# How old are the bettas in the pet stores?



## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

Somewhere I heard that they may be around 3 months. Then I also heard that they were full grown. At what age is a betta actually full grown, and does anyone know how old they are when they are shipped to the pet stores?


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

labloverl said:


> Somewhere I heard that they may be around 3 months. Then I also heard that they were full grown. At what age is a betta actually full grown, and does anyone know how old they are when they are shipped to the pet stores?


I heard about a year old


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## SpookyTooth (Dec 23, 2011)

In one store here in the UK I was told that their bettas average about a year of age when they are imported, I know in some places they'll be much younger but in others they could be much older (especially if they don't get sold in good time).


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

I think petco sells them as young as they can. Honestly most of the fish there are tiny. I think Aquarius was about 4 or 5 months old when I got him, maybe he's pushing 6 months now. He's still pretty tiny.


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## MoonShadow (Feb 29, 2012)

I think it depends on the store. I've seen bettas that looked as young as 12 weeks (not petco baby bettas) and others who were probably well over a year.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

A full grown betta is 11 weeks + old.


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## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

teeneythebetta said:


> A full grown betta is 11 weeks + old.


Really!? Well, there goes the hope that my 2 smallest will get any bigger.


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## LittleFish2012 (Oct 24, 2011)

Well, the youngest fish I've seen was 5 weeks. And it was starving and TINY (I bought him/her, he's okay!)
But I think where I am, they average 4 months old. Some of them don't have their color completely filled out or are as vibrant yet, but appear fully grown.


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## labloverl (Feb 12, 2012)

Hmmm, this is interesting.

The avatar pic was taken the day I got that fish. None of mine have changed in appearance.


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

I think PetSmart and PetCo and other large chain stores churn them out faster and younger because of their push to sell small tanks and cute "baby" fish. Mom and pop stores sell older ones, at least here they do. I bet Lakitu and Ludendorff (both from the same lps) were about a yr old. They idk, look older. Everytime I look at PetSmart bettas they seem younger. In size and appearance. Bowser, from PS, was smaller at purchase than most at the lps. 
I always thought about age too. It could also be smaller fish from stores like PetSmart are like.. inbred or something in the water makes them smaller. There's a lot of emphasis here on the forum about separating them and cleaning the water so it doesn't inhibit their growth patterns. Maybe the dirty tanks don't start at the petstore level.


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## Xiuhcoati (Sep 7, 2012)

Most of the bettas I've gotten at petsmart or petco have been ancient...full grown and then some. This abruptly changed last shipment with over half of them barely out of the grow out tank. I've seen tetras larger!


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

Really? Wow at my petco every time I go they are always young baby fish. The females this week were so small I was afraid they could have misgendered some of them.


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Betta are bred from 3 to 6months. By 9+ they are full length but are still putting on weight. At 1 year, they're full grown and too old to breed. Their fins continue to grow, however slowly, throughout their lives.

If a petstore fish is older than 4 months, the breeder has lost money by feeding it, housing it and keeping it too long. That's why they try to ship as soon as they can....including the pernicious "baby" Betta trend.

Yes, there is a "stunting hormone" excreted by fish trying to keep other fry small and uncompetitive.


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## Onlyonagoodday (Jan 20, 2012)

Pretty young. My betta was in a cup labeled female veiltail and he has grown into a male CT. So young enough that he could be mistaken for a she. So IMO they are not always fully grown.


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## magnum (May 7, 2012)

At my LPS they sell their betta's at 9 months old, which is a pretty good age.


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## WashingtonCowgirl (Jul 27, 2010)

Hallyx said:


> At 1 year, they're full grown and too old to breed.


Curious where you heard this, I've bred successfully bettas that I had had for at least 1 1/2-2 years


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## CandiceMM (Jul 15, 2012)

My friend that is head of aquatics at Petco says majority of the Betta's that they get are around 3-4 months old. I myself have seen some that look way younger and way older.


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

WashingtonCowgirl said:


> Curious where you heard this, I've bred successfully bettas that I had had for at least 1 1/2-2 years


I'm sure you have. But many breeders, commercial and hobby, start them a lot younger. I got this info in the breeders section of this forum.

Nice avatar. Did you do that?


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I think the reason they begin breeding at 3mo is to keep the breeding process at a compressed time frame. it may take many generations to achieve their perfect fish... if it takes 12 generations... at 3 mnths it will only take 3 years of breeding as opposed to 12 years at 1 year old...


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