King Bettas?

[LyraGuppi]

I traveled up to Petco (I know, I know, bleh) recently to see what they had, and I saw a few king bettas, one being a nice dark blue color. This got me thinking, what are "king" bettas? Selective breeding, a deformity, or just large fish? Are they healthy? ( like, do you have organ problems)

 

[Wildbetta]

King bettas are sometimes referred to as half giants since they are a good deal bigger than a normal size betta but not as big as a true giant betta.  They are not deformities but rather selectively bred from the largest of the spawns to eventually end up with larger sized fish.  At this point in time, I haven't heard of any particular health issues that are from the fish being larger.  A bit of consideration has to be taken if one gets a betta that is either a king or a true giant since they are larger.  More room and more food is the biggest ones along with increased ability to jump from whatever tank/container they are being kept in. 
 
I had a king betta once, back when they first started showing up in Petco.  Loved that betta - was probably my favorite domestic/fancy betta I ever owned.

 

[LyraGuppi]

Awesome, thanks Wild!
 
I was fantasizing about a 20 gallon with the blue male..just wasn't sure if they were like blood parrots or not

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

I saw one of these here too. They were, as usual, mislabeled as "Colombian Bettas" to bait unknowing newbies and curious customers alike. I was like, Colombia huh?! @___@

 

[LyraGuppi]

Weird...I've never seen them labeled like that before o:

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

Weird...I've never seen them labeled like that before o:

Americans are not as gullible as the people here when it comes to uncommon animals. You can paint a turtle white and sell it off for a hundred dollars here under shady labels like snow turtle or ice tortoise hahahaha -__-