# Does Petsmart have betta care regulations in their stores?



## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Just wondering, because I got to thinking how aweful one Petsmart is compared to another nearby when it comes to their betta care. The care is the bettas get from store to store varies so much, that I doubt there are any regulations at all. I've looked around online, but can't find anything about petsmart having regulations for their betta care.  If they do, the regulations need to be changed because obviously they aren't working, and if they don't, they definately need to make some.


----------



## FloridaBettas239 (Jun 29, 2010)

From talking with the manager from my petsmart, I found out that its really up to the manager of the fish department. If he really care's he will make the employees change there water. With that blue water that has be oxygenated. Then you got managers that will just let the fish sit in the cup's, when a fish dies they throw them out and each fish shippment they get some fresh bettas and put them up there..


----------



## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

... really? that's horrible. 

Well, then, I need to start gathering resources and citations and having talks with vets and petsmart managers so I can begin writing a rough draft for a letter to try and get that changed.


----------



## FloridaBettas239 (Jun 29, 2010)

Im not 100% sure thats how it works. But when i was at the other petsmart by me that dont take care of there bettas. I asked the lady,, Does anyone ever change the water? And she said between you and me i have never seen anyone do anything with the bettas!!! thats what the employee said to me ...


----------



## kuklachica (Dec 23, 2009)

Yes, it really varies from store to store. I work at Petco, and even within my own state which only has 5 stores, the care varies WIDELY. There are guidelines, but it really depends on how the aquatics manager implements the guidelines and how the general manager manages the store over all. You should contact their headquarters and complain. There is no need for poor care especially if there are guidelines. But, on the flip side, I'd make sure to compliment the good stores. This is why I applied at my local petco. They responded by my complaint to HQ regarding their betta care, turned it around, and I believe an employee even got the boot. I was so impressed with their concerns and response that I applied. And I told the GM that this is why I applied.


----------



## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Yeah, I know what you mean about how it varies. There is one store where the water is always clean, and the bettas are healthy. I rarely see sick bettas there, and when I do, it's typically been a looong time since the last betta shipment, and even then, it seems as if the employees try their best to care for the sick fish with frequent water changes and stuff  . But then there's one where I've never seen it with healthy fish and clean cups. Ever.

There definately needs to be a change, and I'm going to try my best to make it happen. Personally, I think more strict guidelines and regulations, and something actually happening to the stores that don't follow the regulations would help a lot.


----------



## FloridaBettas239 (Jun 29, 2010)

I have a petco by me, that has about 15 VT,15 CT,10 HM,7 HMPK, and 4 Giant bettas. They have female VT and CT but no other females. There always clean and okay looking. They have a special shelfing system, where theres a section for each betta cup. making it where there not just sitting beside each other they cant see each other at all.. 
When i seen how they had so many bettas, plus different type's, I asked the employee where do they get there bettas from? He said Petco has it's own breeding company located somewhere and they call in what type of bettas they are getting low on and then switch it up by sending the ones that havent sold for a month or two sending them back to the farm and putting new one's up..
It has to be the best system I have seen for bettas. Besides a divided tank...

But that goes to show you they have that breeding place that has to supply to all them stores so there just breeding this with that,,, with this and that.. Just so they can keep petco happy.


----------



## shinybetta (Jul 3, 2010)

Floridabettas thats exactly what mine does! Where exactly do you live?


----------



## FloridaBettas239 (Jun 29, 2010)

Southwest FL 
Lee county

Yeah my petco even has a saltwater section, the petsmart dont have nothing like that..... The petco also has the big 40 gallon tall with all live plants. petsmart only has them plants in a tube...


----------



## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Actually I beg to differ. I actually learned that there is a tiny itty bitty tank with plants in them in most Petsmart stores near me, they are just extremely hard to find. They even sell the marimo balls in most of the fish tanks at are about an inch and a half in width..  not that is's anything to brag about.


----------



## Mizzle (Sep 2, 2009)

JKfish said:


> Just wondering, because I got to thinking how aweful one Petsmart is compared to another nearby when it comes to their betta care. The care is the bettas get from store to store varies so much, that I doubt there are any regulations at all. I've looked around online, but can't find anything about petsmart having regulations for their betta care.  If they do, the regulations need to be changed because obviously they aren't working, and if they don't, they definately need to make some.


 bettas are too cheap of a product for people to care about normally. they are a really hearty fish, cheap, and there are tons of them. you can do the rest of the math


----------



## cyndi (Jan 19, 2010)

like everyone said, the quality of the tanks and betta cups depends upon the Petcare Manager. If they don't care that much, the bettas will suffer. There are no standard regs on how often they change water and feed them. Ours are fed and water changed once a week when they new ones come in. When i went to Pittsburg for training, i noticed the store i went to had much nicer cups and the bettas looked so much better. Our stores excuse is we are such a high volume store and they don't have time. But knowing what our tanks look like, sadly the bettas are not as high on the priority list as the tanks.


----------



## frogipoi (Jul 3, 2010)

My pet stores love bettas! The water is clean, bettas are happy and healthy!!!
Pet co is worse then Pet smart in my area but they love their bettas lots!


----------



## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

I guess they're all different. Most of the bettas I saw at Petco today were lethargic and emaciated. They had this tiny, tiny dalmation who was in okay shape and my heart went out to him. He was SO itty bitty. The black and yellow crowntail I wanted is missing most of his tail. You can't even tell he's a crown now. It made me sad. I'm thinking I need to switch to Petsmart. I already reported them twice now. They're fine for a bit and then it all goes to crazy again.


----------



## frogipoi (Jul 3, 2010)

^ no cuss words ^


----------



## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Froggie, I mean no offence when I say this, but Hell is a very "light" curse word (if you will). Vaygirl used it as a description. Hell is a horrible place, and her petco is a horrible place where bettas die and aren't treated well. Please, you aren't a moderator, or an admin, or anyone of authority. I understand you are concerned for your and other childrens' mental well being, but you must accept that this is a site on the internet, and thus there will be occasional "cuss" words. There is a reason most sites you can join ask the children below 13 to stay away. 

You are on the internet, which is more or less the playground for older teens and adults. There will be a few graphic images, curse words, bad content. This is something you'll have to accept if you want to interact online. You are not the admin, and constantly jumping onto people for the occasional curse word here and there will make you seem an annoyance.


----------



## frogipoi (Jul 3, 2010)

Okay. Sorry. My mom doesn't like them. SORRY!


----------



## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

Nah, it's okay. In this case I meant it descriptively. The definition of hell is: a place or state of misery, torment. That's what those fish were in, a place of misery and torment. No harm, no foul. Back to the thread!


----------



## frogipoi (Jul 3, 2010)

Okay. My pet smart is really good about the fish. Petco is like h*** (just to be safe lol)


----------



## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Not all Petcos are he**ish, I mean, there as some awesome petcos, and awesome petsmarts out there, just like there are awesome petcos and petsmarts.


Also, I need comments from people to include in my letter. Type up anything you wanna talk about, be it how often you think the bettas' water should be cleaned, or how often he/she is fed, wheter you would be more inclined to buy from a petsmart with healthy fish vs dying fish, etc. However, be sure to include how many years you have been keeping betta fish


----------



## frogipoi (Jul 3, 2010)

Here is a comment
"_I have seen good and bad pet stores but I want to see more good then bad. Please let bettas have more space, like a 1/2 gallon tank. Also I wish they be fed natural betta pellets not bread. Water should be cleaned more, so the bettas can be happier. My pet smart does a good job so let's make it even better. You will save money and earn more money if you do this and research. _" I have kept bettas less then a year.


----------



## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

*note* try to keep it reasonable, it'd be rediculous to ask petsmart to keep their betta's in half gallon tanks, and if I asked that of the CEO, he'd probably think me a joke, and stop reading the letter


----------



## frogipoi (Jul 3, 2010)

"half gallon tanks are easier to clean and make the betta happier. This will make the shopper look at it and say "Wow, I want one". Researching can help customers and the fish so they buy the right stuff and you get praised. See? You will get more money, look professional, and save money. Don't you agree?"


----------



## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

No. Froggie, 1/2 gallons take waaaay too much space up, and cleaning them adds up too much water. I'm thinking this way because it is a buisness way of thinking. Smaller cups are space efficient, water effient, etc. The betta's won't thrive, but they'll be alright in there until they are bought. Though I'd like it to be that way, it wouldn't work for the Petsmart, so they wouldn't do it. So long as there are guidelines to keep all cups clean (maybe cleaning them 1-2 times a day and feeding them 1-2 times a day) and the fish are healthy, I'd be happy, because it'd be a massive improvement over dead fish rotting in cups.


----------



## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

My Petsmart changes the water in the cups twice a week.


----------



## rockstarbettas (Jul 29, 2010)

The petco near me has beautiful bettas that I have bought with great sucess. Petsmart has some too but they usually only have red/blue. The other petco/petsmart stores here have crappy bettas and its because they leave them in that water without feeding them. iwas just in today and found 12 dead bettas in jars. no one seemed to care. its really sad.


----------



## FloridaBettas239 (Jun 29, 2010)

JKfish said:


> Actually I beg to differ. I actually learned that there is a tiny itty bitty tank with plants in them in most Petsmart stores near me, they are just extremely hard to find. They even sell the marimo balls in most of the fish tanks at are about an inch and a half in width..  not that is's anything to brag about.


 
Yeah but thats the petsmart around you, I live in a big town. I can drive 10 - 15 minutes and there's 3 petsmarts, depending on which direction i want to go. Theres 2 petcos, theres 2 petsupermarkets, and then my buddies pet store where i can get all the stuff half the price of petsmarts and petcos...
Anyway the pet supermarkets are okay, the petco are awesome they have the big planted tanks and salt water tanks. Then the petsmarts are okay they dont have as much as most of the other stores, they only sell plants in them tubes, they have the moss balls inside of there fish tanks but nothing like are petcos, huge planted tank section and salt water sections... 

And then we got the awesome saltwater stores around me, they sell some fresh water and have planted tanks. But there high end stores and have any kind of salt water fish there is...


----------

