Cruel?

[lildavpot]

why do people keep betta's in tiny little pots, i went into a fish place today and i usuallky like them ut they had 2 in this tiny pot which must have held about apint of water seperated by a peice of plastic. i would have felt meaning keeping my sandwhiches in something that size. looked closer and they were either contemplating topping themseles or dead, is this not a tad cruel or is it normal? would have thought they needed at least alittle bit of room to swim.

 

[haleystropicalfish]

Yes, this is VERY cruel. I hate how fishstores treat their fish. Especailly bettas. And Especially Wal-mart. It's sickening! I really wish there was something we could do about it. By we I mean you me and the tons of other people who have enough brains to realize that bettas need 1-2 gallons of water a piece. It's so mean, they stick them in cups so small that you would need about 50 of them for that betta to have enough space. It's really sad! At least all of my bettas are really well taken care of!

 

[lildavpot]

there usually really good at this place all the other bettas were in tanks with about 3 gallons each all seperated, just they had these on display in the pots, but surely thats giving people the impression its ok to keep them in that? i dont know much about bettas but i know i wouldnt keep any other fish even a tetra in something that small. mind you i do want a betta just wouldnt have a clue where to start with them, nor have anywhere to put yet another tank too many fish that produce like rabbits.

 

[haleystropicalfish]

You getting into bettas? Cool, I wanna help! I love bettas! I find that my fish are all perfectly happy in 1 gallon bowls. Sad, but I get them from Wal-mart. For some reason, that's one of their only items that don't break in half a day. Don't get anything else there! Especially not air pumps or heaters *grumble*
I have two selves in my room spacificly for bettas, and I'm able to keep 10. So Space really isn't that big of a deal. Try putting them in the middle of the coffee table or something! They really ad a nice touch to your home! And I could go on and on, but I won't. Just tell me anything you need to know and I'll tell you. I don't mean to brag, but I've done allot of studing on bettas, both with books and experiencing it myself. I also love to help people out!!

 

[devon_charm]

Its very Cruel but sadly it is normal and for some unknown reason allowed

 

[PoptartShop]

Yeah, that's definitely cruel.
I go in some petstores; I see Bettas in tiny cups, with little, dirty water. I wish I could rescue them all.
It's sad; 'cause people think since they're clean fish, they don't require much space or clean water. Ugh, it annoys me.
But a lot of petstores I go to aren't like that thank goodness.
But there are some I come across that are terrible to their Bettas.

 

[haleystropicalfish]

Yeah, that's definitely cruel.
I go in some petstores; I see Bettas in tiny cups, with little, dirty water. I wish I could rescue them all.
It's sad; 'cause people think since they're clean fish, they don't require much space or clean water. Ugh, it annoys me.
But a lot of petstores I go to aren't like that thank goodness.
But there are some I come across that are terrible to their Bettas.

We only have 1 pet store in town. They take great care of all their other fish, but not bettas. It's so sad! But there is an employee there (I think he's the owners son) that breeds bettas and is at basicly the same stage as me; trying not to break the bubble nest when we let the females out, lol! Anyway, I would really like to see if he and I could get those pore things in bigger containers!

 

[PoptartShop]

Yeah; maybe you both could show them how wrong/cruel they're treating their Bettas!
It's such a shame how people treat them; like they're nothing.
It's like, don't you see how bad they look in those tiny cups with dirty little water?! Like, uhh helloooooo lol wake up & get real; put them in bigger containors or something!
But people just don't learn.

 

[haleystropicalfish]

I hope I can get them to! It's so sad! Plus I think they'd be able to make more sales if they would keep them healthy. As we all know here, you get them home and fed, they litteraly light up! Not that it's not fun to watch that, but if they were lit up in the store, they would probably sell more. Allot of people don't know that they're all beautiful undernieth!

 

[PoptartShop]

Exactly!
They're losing business because people are prolly not gonna want a sick Betta!
Ahh I wish I could rescue them all & give them lots of love!

 

[littlest]

, but surely thats giving people the impression its ok to keep them in that?

Think you hit the nail on the head there. So many times I have heard people say ( or rather read it forums) "but it's bigger than a cup" as if that is justification for keeping a betta in a tiny tank/jar/vase.

I've never seen bettas sold in cups. Round here they are kept in tanks with other fish. Unfortunately it is not much better as they are usually kept with unsuitable fish that chase and nip their tails so they lose a lot of finnage. Seen some very sad looking bettas with barely any tail left at all.

The argument I hate is "but they live in puddles in the wild so it's OK". They live in rice paddies, which although shallow can be very long and definately contain more than a pint of water.

 

[lildavpot]

, but surely thats giving people the impression its ok to keep them in that?

Think you hit the nail on the head there. So many times I have heard people say ( or rather read it forums) "but it's bigger than a cup" as if that is justification for keeping a betta in a tiny tank/jar/vase.

I've never seen bettas sold in cups. Round here they are kept in tanks with other fish. Unfortunately it is not much better as they are usually kept with unsuitable fish that chase and nip their tails so they lose a lot of finnage. Seen some very sad looking bettas with barely any tail left at all.

The argument I hate is "but they live in puddles in the wild so it's OK". They live in rice paddies, which although shallow can be very long and definately contain more than a pint of water.

puddles? really how do theyget into them? id never heard of that before just thought that people thought it was ok as they werent that active. though i would have thought given the room to swim they would do.

 

[J_Byrd]

I think it is cruel too... I walk in our pet stores and see huge empty tanks and I'm like "Why can't they divide those up and put the bettas in there?" Atleast they will have a filter and clean water, etc. Unlike those stupid tiny cups!!! Dirty blue/clear water. I think they just forget about them cause they are in there...And they put the males so close to each other that I think they get stressed out over each other ya know. Poor things, if I had enough money to take them all I would. My babes I got from one of our pet stores and they are LOVING their 1 gal tank with their plants, one sleeps on it and the other likes to swim through it