Why Are Vt's "mutts"

[HODDY]

Hi,Ive wondered why people say vt's are mutts and the amount of homeless vt's.If you go into a shop and they have these cupsof bettas theres crowntails and such there does this mean there homeless aswell or do we just consider vt's homeless?
People don't breed vt's but i think thi is not true.As long as you have a pplace for them to go then its fine.Whats your opinion?

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

all pet store bettas are "mutts" according to many people because you don't know what their parents were (color and condition wise). the real "mutts" are the combtails according to many, again, because they're CT x VTs. i have one (i didnt realize it at first, i had never seen one so i expected something like a VT with some "spikes" at the bottom of its tail ) and i adore his finnage. i guess it's all a matter of opinion. i think my combtail may be my favorite boy (finnage wise, i dont think i could ever pick between my boys and girls), it's so unique.

 

[GuppyDude]

A betta splendin is a betta splendin.

There are a variety of taill types, sizes, body styles, est.

Vt are not mutts, but for the longest time they have been massed produced and sold chaeply at most LFS. Today we are seing a greater influx of other tail types make their way onto the mainstream market, so the Vt breeding taboo may be a thing of the past soon.

In the end, they are all great little fish. Outside of competeitive breeding, i dont think tail types matter.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

the term "mutt" is used to indicate that the betta is of unknown parentage. that's not to say that there's anything wrong with keeping mutt bettas as pets or that mutts can't be absolutely beautiful little fish

the thing is, there are countless mutt bettas dying on the shelves every single day. not because there's anything wrong with them, but because the supply has vastly outpaced the demand for many years now.

what that means is that there's not a lot of reasons to breed mutt bettas and plenty of reasons against it. this is true of all mutts, whether they're crowntails, veiltails or otherwise.

sadly, many people don't really understand the difference between a LFS betta and one from a reputable breeder; it has nothing to do with tail-types and everything to do with genetics. just because a betta has a crowntail doesn't make it special; there's also nothing wrong with a quality VT (there is still a competitive market for those, btw).

long story short: only breed bettas that have a family tree. if you don't know it's parents and grandparents, then you've got a mutt on your hands and this world's got too many dying mutts already.

--EDIT--
actually, let me add that i'm also don't support the casual breeding of any bettas except under specific circumstances. i really think that it should be ( a ) an exceptionally beautiful pairing (not just the typical betta beauty ), ( B ) a pairing intended to further the development of a show line or ( c ) when one or both of the parents are award-winning. i recognize this is not a popular attitude and would offend many beginning betta breeders, so i typically keep quiet about it.

there are just so many bettas dying on the shelves that would be beautiful pets. i know that the vast majority of you who breed just for fun "already have homes arranged" for the babies. but i can't help but think that most of those homes wouldn't know or care about the difference between a show-quality betta and a healthy mutt. every home-bred baby that goes to an owner like that is taking the place of a mutt on a shelf somewhere.

i know that no one wants to hear that guilt-trip when they're busy being proud of their breeding attempt, so i don't say it. but if i think too hard, it makes me sad.

 

[Jaded12]

Vts are considered mutts because they are, not in a bad way, but they're genetics are soooo unknown these days they could have anything in them, and are genetic mutts. Vts are massed produced for petstores and the breeders that supply the petstores have thousands of bettas, they just take any 2 put them together and breed them.

 

[Wisperian]

Yeah adding to what everyone has said, you could basically find a VT that could've had a family tree such as:

CT x Hm x PK x CT x DT x CT x HMPK x DT x Pk x Pk x Ct

and all other possibilities but they'd still look like VTs because they've been mixed with so many different types of things.

 

[Amunet]

*points and agrees with almost everything pica_nuttalli said including the edit*

 

[blue_betta]

im my opinion, people consider them mutts partly because of what has already been said, but also partly because they are not desirable by the "proper" breeders. i say, if you can find the homes for them, breed them! a specialist aquarium store recently asked me for any surplus young that i breed as they would rather have a local source than have imports from unknown breeders.
i used to breed "mongrel" canaries, and that is seriously fround upon by show breeders, indeed condemed! its as if because some one is breeding a few cross bred birds, that is going to jepordise the entire breed over night! what nonsense! i was constantly reading in magazines the ridacule that mongrel canaries recived and that anyone breeding them would never shift them on because there is noone who will buy them. i only ever bred a handfull each year and had no difficulty moving them on, and a friend of mine breed a couple of dozen each year and he had no problems selling them on. the "serious" breeders may not want them and almost apear frightened of them diluting their precious pure bloods, but someone who wants them for their colour and song is happy to take them, especialy as these mongrels were often far more active, longer lived and more colourful than the pures.
i think the same can be said for VT bettas. there is a maket for them, otherwise the pet shops wouldnt buy them. just coz the "serious" breeder frouns upon them, dont mean they shouldnt be bred.

 

[zoekin8yg]

im my opinion, people consider them mutts partly because of what has already been said, but also partly because they are not desirable by the "proper" breeders. i say, if you can find the homes for them, breed them! a specialist aquarium store recently asked me for any surplus young that i breed as they would rather have a local source than have imports from unknown breeders.
i used to breed "mongrel" canaries, and that is seriously fround upon by show breeders, indeed condemed! its as if because some one is breeding a few cross bred birds, that is going to jepordise the entire breed over night! what nonsense! i was constantly reading in magazines the ridacule that mongrel canaries recived and that anyone breeding them would never shift them on because there is noone who will buy them. i only ever bred a handfull each year and had no difficulty moving them on, and a friend of mine breed a couple of dozen each year and he had no problems selling them on. the "serious" breeders may not want them and almost apear frightened of them diluting their precious pure bloods, but someone who wants them for their colour and song is happy to take them, especialy as these mongrels were often far more active, longer lived and more colourful than the pures.
i think the same can be said for VT bettas. there is a maket for them, otherwise the pet shops wouldnt buy them. just coz the "serious" breeder frouns upon them, dont mean they shouldnt be bred.

This is why there are hundreds of 'mutt' bettas sitting in cups all over the world not being sold and mistreated.

 

[lisie]

To add what everyone else said, I'd also like to point out the point of breeding any animal in the first place. A good breeder (of bettas, dogs, or anything else) does so to improve the species as a whole. They don't just say "oh, I think I'll breed these two fish because it will be cool," but rather they try to improve on qualities lacking in the parents (say, you have a HM male with an anal fin that's too long-- getting a female that has a good anal fin should throw fry that also have good anal fins... breeding two siblings with this trait will improve the line you're working with) or, if you already have a pair that's perfect (very very rare-- there's almost always *something* to be improved!), to further this "perfection" to other enthusiasts and so other breeders can use them in their own lines as well.

My point is, breeding random VTs or any mass-produced fish from a pet store, does not do anything of the sort. The only exception I can think of is if a pet store fish has an awesome physical quality of some sort (like some very unique marbling or something) and you want to IMPROVE THE LINE by breeding to a good quality fish to get that quality in a "better" tail type. But, qualities worth that much trouble are very far and few between, since it would take several generations to get some decent finnage.

 

[Jaded12]

I agree with what everyones said!