# Baby Bettas at Petco!



## Flare

Just when I thought petco cruelty towards bettas couldn't get any worse... Now they're marketing "Baby Bettas" for a whopping $1.99 each. These babies are too small to eat the adult pellets that petco sells, and customers aren't being told about the special needs of these little fish (Small live or frozen foods, not pellets, pellets are too big to be eaten, and if the babies try they could become bloated, stunted (from improper nutririon), damage their teeth from eating hard pellets at such a young age) Most likely these babies will end up dying before they are even old enough to be sexable. It's absolutely cruel and horrible that petco is trying to make money off of the suffering of these babies.


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## phlyergirl

Let's see if this thread turns out like the others I've seen on this topic, which is "How TERRIBLE! I just bought ten of them!" :lol:


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## Flare

Yeah it probably will considering I bought 5 yesterday! Haha I had a moment of weakness! But I also had a talk with the petco manager, took home a sick looking veiltail female (who is actually a plakat male) for free, and I sent 2 extremely long emails to corporate, lol. Haha so it evens out right?


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## Mattoboy

Keep me updated on how the babies turn out!


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## snyderguy

I have to ask, on average, how many bettas does a betta fanatic own?


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## Fishpunk

You know, Omega One makes betta flakes. And, betta will eat spiriluna flakes, kelp flakes, earthworm flakes, and any other flakes in addition to live, frozen and pellets.


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## hXcChic22

Fishpunk said:


> You know, Omega One makes betta flakes. And, betta will eat spiriluna flakes, kelp flakes, earthworm flakes, and any other flakes in addition to live, frozen and pellets.


Exactly. I don't like feeding them pellets. I don't really know why, other than that I hate having to buy a separate food just for them. Ours eat flakes and Omega pellets (not betta ones) like everyone else.


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## emc7

I've always fed my sister's betta what my other fish get. But if you ever have a bloat issue, get a sinking food. It controls one variable (air being ingested with food).


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## Betta man

a betta fanatic can own one to fifty. I would say what defines a betta fanatic is the constant want of more bettas. I have it already. If you have more the fifty, the you are obsessed. +1 with emc7.


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## TheOldSalt

You DO realize that they're selling babies in response to all the criticisms they've gotten over selling old ones, right?
Most bettas you find in a petshop are already middleaged or old, since it takes awhile for their finnage to fully fill out and look nice. This of course is a problem. Selling young ones? I say "FINALLY!"


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## Betta man

yeah, but a lot of people don't know that the younger fish need extra care. I think they should be a month older.


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## Guest

I have always wanted a baby betta. But I wanted to know if I can handle taking care of an older betta first before getting a baby betta. I have had 5 bettas since 2005. So I am thinking about getting a baby betta because the bettas I have had lived up to 3 years. The two I have now are a year old and still alive. Doubletial had swim bladder disease and halfmoon had ich. I hope that I don't have any more issues with my two male bettas. But we will see.


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## Flare

snyderguy said:


> I have to ask, on average, how many bettas does a betta fanatic own?


Well I have... 40... sooo... Haha :fish:


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## cossie

any pics?????????????


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## Betta man

40? How many bettas do you have now flare?


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## lohachata

i haven't had any bettas for a couple of years now.but i fed mine a number of foods like Betta Blasts and at least 4 different flake foods...i have several customers that use the Betta Blasts that love them...but there is no such thing as a "Staple" food...a varied rotation of quality feeds is important to all fish..
i used to keep about 80-100 bettas around all the time...but haven't had time nor room for them for some time now..


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## rolltide

I loved my betta!


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## rolltide

I saw that I wanted one!!


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## Toshogu

theoldsalt said:


> you do realize that they're selling babies in response to all the criticisms they've gotten over selling old ones, right?
> Most bettas you find in a petshop are already middleaged or old, since it takes awhile for their finnage to fully fill out and look nice. This of course is a problem. Selling young ones? I say "finally!"


+1


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## hXcChic22

I don't understand how baby bettas are "too small" to eat normal food. 

If baby platies (which in my experience are the tiniest babies I've seen that DON'T depend on their parents for food) can eat ultra-fine flake (a.k.a. crushed extensively in a baggie) then why couldn't a baby betta that's four/five times their size, at least based on ones I've seen in Petco.


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## lohachata

there are bunches of foods that young bettas can eat....Plecocaine #01 would work just fine..then #02 when they get a bit bigger...
but every food manufacturer makes a food small enough for the young bettas...


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## lohachata

i am going to go with tos and toshogu on this..." finally '....
now you got me thinking about breeding bettas again...although i am really not prepared for it ; i do have a couple of 5 gallon tanks i could use..


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