You could which ones were males..I wonder why they wouldnt separate them. OH well...I left there so upset

I would do such a good job if I worked there Instead they have these people who dont seem to care

 

[SailfinGirl]

Belive me, a lot of people who work in pet stores do care, but then you do get the idiots who don't give a damn as well.

Next time, get her name, and demand to see the manager. Complain in person to him/her, write a letter to the store manager if the manager you speak to isn't the store manager, and write a letter to their head office. Demand fish training, and keep checking up on them. Also, get your friends/family to go in and find something to complain about. In fact, just go in there and complain anyway, just describe the girl to the manager. If they are half decent managers she will get either training or the sack.

Well done for taking the fish out though.

 

[OohFeeshy]

They have the bettas in with neons at pets at home. I'm not sure if they are usually nippy, but the poor betta I saw the other day was nipped to shreds I wanted to scoop him up and take him home....

 

[SMSBrunetteGirl]

Ugh that just disgusts me.You should tell the manager

 

[SailfinGirl]

My sister works at Pets at Home, so I am sort of friendly with most of the staff. I also went to school with one of the guys who work there, so when I saw a betta in with gouramis, he had no trouble moving it straight away.

You should politely ask them to move it, and if they don't, demand to see their manager. Most of the time, the manager won't back up their staff because they want your custom.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

i thought betta will nip sword tails fins?

 

[ral]

How do the expect to sell them if they house them that way?

 

[OohFeeshy]

LOL I would complain but I doubt anyone will listen to a 13 year old with a lisp

 

[Elisabeth83]

I was very polite when I told the girl about the betta and other fish. I felt uneasy about telling her but I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. I tried to be the voice for the fish

It's actually the same pet store that has twice now had 2 male bettas in with eachother

It's the bettas that are mistreated there. All the other fish are healthy and taken care of. It seems they dont have much knowledge on bettas. They just plop them in any "empty" tank whether the fish who are already in there are nippers or not

When I was in there I would say there were 10 male bettas not including the tank of juveniles and out of those 10 at least 7 of them had torn/shredded fins. I'm not talking about little shreds either

When I was in there the time before the last time they had a betta separated living in the plant tanks who either had fin rot or was nipped so badly (or both ) that it basically had no fins left. I didn't see it the last time I was there and I doubt they sold it How could it get that bad before you noticed?

 

[OohFeeshy]

It was so sad, I went to the pet shop earlier and there was a dead betta in one of the tanks. It had sunk to the bottom and the neons were taking chunks out of it. I am not buying fish at pets at home from now on.

But I did see the most goergeus VT red betta at the other shop