# "Fun" Petsmart stories...



## ninjaofthe9seas (Jul 6, 2011)

So today when i stopped in petsmart just for the heck of it, I asked what they fed their bettas since Xan wasnt eating anything but blood worms... Well the lady i was talking to proceeds to tell me that bettas should only be fed once a day or every two days. And that they like "dirty dirty" water because they live in puddles. And she said that i was probably changing his water too much and that i shouldnt run the filter -at all-... took every ounce of control i had to not tell her she was wrong wrong wrong wrong...


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## ninjaofthe9seas (Jul 6, 2011)

**

Sorry, just wanted to vent XP


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

A girl at Petsmart told me once to change the water when it gets cloudy. lol


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## bettaloverforever16 (Jan 14, 2011)

The side of the betta cup that Sparky came in, it said, "Feed pellets 1 pellet three times a week." I was a newbie then, and that's what I did, but I quickly learned.


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

Mine told me that anything over a 1g tank is too much space and will minimize a bettas life. They also told me that bloodworms should be a main diet, that's why they only sell one type of pellet and you can't even reach it on the shelf. There are 5 types of bloodworms. Urgh!


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## cajunamy (Apr 28, 2011)

ROFL some of the things they come up with. All you can do is laugh sometimes!


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## youlovegnats (Feb 23, 2011)

Like that page of supposed 'tanks'. There was this .5 (maybe less) 'tank' that gave instructions on how to care for your betta. I believe it said something along the lines of : 
"your betta should be fed 1 time per week, and change the water 100% once a month." Then it goes on to saying how bettas came from Japan and how they lived in the footprint puddles of soilders who were at war... o__O; 
First off, bettas come from Thailand and Vietnam.... Second...just..ugh. 
Needless to saym I sent them a nasty (but polite) email. No response  

I also had a hard time with a lady at petsmart who had a female betta in with like 6 goldfish... o___o I told her that the betta couldn't be with the goldfish because of the high ammonia and the cold water. She looked at me funny and said "Betta's don't need heaters! They live in puddles in the winter, silly!" 
I responded back "ok....You know where they come from right?" She said "They're from like China right? Like way up north in the cold?" -___- 
I took the girl out myself and asked for a new betta cup, filled it, put her in, and on the shelf. Poor girl was skinny and had ammonia burns all over.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

youlovegnats said:


> Like that page of supposed 'tanks'. There was this .5 (maybe less) 'tank' that gave instructions on how to care for your betta. I believe it said something along the lines of :
> "your betta should be fed 1 time per week, and change the water 100% once a month." Then it goes on to saying how bettas came from Japan and how they lived in the footprint puddles of soilders who were at war... o__O;
> First off, bettas come from Thailand and Vietnam.... Second...just..ugh.
> Needless to saym I sent them a nasty (but polite) email. No response
> ...



i'd have bought the girl. raged at the manager till i got her free, or reduced. poor baby. D:


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## ninjaofthe9seas (Jul 6, 2011)

People are so frustrating! I need to send petsmart a letter or something...They even have the little Animal Planet book on Betta Care there for people to buy... grawr.


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

urgh ive almost been thrown out of one store a few times
i once handed them a dead floating male (in his container) and pointed out three sick females in one visit. one female was almost dead the 2nd was begining to bob and the third looked like someone had taken her eye out and put a chunk of cotton wool in then added her eye back


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## Indyfishy (May 31, 2010)

The Petsmart in my town is actually really nice!!! The employees are knowledeable and the animals are always pretty healthy!! But the Petco a few towns over..... oh my gosh. So bad. I got one of my bettas from there, and he was one of about 10 that were completely healthy. And there must have been atleast 50 bettas on those shelves. Most of them were covered in white fuzz, two had popeyes, and all were lethargic. The cups were NASTY. The store itself was dirty and stinky, and when we went to check out the cashier was HIGH. Like no joke, he was completely out of it. I hate that store >=(


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## Tahki (Jun 11, 2011)

Try working there. Oh the um..how to put it nicely...amazingly dumb questions people will ask me about fish. The best so far was "do tropical fish need heaters?". 

I must have spent an hour yesterday explaining to a mother you couldn't put males together...or a male and female. She wouldn't take no for an answer and kept trying to come up with all sorts of ways that she thought would work. Don't get me started on explaining that they need heaters. If you're gonna shell out $50 on ornaments, why not a heater?

I've also caught coworkers saying that if you put a plant in a betta vase, it'll just eat and live off that. And you should see the new "aquarium test" in Pet Care that we had to take. It said we should tell people to change 25% of their water...MONTHLY. My manager is sitting there with me reading it going "Yeah....corporate is an idiot". I'm happy to say at least our animals are taken care of. D: I hate hearing that other stores are this bad. Where's their manager!?


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## youlovegnats (Feb 23, 2011)

@Tahki- O_______________________________________O !!!



that is all.


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## caitic10 (Apr 30, 2011)

I just found a new lfs!!!! It has a few other locations but the one by me if soooooooo cool! They have every type of tropical fish imaginable. They even have this tank with a huge shark in it. My dad's taking me on the weekend so I can go buy some frozen bloodworms and brineshrimp.


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## justemoi (Jul 20, 2011)

I was at my Petco the other day... there were so many sad little bettas... some laying on their side at the bottom gasping, some floating on the top on their sides, king bettas squished into little cups and some dead 

So, I asked an employee "Do you know that you have a lot of sick betta fish? What do you do with all of the sick bettas?" He responded... "Yes. I know. We wait for them to die and then write them off as damage" (by now the manager has come over) so I asked him "Can I take the sick ones since you are just going to let them die anyway?" and he stated "No, because then we will be unable to write them off".

I wanted to grab all the fishies and run for the hills!!!  So sad.


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## youlovegnats (Feb 23, 2011)

@justemoi, 
Don't you just hate how the economy these days are treating animals just as money? I've been seeing more and more mistreated bettas >_<; And it seems like whatever anyone does, it really doesn't help as much as it should. *rollseyes*

EDIT: Well, more and more mistreated fish I should say. My Walmart does a splendid job at keeping the water clean, but there isn't enough of it- however their stock tanks are TERRIBLE. 20+ neon tetras with 20+ barbs in something around a 5 gal. >_<


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## ashlyn1984 (Jul 28, 2011)

I have learned that our local Petco is more knowledgeable about bettas than our local PetSmart is. My dad had informed with that when he went and got a betta for their house from PetSmart the department manager of the fish department told him not to worry about using the filter in their tank and also told him to feed her once a day. He soon realized that she needed to eat at least 3 times a day when she was slowly knocking on death's door. Needless to say she has perked up. However he has yet to put the filter on the tank but it is cleaned out quite often. Now my story. I went to PetSmart to get a betta. Found what I was looking for and bought a betta starter kit (only temporary). Within 4 days he was still an unhappy fish. I did a tank cleaning on day 3. I went to Petco and was told they do thrive ok in the tank I had but describing my issues with him she informed me he probably didn't like the quality of the water or unhappy with his tank. Bought him a new tank that did have a filter and boy has he perked up big time and finally eating. I so wish pet store workers were trained about all their fish and what they need and how many times a day they need to eat. The local PetSmart is making changes and putting female bettas in bigger tank like the other fish. Ok so my rant is over. Hope everyone has a great day. I am going to hopefully get another betta and tank today


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## fishcurl (Jul 14, 2011)

I think it all depends on how the Petsmart is being managed and by who. I'm not discounting or defending any of these stories, but did want to share that my local Petsmart is getting top marks in my books.

Compared to other locally-owned stores, my Petsmart has been hands above the rest in customer service, cleanliness of the fish tanks, and selection of supplies. I'm not so impressed with their betta section, but they're no worse or better than other LFSes.

However, the staff there have really won me over. They're genuinely friendly - like when they say "hello" or ask if they can help you, they're positively sincere. They even (mostly) know what they're talking about (I've checked up on some of their answers at home, hehe).

For all those with less than ideal stores, complain (respectfully) to corporate. Things happen, people do listen. Or at least I like to think so  </eternal optimist>


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

justemoi said:


> I was at my Petco the other day... there were so many sad little bettas... some laying on their side at the bottom gasping, some floating on the top on their sides, king bettas squished into little cups and some dead
> 
> So, I asked an employee "Do you know that you have a lot of sick betta fish? What do you do with all of the sick bettas?" He responded... "Yes. I know. We wait for them to die and then write them off as damage" (by now the manager has come over) so I asked him "Can I take the sick ones since you are just going to let them die anyway?" and he stated "No, because then we will be unable to write them off".
> 
> I wanted to grab all the fishies and run for the hills!!!  So sad.



you could try telling them to give them to you free, and they can write them off anyways. or discounted. it's horrid, that they use them as money like that. :/


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## BeCkS (Jan 19, 2011)

When I was getting one of my female bettas for my sorority at Petsmart my mom kept bothering me to get a "pretty one" and I felt so bad for this girl because she was in a filthy tiny little cup and wasnt the "prettiest" and I knew that a lot of people just go for the nice looking ones, I finally convinced her that this female was the one I wanted. Shes now been with me for at least 8 months and she's GORGEOUS! her colouring came back as soon as I put her in proper housing and fed her.... My mom finally agrees that shes a pretty betta  (sorry the picture is huge :s )


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## Arashi Takamine (Mar 3, 2011)

My Petsmart sucked for quite awhile until the tropical fish sale. I swear every little kid and their mom was there on mothers day buying fish tanks, expensive fish tanks and looking at fish. I'm proud to say I was one of the teenagers there with mom picking out Kai's 'bed' AKA his dragon and finally...Picked my baby boy. The employee who rung us up asked if we had everything for him and praised us for already having a heater until we explained we still had the tank from when my female passed. He gave us his condolences and wished us luck with him.

Runs true to form every time I look at my boys. I've only had once instance where my mom and I left there in a sputtering rage and that was back in Winter.


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

At my LPS I went in searching for live food and some floating plants after he first started his tail devouring. The lady I talked to was so nice, she showed me how much bettas (and the other fishies) love frozen blood worms (since they had no live food of any kind) and even showed me how to feed them. I don't know who was more aggressive, the bettas, the angels, or the chichilids!
She went and found me some nice floating plants out of their brand new shipment, still in the back, and before I left she made sure I had a heater.

Since then I have found out there is a betta breeder who works there. When I get home in the fall I'm starting a sorority, and her girls will be the stars!

Oh, and I did see one rather sickly betta there once, well not sickly, but practically finless, they had him in one of the big tanks with what I believe were tetras, so he could have more room.


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## Vanah (Jul 26, 2011)

Wow... I feel really awful you guys all have such shoddy Petsmarts. Mine isn't too bad, and the staff usually gives proper instructions when I overhear them talking to customers.

The only horror story I have from Petsmart is the one I posted last night, which has nothing to do with the staff. I found a dead male VT in a cup with a live CT male, as some sicko customer decided to put them together and watch them fight to the death. When I showed it to the associates they were baffled and kept trying to figure out how someone pulled that off when there's always someone in the department.

I could tell a million horror stories from listening to customers look at fish next to me, though. I've snipped at a few people in said scenarios...


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## ninjaofthe9seas (Jul 6, 2011)

Honestly mine isnt too bad as far as the fish being taken care of. I just couldnt believe that she told me to keep the water dirty.. XP I sent them an email and got an email back saying they'd look into it  but who knows if they will or not.


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

LOL i get into my "good" store on shipment days and get to root through the fish BEFORE they are unbagged while still floating in a large tank.
i actually helpped him i passed the bags to him while he opened drained and tanked them.

but i went in the other day and spoke to Liz (absolute lovely betta breeder ) and was like "you got ich" shes liek "WHERE"
turns out she got 10 vt from her supplier the day before they looked a little off and by the time i got there the next day 8/10 had ich she was rather upset and was calling the suplier


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## ninjaofthe9seas (Jul 6, 2011)

Theres a place near where i go to college called "That Fish Place" which is pretty awesome. :3 They have all sorts of fish, freshwater to saltwater and a little stingray? touch tank. They actually know what they're talking about. The one guy helped me when i told him i had cynobacteria even though he didnt believe me at first XP but he went right to what i needed and it was wonderful. I didnt know what it was for awhile, just thought it was some sort of algae... I think thats what eventualy kept making Henny sick and eventually killed him though. :/


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## Mew (Jul 31, 2011)

One employee tried to tell me that a 10 gallon tank was too big for a betta and that mine would only live half of his life span because of it. I just started laughing and told her how stupid she sounded. :lol:


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## Vanah (Jul 26, 2011)

Mew said:


> One employee tried to tell me that a 10 gallon tank was too big for a betta and that mine would only live half of his life span because of it. I just started laughing and told her how stupid she sounded. :lol:



:roll: Man you'd think they'd WANT you to buy the biggest tank possible based on simple retail store profit logic. Which means they really actually believe that you should put them the smallest possible. *shakes head*


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## BETTA DET (Jul 29, 2011)

I know its not petsmart, but a funny Petco story. It is amazing how many people think keeping a betta is easy. I must say that. One mother was walking with her son who was looking at the bettas and said to him, those are easy fish. I held my tongue, for once. 

But anyway, I went and picked out Freedom today and of course that led to a piece of driftwood, a plant, bloodworms, water conditioner (I knew I was out of it) and twice as much as I wanted to spend.

I get home hoping to get the fish acclamated and put the plant and the driftwood into the tank, figured Id do that first because it seemed logical. Put my arm in the tank and said well that seems cold. Check the thermometer 68, uh oh. My heater burned out, back to petco. Now 4x what I wanted to spend today.:roll: Get back home, set up heater. Plug in and nothing.:frustrated: Call petco, Hey is this things light supposed to be on? Let me plug one in and check, YEP. Back to petco. Pick up a non-defective heater, home and set it up.

So freedom is waiting in his petco cup, and was looking mighty pale, but I gave him some bloodworms and he has perked up pretty quick.


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## Mew (Jul 31, 2011)

Vanah said:


> :roll: Man you'd think they'd WANT you to buy the biggest tank possible based on simple retail store profit logic. Which means they really actually believe that you should put them the smallest possible. *shakes head*


That would make sense, but the employees don't think when they say something to their customers. The bigger and better the tank, the more expensive it's going to be. You'd think that they'd want you to spend more money at their store. It's a shame that they're so ignorant about their own live animals. :roll:


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## TinaMaxis (Jul 14, 2011)

I have a Petco story. Today I went in to get two females, and the guy at the register asked if I were going to put them together. I said that I was but with three more, and that it'd be a sorority. He was laughing at me, saying that they were all going to kill each other!  The guy at the register right next to him asked how big my tank was, I said ten gallons and he said it was fine if I had hiding places and such. At least he knew something about Betta's. Geesh. That made me so mad! I know the risks in putting together a sorority, I don't need to be told by someone who hasn't read anything about it that they're all just going to kill each other.


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## ninjaofthe9seas (Jul 6, 2011)

Yeah..the stupidity of people is limitless... I wish that they would at least do SOME sort of training for their employees on Bettas and the other fish since they'll be relied on for care information... Ugh. At one point i thought these people knew what they were doing. Its kind of like a trust that wont be repaired.


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

Bah I have had to beat so many people (metaphorically) it kills me sometimes. I work at petco and sometimes I want to beat the fish guy but the problem is betta are very disposable cost wise... the good news is I have only seen one case of velvet in over a month their so its getting better.


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## BettaGirl290 (Jul 29, 2010)

all these bad stories of Petco are just bumming me out O____O i got my new betta there last night and he was sooo pretty, the only flaw that made me want to choke somebody O_O is that someone POURED a male betta into another male bettas cup! and one was lying helplessly on the bottom getting nipped to death by the other, luckily my mom found the empty one, and poured the nipped betta in, i would have bought him, but the one i bought was a rare find in a store like that o_o


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## ninjaofthe9seas (Jul 6, 2011)

Ugh. If they would have hired me at Petsmart i would check the bettas ALL the time to make sure no one did that >< thats horrible.


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## Litlover11 (Aug 1, 2011)

A week ago, I went with my niece to pick out a Betta fish for her birthday. on the Betta shelf was a display tank, a marina Betta kit, with a poor royal blue Betta with fungus covered eyes and severe fin rot. The tank was puny, had no filter or heater, and had a sharp plastic plant. Usually my petsmart takes decent care of their fish, so this horrified me. If I hadn't been with my niece, I would have talked with the manager. I did say something to one of the employees, so I hope they treated him, although that's probably unlikely.


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## BettaGirl290 (Jul 29, 2010)

Litlover11 said:


> A week ago, I went with my niece to pick out a Betta fish for her birthday. on the Betta shelf was a display tank, a marina Betta kit, with a poor royal blue Betta with fungus covered eyes and severe fin rot. The tank was puny, had no filter or heater, and had a sharp plastic plant. Usually my petsmart takes decent care of their fish, so this horrified me. If I hadn't been with my niece, I would have talked with the manager. I did say something to one of the employees, so I hope they treated him, although that's probably unlikely.


oh my gosh thats horrible! i must cover my eyes.... /).(\


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## Litlover11 (Aug 1, 2011)

It made me cry, I was so angry. I think the fish in those tiny display tanks have it worse than the Bettas in the cup because people are less likely to buy them and they are just forgotten. 

On a lighter note, this wasn't at petsmart, but when I went to my lfs, the lady tried selling me this tiny Betta tank, telling me Betta fish live in "rice puddles". What in the world are rice puddles?! I told her their ancestors came from rice _paddies_, but she didn't believe me. But then again, this _is_ the same store that told me I was stressing my Betta out by keeping him in a tank as large as a 3 gallon.


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## ninjaofthe9seas (Jul 6, 2011)

I just wanna ask these people, "How would you like to live in a 6x6ft room your whole life? Gawd. No common sense.


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## BetterBetta (Jun 13, 2011)

Hearing all these stories makes me want to work at Petsmart/Petco and open up a betta care class so that they can teach their customers the right stuff. Of course, being 13, that's not gonna happen for me ):


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## Litlover11 (Aug 1, 2011)

Today I went back to petsmart, and they still had the display tank but with a new Betta. So I assume the old one died, since he was pretty far gone when I last saw him. Anyways, I told the girl working there that plastic plants like the one in the tank can actually tear their fins. She was shocked to hear this, took the plant out, and assured me she would talk with her manager. So, yay, small victory!


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## MMAsac (Aug 5, 2011)

these stories are all terrible. I just recently got into bettas, I will pay more attention now, and I am a @$$hole, so I will get on there crap when I see nonsense at my local petstores!


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## ninjaofthe9seas (Jul 6, 2011)

XD Yeah when i was looking for a little cave thing for my new betta, my mom was with me and had to get all stupid and ask the people there even though i knew what i was doing. The lady said "any of them would be fine for a betta" and i was like, um no..some of them will rip fins.. durp. I just ignored her and kept looking on my own. :/ I'm glad i havent seen anything super bad at my petsmart though. Just bad information. Some of the bettas have bubble nests in their cups too so i guess they're being treated alright.


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## Eris Harmonia (Jul 17, 2011)

I just got my first betta from Petsmart, the one where I live actually takes fairly good care of their bettas. Unfortunately, though, one of the cups appeared to be growing red mold on the upper edge and a few of the bettas had serious fin rot. I have a sneaking suspicion that those "rotten apple" cups with fish that were struggling were the fault of the suppliers, not the store.


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## ninjaofthe9seas (Jul 6, 2011)

I dont know how people live with themselves knowing that another living thing is suffering :/


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## SassyBetta (Aug 1, 2011)

MY gosh i have one. I was at my local petsmart about a year ago getting tetras for my 50 gallon and i decided to look at the bettas and when i got over there , there was this little boy who was stacking the betta cups one on top of the others, the secon he heard me ask what he was doing he must have tiped a cup or bumped it or someting but the damn tower fell over it was ike 5 cups tall and 3 of the cups landed on the floor and i think 2 poped upen , the other fish that didnt fly out of the cup was so freaked and stressed he was breathing so fast and very upset  i found the manager and flipped on her. asking her why there was NO ONE in the fish department and then got on her about the poor quality her fish were in. i was so very upset by the ordeal i havnt been back to any petsmart since. Ill only shop at my towns petco. very very nice store, my moms discus breader guy works there part time so the fish are very very well kept. i cant wait till tomorrow were going to go look at lil bettas  so excited to see what they have


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

sadly corperate pet stores like people who are good at being cheery, seeming like they know what theyre doing even when they dont, and selling stuff. most people who are the best at animal care don't have the qualities companies look for as storefront people


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

my store had a salt overdose and wiped out 90%of stock
so they got more in and the supplier provided them with stock that developed ich within 12 hrs
they lost most of that stock by now


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

they are getting fresh stock this week hopefully they dont find the same fate


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## SassyBetta (Aug 1, 2011)

okk so i went into petco today to look at their stock of bettas, and omg there like all half dead laying on the bottom and everything, one was laying on its side bobbing up and down kinda so when the guy walks over i said ( hey you know you have a few sick bettas right) i shoed him the lethargic corwntail and then the one who was basiccally upside down . he then taps on his cup andmade him move a lil and then said" there see hes not dead , they sleep that way ...." i was like really the fish sleeps almost upside down gasping for air.... riiiggghhhtt.. >.> morron


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## Vizja13 (Jul 18, 2011)

TinaMaxis said:


> I have a Petco story. Today I went in to get two females, and the guy at the register asked if I were going to put them together. I said that I was but with three more, and that it'd be a sorority. He was laughing at me, saying that they were all going to kill each other!  The guy at the register right next to him asked how big my tank was, I said ten gallons and he said it was fine if I had hiding places and such. At least he knew something about Betta's. Geesh. That made me so mad! I know the risks in putting together a sorority, I don't need to be told by someone who hasn't read anything about it that they're all just going to kill each other.


That basically happened to me today when I bought three girls to start a sorority with...of course, I put them in the tank 20 minutes apart and there is no fighting, and I usually see all three of them within a couple inches of each other. Like right now, looking at the tank, theyra all hanging out in the same corner.


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## ninjaofthe9seas (Jul 6, 2011)

Stupidity knows no bounds. :/


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## Arashi Takamine (Mar 3, 2011)

And that's why I ask nothing when I go to a petstore besides: "Where do you keep the dog treats/fish food?" And if they have brine shrimp. Everywhere else usually asks what fish I have and I hear some interesting stories. Some people I talk to actually say: "Really? I love betta's they're so much fun to watch." Or. "Betta's are cool but I love (insert freshwater/saltwater fish here) myself. Got a tank at home."

I love it when I'm speaking to fellow fish keepers.


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

I work at a Petco I recently sold a man and his daughter 3 females to start a sorority with and had to argue with register that it is normal to put females together :/


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## Vanah (Jul 26, 2011)

Since this thread seams to have become "fun" stories from any petstore, here's another Petco facepalm.jpg:

I was at Petco today talking about my divided tank setup and this guy looked at me like I had four heads when I said it was filtered and heated. As if even though it was a 10 gallon aquarium it was totally ridiculous to have proper equipment for 'just bettas'. The guy was like "wow, you filter your betta's water? they don't need that you know!"
I proceeded to tell him he didn't "need" to ever take out his trash so why not try doing it for a week. I think he was still trying to process that when I left.


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## Salamandair (Aug 15, 2011)

I was at my Petsmart today and I went to ask one lady what size tank I should get, 1.5 or 3.5. She then proceeded to tell me that they "didn't need a lot of room and I should get the smaller one". I thanked her and got the 3.5 gallon one. 
The woman who seems to run the fish department, Leslie, said that it didn't matter, but it's always better to have more room and she seemed to know more a LOT about Bettas than the other girl. Hmph!

I'm scared to go to Walmart and look at their Bettas. I may wanna take some home with me.


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## CoverMeInClay (Jul 12, 2011)

I was at petco the other day to see if by chance (I knew it was slim) if they had any dragon girls. I was looking over the babies, the water looked at least decent, like it had been chaged at that morning or the evening before. Despite this there was one little girl that was gone. I carried her around until I could find an associate that wasn't with a customer at the time. I find one, say politely that this particular girl is no longer with the living and give her to him. He gets all huffy like I gave her to him at the worst possible time. All he was doing was bringing carts in and I waited until he situated the bunch he had just collected. But yeah, I was completely polite, and he gets all snotty huffy about it. Get over it dude, it's your job!


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

i was at an aquarium specialty store, and when i mentioned i was fishless cycling, got asked rather hardhly " what IDIOT told you to do that?" and got told to toss some zebra danios in and whatnot.


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## Vanah (Jul 26, 2011)

CoverMeInClay said:


> I was at petco the other day to see if by chance (I knew it was slim) if they had any dragon girls. I was looking over the babies, the water looked at least decent, like it had been chaged at that morning or the evening before. Despite this there was one little girl that was gone. I carried her around until I could find an associate that wasn't with a customer at the time. I find one, say politely that this particular girl is no longer with the living and give her to him. He gets all huffy like I gave her to him at the worst possible time. All he was doing was bringing carts in and I waited until he situated the bunch he had just collected. But yeah, I was completely polite, and he gets all snotty huffy about it. Get over it dude, it's your job!


I have to comment on this, because I've seen it a million times and have long since realized where that attitude comes from. 

As a general rule, I've noticed petstore employees tend to get kind of butthurt when a customer points out a dead or sick animal to them. Be it the one or two dead mollies floating around in the sales tanks when people getting fish comment on them, to the two kids pointing out that the rare $100+ lizards that "were fine this morning!" are "dead in the tank", to the hamster in the corner around pink-tinted bedding with a clear case of wet-tail. 

It's the feeling of inadequacy, the desire to ignore this failure only to have it pointed out to you by 'the public eye'. A mixture of embarrassment, shame, and sadness manifests itself into a defensive posture of irritance and even anger. Forced to accept the error, many feel judged (and often are) when faced by a customer regarding the health of an animal. Whether or not their role in the store played a part in the wellbeing of the live animals, there is a natural reaction of guilt for being affiliated with the company that is the 'culprit'. If they are involved with caring for live stock, the guilt is very real and probably results in a more curt reaction. If they are not responsible, you're likely to get a response that either downplays the situation or comes with a number of half-hearted excuses. 

So in short, it's human nature. And only the best-trained petstore associates have learned to properly deal with it.


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## CoverMeInClay (Jul 12, 2011)

Vanah,
I don't think I'd be able to work in a pet store. I think my heart would break any time I saw one of the fish, hamsters, mice, whatever that was sick, dying ot dead. I felt bad when I had some feeder crickets die due to my dumby self having them in the bag too long, even though I knew they would be eaten by my frog. *sighs*
I can understand what you are saying. I don't know if that was this guys reasoning though.


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## Vanah (Jul 26, 2011)

CoverMelnClay, I hear you on that. When I was little I wanted to be a veterinarian, and the thought has crossed my mind in the recent past. I know I couldn't emotionally handle it. Same goes for as much as I would like to volunteer at shelters, I donate instead. I'd be in tears half the time and trying to kill the scumbags who dumped their pets the other half.


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## CoverMeInClay (Jul 12, 2011)

Vanah said:


> I'd be in tears half the time and trying to kill the scumbags who dumped their pets the other half.


So many scum bags I hear about where I am that I'd like to do in. I don't understand how they can legaly be looked at and seen as being any less responsible then if they were to assault a person. Animal cruelty usually leads to the same or similar things being done to people. At people have some chance of fending attacks off, unlike these poor animals.


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## Dragonii (Aug 12, 2011)

While at Petsmart the other day I overheard a customer explaining that his tank has a white cloudiness to the water. The Petsmart employee was trying to sell him new bio media for his filter. I had to step in and explain that what he had was a bacteria bloom that was probably brought on by causing damage to his bacteria bed and that replacing the bio media would only make things worse.
I swear, some of these people know nothing about what they are selling or doing.
I used to manage the aquarium department at a Petsmart. I did everything that I could to educate my people. We would have training meetings and discus aquariums on a regular basis. If they didn't learn they got transferred to a different department or we would cut their hours till they found somewhere else to work. I didn't tolerate having uneducated people selling live animals to people just to have them fail.


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

ugh i remember doing work experiance at a pet store...
shipment of hamsters were all wet tailed, 
there was one poor mouse shriveled to near death with its hind torn appart by the other males, and i wanted to put him down ( ive worked with feeder rodents, i know how to humanely seperate the brain from the spinal cord) and got told " were a pet store, we dont kill animals"
i basically got told to give that mouse to the next snake owner wanting dinner -.-; ( i hate live feeding, but customer is allways right)

another reason to get deffensive- if you can bs your way to the person and make it think it's not the stores fault, that somehow saves credibility.

i was blatanlt told not to mention the shipment of wet tail hamster * coughpetlandonfraiserhighwayinsurreycoughkellyyouraneurotic****cough* :3


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## Litlover11 (Aug 1, 2011)

Litlover11 said:


> Today I went back to petsmart, and they still had the display tank but with a new Betta. So I assume the old one died, since he was pretty far gone when I last saw him. Anyways, I told the girl working there that plastic plants like the one in the tank can actually tear their fins. She was shocked to hear this, took the plant out, and assured me she would talk with her manager. So, yay, small victory!


Apparently not. I went back and the plant was back in the tank, so I guess the manager didn't care. The poor dragon they had in there wasn't looking too healthy. I also found out that petsmart doesn't even sell silk plants anymore, so the only plants they can recommend for betta fish are tiny plastic ones that I know will tear up their fins.


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## Bloeduwedd (Aug 13, 2011)

I was in Animal Jungle a few weeks ago buying my first betta, and my friend and i saw several dead bettas in their cups. We told an employee, and showed them, and they said "they're just sleeping" -.- The poor things were obviously dead. i held my tongue, because usually Animal Jungle has great and knowlegeable employees, and wasn't in the mood to start a fight, especially since the rest of the bettas seemed healthy enough. When I got my second one (along with some neon tetras to add to my 20g community tank) an employee gave me a funny look when I mentioned that I felt bad about keeping my new little guy in an unfiltered and unheated vase for a few days. "They're used to living in practically no water, and in a cold country! They don't need a heater or filter, or even a big vase!" Again, not wishing to pick a fight, I held my tongue, but gave her my best "you're a complete brainless moron" look. She skittered off.

On the bright side, I was in there looking for marimos today, and the guy I talked to said they didn't have any for sale. When he heard i wanted one for my newest betta, he fished one out of the display tank, and gave me a discount on it. He also helped me pick out some tetras and other fish that would do well in my community tank with Opale. He was great! And on my way out, I noticed two dead bettas in displays, and grabbed the nearest employee to tell them. I don't even think he was in the fish department (I think he was a Reptile's employee lol) but he grabbed both of the vases, thanked me for pointing them out, and said he would take care of it right away. Just goes to show that even if you have a bad experience at a pet store, there probably are at least a few good employees


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

went to the bellingham petsmart, and it was actually very nice
the bettas were in large(well compared to the cups) containers, prolly half a liter, and they were 80% full, and had a lid on them that had a hole in the center, so they had air, but had issues jumping out. the bettas themselves were hard to judge from the blue water, and hey nobody looks happy after shipping. but the lady knew her stuff well, and in chatting mentioned that she does go out of her way to research pets she does not know much on.
i got to see those glofish that are illegal to come into canada ( didnt bring any as it was early in the trip, and my tank isnt ready for them) but got me a marimo ball and some decorations on sale


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I wish, oh how I wish that you had to actually know about fish to work in the fish department of a pet store. I mean, you have to know about cars to work at an auto repair shop, right? 

The next time someone tells you a dead betta is just sleeping ask if it's normal for sleeping bettas to rot that way. That's how I can always tell a dead betta from a sleeping or sick betta. The water is always disgustingly red/orange and the betta is decaying. Hurrp, I saw one today at Petco and the memory is haunting me.


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## Bloeduwedd (Aug 13, 2011)

One of the cups at my petsmart was completely yellow, and the poor guy was still alive... I literally couldn't find a single employee on the floor, in the fish area or otherwise. So I moved the cup front and center so other people would see it. Hopefully either someone bought the poor guy or he got clean water... I'm checking back tomorrow.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You check back tomorrow and if he's still alive, I bet you come home with him.


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## Bloeduwedd (Aug 13, 2011)

If I come home with him I'll be dead. I literally had to beg to be able to bring home my new dragonscale boy today XD It would have been hands and knees begging had my mate been there, and our convo hadn't been through text XD


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Then I'll cross my fingers that they change the water or sell him before you get there so you aren't tempted.


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## Bloeduwedd (Aug 13, 2011)

If they haven't changed the water I'll be carrying him around the store til I find an employee  Then demand a manager. I hate my Petsmart so much I actually applied there so they'll have at least one employee who knows something -.-


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

as i said, stores want people who can sell stuff, not know about animals, or recite whatever BS theyre taught in 30 minutes in training.


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## Bloeduwedd (Aug 13, 2011)

Oh, I can smile and kiss my manager's bum when I need to. But when I sell things, i make sure the customer knows what they're getting, and if it's an animal, how to take care of it. I refused to sell any animals at my last pet store job, because they sold puppies and kittens from mills -.- I refused to lie.


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

well, you can lie if the store gets them from puppy mill BROKERS.... ugh it sucks


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Like there aren't enough unwanted puppies and kittens out there, then they get some mill . . . Makes me so mad I wanna tear out my hair.


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

Sakura8 said:


> Like there aren't enough unwanted puppies and kittens out there, then they get some mill . . . Makes me so mad I wanna tear out my hair.


oh but people want emotionally abused, parvo ridden, mutts marked as " designer crossbreeds" with "cute" genetic deformities! everyone wants brand new, and not " pre owned"


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

*grit* You're so right. By the way, can someone explain the difference between a labrador/poodle mix at the shelter and a Labradoodle?


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

well, a "good" labradoodle will be several generations deep, thus having consistancy in the traits of that line. this is needed for it to become an AKC breed in and of itself; please note a huge portion of dog breeds today were in fact made by mixing existing breeds for several generations together untill the right traits of each breed presented themselves in the right area, then that line was bred independantly, locking in the trait dispersal.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Ah, thank you for explaining it to me. Labradoodles are then specifically and selectively bred for their traits while a lab/poodle mix is random so you don't know what traits it may possess from either breed, is that correct? It sounds like the similar ways they went about establishing some of the more recent cat breeds (La Perm, Pixiebob).


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

yep!
like bengals... if you have a 1st generation bengal, you might get a cat's coat, and a wild cat's mean temper. only through several generations can you have the desired wild cat's coat with the domestic cat's tame nature.

i do not know if there is a collective and organised direction in which the "ideal" labradoodle is trying to get towards to become an independant breed. Maybe they are trying to make a set of characteristics for everyone worldwide to aim towards, or if the traits are kennel-specific. I do know a while ago one pregnant female was shiped to australia for 30K, so there has to be some guideline to what the final goal is. 

but for the most part, ya got back yard breeders just slapping together 2 cute toy dogs to make some chick's purse cozy.

I'm a little eletist tho...i got my dogs from a kennel that made it easier to adopt a human baby with all the drilling they did on your side. but thats how it should be, as portuguese water dogs are not a beginer pet, or something that just hangs out in the background ( and yes, ive had them since before the obamas >.> a lot of porty breediers are worried were gonna get mills cause of them)


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

It sounds like you have some experience breeding furry critters.  

I love all animals, I do, but I just wish the celebrities wouldn't make it cool to have little itty bitty dogs. People just don't realize that they're as much work as bigger dogs, even more so because they are prone to some health problems larger dogs don't have. My veterinarian has a few micro chihuahuas and she mentioned once how they're incredibly prone to hypoglycemia because of their size.

I love the portuguese water dogs, they're elegant dogs. The ball park for the baseball team San Francisco Giants is right on the water and when the park first opened, some guy would bring his portuguese water dog and the dog would swim around in the water picking up balls that were hit out of the park.

Anyway, I've managed to lead the thread off topic again. I'm so good at that. >.>


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## Vanah (Jul 26, 2011)

*shamelessly contributes to the derailing of this thread* :twisted:

Seriously though my dog Rocko is a pound puppy, and he's a beagle/foxhound cross. So basically he's a first generation harrier. He's actually a pretty good specimen for an "accidental" mix, so he probably would have been selected to continue the line in a breeding environment. A good breeder knows how to avoid defects, and those dogs that don't reach the desired standard are responsibly homed or kept as pets by the breeder.

This is one of the reasons I have uncontrollable rage towards careless breeding, over-creating of new 'breeds', and of course puppy mills: it's Russian Roulette with the gene pool, and there are always 'throw-aways' in the first few batches.

Photography by arvanahmodray on deviantART <---Rocko
That's one good-looking mutt! But I'm biased... haha!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Sigh, oh yes, I agree about the careless breeding. And the over breeding of new breeds. It makes me sad to think that while people are trying to create the next new dog or cat breed through what is basically controlled mixed breeding, there's a mixed breed animal dying in a shelter for lack of a pedigree. I admit however that I don't fully understand the genetics and the technical details. 

*vainly attempts to bring thread back on topic knowing full well I'll lead it off-topic again later*

Any new Petsmart stories?


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

what i love are the pure breed mills... sure they got papers, but man theyre so full of defects.. saw one where they did labs and a good number of them had like k9 popeye or whatever, was creepy


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## Vizja13 (Jul 18, 2011)

For those looking into the history of the Labradoodle, see here

http://www.globalanimal.org/2010/12/02/man-who-created-labradoodles-regrets-the-cross-breed/25768/


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## Jrf456 (Jun 23, 2011)

My local Petsmart - AMAZING. Great water conditions (I go at least 3 times a week so I see them) and alot of times I actually see bubble nests in the cups!

My local Petco - Ok. The water isn't perfect, but I got Douglas there. 

My local Pet Supermarket - AMAZING. The managers only buy as many as they can handle, the females live in the tetra tanks, and the males are lined up on a cart that is always clean.

My local Walmart - HORRIBLE. I go off on managers everytime I go there. 
One time I was there, there was an entire shelf of maybe 80 bettas and an overstock shelf with another 25 or so, and EVERY cup was yellow, with dead or floating on their side fish.


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## DoxieDiva (Aug 13, 2011)

This is apparently my type of thread... venting about crappy LFS and then seeing dogs making the way in!

I have two Petsmarts that are almost the same distance from me (50+ miles) and they are so-so depending in the day, etc. I went into a Petco today that is a little closer but I have had bad experiences at them so do not often go in. I had not really seen the "king" bettas in stores since I often try to avoid looking at the cups in places since it breaks my heart. I saw a king today though that literally was nose to tail in the cup and could barely turn around if he wanted it to. It made me sick... and then I saw they wanted $20 for him! I could not believe it! I asked the sales person about it and they said it was "normal" for that to happen. After much conversing with the manager she at least put him in the larger display tank they had so he had a little over a gallon to swim in... not nearly big enough for that big of a boy. 

As for dogs... well.. my husband calls me a dog snob. All 3 of my dogs are either show dogs or retired show dogs. I have had puppies in the past that I am so picky about placing that I will hold on to them before I place them if I do not feel like the home is right. 

I have a feeling I will be the same way with my bettas before long. I have two LFS bettas... and love them... Spike is a CT and Fido a VT but they are my boys! I will be getting a new tank set up soon (trying to decide on what to do) and think I will be ordering an aquabid beauty... but I want one from someone that knows a little about fish and didnt just put the first two together! I can not believe I am on the way to being a fish snob as well *sigh*


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## Vizja13 (Jul 18, 2011)

You sound like me XP A snob about my fishies and my dogs. My two are both performance competitiors and one is a show dog


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

dog snob breeders are the best. im glad our breeder is one. our first dog by her had to be hand fed from day one...and still wanted to be cradled at 60lbs lol


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## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

i've been looking for a puppie for a while now .. like 5 months .. and i've visited breeders and stores and brokers and everything it's so confusing .. i've probably visited over 50 places .. and i've only found one breeder that i felt comfortable with .. but he only had one male .. that i couldn't afford .. *sigh* ..

i still can't really tell which of those places were mills or not .. i mean they all looked like they had healthy and happy and playful puppies ..

@[email protected]

as for a petsmart story .. the day i found yuki was at a grand opening of a new petsmart near me .. and they had sent me a 5 dollar off coupon to promote the opening of their new store .. so i thought i'd go and get me some betta food .. since i was running low .. and i always have to stop and look at the bettas .. and yuki caught my eye .. half alive in his evaporated cup .. but i picked him up anyway cus he was so pretty .. and he was staring at me with puppie dog eyes .. 

so i was carring him around with me while looking at ornaments and betta food when the sales lady came up and was like .. "oh your gonna get a betta" .. and i held up the cup to show her the one i picked .. and she says to me "OH, yay i'm glad someone decided to pick him. he's so pretty, we just started getting in HM bettas." .. and i told her "yea he's gonna be my 5th" .. and we continued talking for a while about bettas .. and then she said something that i thought was kind of funny .. 

she said "wow i never met anyone that knew more about bettas then me" .. 

LOL .. i thought it was so hilarious .. since i consider myself a betta newb =P .. always learning something new about them every day =D


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

one caution: if the "breeder" offers to meet you "halfway to save on gas" to do the transaction, thats a dead giveaway theyre a mill. even if thier webpage has pictures of tidy places, remember you can steal pictures, or take a picture and let conditions slip so it looks a ton different in a year


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## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

that has never happened .. but one amazing fish store .. was selling puppies .. and he had breeders that he would buy the puppies from i think .. and then re-sell them at his store .. i think that's considered a puppie broker or something .. and i know better then that .. and i asked if it was possible to meet with the actual breeder .. and look at the parents of the puppies and stuff .. and he said "that's not possible .. because that particular breeder that i was interested in meeting had her place broken into 3 times .. and they stole all her puppies"

i duno if the story was true or not .. but @[email protected] who does that .. !! .. it makes me so mad .. like what kind of person would steal puppies .. !! that's just so wrong !!


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## betta fish crazy (Jul 9, 2010)

Once at mejier I was browsing the fish section and saw the usual, sickly, pale, faded bettas. One especially disgusting cup was labeled female betta, but closer inspection revealed it did not contain a female betta, but instead about ten little betta fry! They were adorable and I wanted so badly to take them all home but I don't know much about betta fry and I'm not equipped to take on that many bettas.
It looked like the mejier people had tried to feed them regular fish flakes-some of the flakes were as big as some of the fry!
I wonder what happened...


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## Vanah (Jul 26, 2011)

Mills can be pretty clever about disguising themselves. One of my best friends is like, shiba inu obsessed. She doesn't want any other breed of dog ever again now that she's had one. It kind of breaks my heart cause she lives down south where the pounds are just horrid, but she has a very young son and she has to consider his health and safety, etc. But she's smart, she does her homework, she checks places out. And she STILL got taken in. She was two weeks away from getting the puppy before she found out the guy she was set to get it from was a very well-disguised mill. She heard through word of mouth, as even the ASPCA has yet to get enough evidence to shut them down, although pressure is continuing to rise against the place. She managed to bail out in the nick of time, and found another breeder (farther away) for her second. 

Moral of the story: If you think you're being too careful, you're probably still not being careful enough.


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

i got a funny story here. went to an LPS and found an expensive DT for $25. the prices for betta are $6 for blue VT, $10 for CT, half moons $25 and DT for $25. the other LPS doesnt go over $10 W/O tax. the funny part is the manager that puts $25 for DT and HM thinks DTs are too nice to be something other than halfmoons. he calls DT split tail halfmoons. most of his/her employees know that he/she doesnt know that DT and HM are 2 different tail types and should not be posted at HM prices. the HM seem to be liquid gold to the manager and logically the DT should be $10 like the CT. i found this out by asking why DT were mislabled to an employee.


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## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

DT as in double tail .. or delta tail ?

since there are half moon double tails .. veiltail double tails .. and double tail pk's .. one day if i ever see a crowntail double tail i'd have to +1 to my betta count


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## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

> if the "breeder" offers to meet you "halfway to save on gas" to do the transaction, thats a dead giveaway theyre a mill. even if thier webpage has pictures of tidy places, remember you can steal pictures, or take a picture and let conditions slip so it looks a ton different in a year


I had a breeder that brought a male and female to my apartment. I wanted the female, but they left the male :shock: We were supposed to go drive out to their place, but its an hour away and there was a BAD ice storm that day. So we didn't go. However the next day, they had to go to town so they brought the puppies with them. No idea what happend to the breeder, but I know the people who own the house they were renting. Aparently their dogs totally destroyed it. However since I liver in Alaska, its is NOT unusual to have a bunch of dogs tied up outside year round with only a 4 foot chain. Most sled dogs are not "house" dogs. 

I dont have any pet store stories, other then the silly advice they try to give me. OH and petco has not had ANY bettas in a few weeks


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## Larkspur (Jun 26, 2011)

OH petsmart... I was buying my female betta Lily and the guy at the check out looked at her and said "oh um what size tank are you putting her in?" so I told him that she was going in my 20gal with my other girls to which he responded "oh no you can't do that the females are the aggressive ones! I have heard of being able to put males together but the females will always rip each other to shreds" I didn't want to be rude and totally call him out so I just said "oh I think you have that reversed, that may be true for some breeds of fish but not bettas" He told me that I was wrong and wouldn't sell her to me until I got the fish manager over to the check out and he told the guy that I could buy her... I hope he doesn't tell other people that you can put males together tho!!! that's just plain dumb. D:


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## Zappity (Oct 15, 2011)

When I got Mr. Bubbles in August, we asked how often to feed him, since when I was little, I tended to overfeed _just a little_. 2 different people said to MAYBE feed them ONCE A WEEK. I was like, "Are you kidding me?!". I did NOT follow that instruction, whatsoever!
Then, a week or so ago, we went to get some neon tetras for my other tank. The guy there was new and clearly did not know what he was doing. He got the little box thing that they normally hang on the side of the tank, got water, poured the water into a bag, and put the bag in the box and put that on the floor. Already I was like -_-. THEN he got the biggest freaking net they had, and caught pretty much ALL the tetras, when all I wanted was 4. Then he continues to squat down, lay the net on his left hand, and with his right hand, began _picking_ the tetras out, nearly squishing them and throwing them into the bag! I was like "OMG YOU IDIOT!" My Mom was gaping at him, too. This took him WAY too long, and by the time he handed my Mom the bag, all the tetras were just kinda floating real still like "O_O". We did NOT buy the poor things, and made him put them back. I cried on the way home cause I felt bad for the poor little tetras xP


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## GrellxUndertaker (Sep 5, 2011)

Normally, my petco isn't the worst place out there, but one day i went in and saw a betta that made me want to cry. The poor thing was lying on its side, with popeye, and he looked like he had been stuffed with two peas. I would have said something to someone, but the fish people were completely busy with other people....I almost bought him to try and nurse him back to health....But my mother talked me out of it, saying we had no space.


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

HatsuneMiku said:


> DT as in double tail .. or delta tail ?
> 
> since there are half moon double tails .. veiltail double tails .. and double tail pk's .. one day if i ever see a crowntail double tail i'd have to +1 to my betta count


sorry about that, forgot the DT/DeT/DBT ambiguity. i meant double tails by DT. just what difference does a HMDBT and a DT like my avatar? my other DbT has very little clearance when his caudals are spread while the blue/green dbt has a clear V between the tails.


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## erinandares (Oct 4, 2011)

My friend bought me four neon tetras for my birthday a few weeks ago. Well, they died shortly *cough*shedidn'tsteponthebagaccidentallyoranything>.>*cough* after she brought them over. And we brought them back to WalMart, and we were standing at the counter and there was this really honest girl there doing returns. She said she wasn't allowed to do sales because she always told people how it was. Lol. But anyway, she was like "Yeah, WalMart is terrible at fishkeeping, I wish they would stop. Normally, we tell people to freeze them like an ice cube before they bring them back." Which I thought was strange. But she took the bag back and she was like "Let me see if I can cheat a little and give them some air" because apparently, they weren't dead enough or something and the store wanted to resell them. :/ She stuck them in front of a fan.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Wow. These are some terrible stories. We were told that a 10 litre tank was fine for our first two goldfihs (comets), but that was about as bad as I've seen (we were given good instructions on cleaning, feeding etc and told to buy a filter). 
The bad shops around here keep their bettas in either:
- beer glasses
- those dreadful Tetra bowls with the light
- barracks inside a larger tank
The good shops keep the VT males in tanks with the other fish and crowntails and other special tail-types in display cubes ranging from 1/2 a litre to a litre. Most have a drip-filtration system and some are heated (recently a big corporate shop has actually started heating them, which makes me yay!). My best LFS keeps the females in a sorority, VT males in solo ten gallons or with compatible fish, and his fancy ones in litre compartments. They weren't filtered, but they used to be in the heated fish room (which he has sadly had to dismantle recently.) 

You guys have some chilling horror stories.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Oh, I've just remembered a bad one (sorry for the double post). When I was in the north of the city shopping for a bubble ornament for my boyfriend's tank, I was looking at the bettas (in one litre jars). A gorgeous red crowntail caught my eye, but worse, inside the jar was a tiny female guppy. Someone obviously thought it would be hilarious to drop her in and let the CT eat her, because she had a majorly deformed spine. The poor girl was missing big chunks of her tail and the CT was so clearly not happy about having to share his little jar with her. She had nowhere to go to get away from him. I told the staff and they said, "Oh, sometimes people do that for a joke," and MADE ABSOLUTELY NO MOVE to go and save her, so I demanded that they get her out for me. She was the cutest little girl you ever did see. My boyfriend gave me a young girl from his tank, too, so she could have a friend. Unfortunately I only had my 5 gallon and it was home to my badass girl Athena, but it was heated, filtered, regularly cleaned, and well-planted, so she had plenty of hiding spots when Athena did get her angry on. 
They later all got upgraded to my 16 gallon.  Sadly I lost them all to dropsy at various times over this year. 

I just couldn't believe that somebody could be so cruel.


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## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

nel3 said:


> sorry about that, forgot the DT/DeT/DBT ambiguity. i meant double tails by DT. just what difference does a HMDBT and a DT like my avatar? my other DbT has very little clearance when his caudals are spread while the blue/green dbt has a clear V between the tails.


in hm dbt's they don't make that v .. in usual double tails .. they overlap like this .. 
http://ebetta.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/double-tail-betta-fish.jpg
and this
http://www.siamornamentalfish.com/product_F/Betta/output/Double Tail Half Moon.JPG
and this
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgo7qx65a11qe2rwfo1_500.jpg

maybe that's why that guy over prices them so much @[email protected]


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## titusthebetta (Sep 2, 2011)

Last night I was at Petco buying gravel and all the bettas looked on the brink of death. It was very depressing.  Even my friends (who know nothing about fish) thought that it was sad. If my mom hadn't called me while I was there and told me I couldn't get another one, I might have run out with a cute little CT female so she would have a better life.


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## GrellxUndertaker (Sep 5, 2011)

Oh, I remembered going into a LPS, looking for a betta hammock, and I walked by the betta fish and saw all their betta's in cloudy water, sitting on deaths doorstep. I refuse to go back because, not only were the betta fish treated badly, so were some of the other fish that they sold.


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## cherrybello (Aug 8, 2011)

Don't have Petsmart in my country, but I had to hold in my temper a few times when I visited pet stores. Just this week I was wandering around the back of one of the petstores I visit the most often, I saw a bunch of kids (late teens) and they were grouped around the bettas and looking at them, talking about how they are going to house them if they bought one. A boy joked (I hope) that he would put 2 males together for the fun of watching them fight. Another one said 2 isn't enough, try 5... I had to run before I hear anymore, lose it and punch one of them... You try and be put in a pen to fight to the death, Gladiators are ancient history!

And yeah... I don't usually bother with talking much with the petshop workers, and the only time I did, I said yes to owning heater and a tank...and some food...


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

HatsuneMiku said:


> in hm dbt's they don't make that v .. in usual double tails .. they overlap like this ..
> http://ebetta.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/double-tail-betta-fish.jpg
> and this
> http://www.siamornamentalfish.com/product_F/Betta/output/Double%20Tail%20Half%20Moon.JPG
> ...


thank you Hatsune, that looks just about right though the 1st copper pic is the extent of the overlap. this $25 dt wasnt a hmdbt though it didnt make a dent in the sale price. i'll try to get a new pic of Osiris, the current old ones were in the .5g QT with bad photo ops BC the acrylic itself.


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## Larkspur (Jun 26, 2011)




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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

Larkspur said:


>


lol hard to tell if its photoshopped but its true 99% of the time.


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## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

nel3 said:


> thank you Hatsune, that looks just about right though the 1st copper pic is the extent of the overlap. this $25 dt wasnt a hmdbt though it didnt make a dent in the sale price. i'll try to get a new pic of Osiris, the current old ones were in the .5g QT with bad photo ops BC the acrylic itself.


i like distinct v though .. it actually shows that there's two tails .. in those hm dbt's it's like you have to really look to see the overlapping finnage .. and i can imagine how much more heavy those tails can be ..

as much as i hate petco .. and am always reluctant to giving them my money .. they are the only stores around me that carry NLS betta pellets .. and their gravel/sand quality has really stepped up after their new "re-packaging"


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

i dont mind the absence of a v split in the tails. in this case i got lucky that i have 2 DTs and one is HMDT. the V does look neat but theres just something about full fins that i like equally.


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## Larkspur (Jun 26, 2011)

nel3 said:


> lol hard to tell if its photoshopped but its true 99% of the time.


It's not my friend took that picture!! XD


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## revolutionrocknroll (Sep 22, 2011)

I went to Petco today. To look at the fish. I shouldn't, but I do. 

One of the cichlids had jumped out of its tank and was lying on the floor. It wasn't moving but it was still wet, so I ran to find an employee. There were only two people working there and one was busy with a customer so I went to the other man. It became clear that he was mentally retarded- he had trouble talking and didn't understand when I told him a fish had jumped out. I regretted not interrupting the other employee. I finally just said there was a fish on the floor and he should tell his boss. He did- the manager was the guy helping the customer. He just told the "special" guy to save the fish. He didn't know what to do so I told him to put the fish in a cup of water to see if it was alive first. The fish was alive, but it didn't go well... he couldn't even tell that the fish was alive, I had to tell him. He then brought the fish up front to the manager, and I never found out what happened. I was upset about how understaffed they were. It's not just because it's Halloween, they usually don't have more than 3 or 4 people working there. (And I had applied to work there this summer, and they didn't hire me!)

They take decent care of their animals, but they advertise the .5 and 1 gallon tanks where they keep the bettas and have the bigger tanks in a different area.


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## BettaGirl290 (Jul 29, 2010)

Vanah said:


> CoverMelnClay, I hear you on that. When I was little I wanted to be a veterinarian, and the thought has crossed my mind in the recent past. I know I couldn't emotionally handle it. Same goes for as much as I would like to volunteer at shelters, I donate instead. I'd be in tears half the time and trying to kill the scumbags who dumped their pets the other half.


 i wanted to be a vet too, but i decided that i want to be a marine biologist. :-D


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## SnowySurface (Apr 25, 2011)

The petco near me only does one thing that really bugs me. The stack the small cups on top of each other for the display. How do they see the logic behind covering the hole the bettas need for air? It drives me nuts since a few fish die from it. They are pretty good about spreading the cups out and displaying them throughout the fish department. But there is always that one central display that will have 2-3 layers of betta cups. Why can't they let all their bettas breath? T_T


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## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

yea .. the pet smarts around me used to do that .. till one day .. i was looking at them all stacked up 3 high .. and i started taking them down and i stacked them in pyramids shapes 2 on the bottom and 1 on top .. so they get to be seen .. and have air .. since the bottom of the cup won't cover both holes when it's only sitting on half the cup .. now whenever i go back they are stacked that way .. hehe =D


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## SnowySurface (Apr 25, 2011)

HatsuneMiku said:


> yea .. the pet smarts around me used to do that .. till one day .. i was looking at them all stacked up 3 high .. and i started taking them down and i stacked them in pyramids shapes 2 on the bottom and 1 on top .. so they get to be seen .. and have air .. since the bottom of the cup won't cover both holes when it's only sitting on half the cup .. now whenever i go back they are stacked that way .. hehe =D


I so want to try that at my Petco. But I know if I would end up coming home with more Bettas before I'm ready to set up a third tank. XD


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## Arashi Takamine (Mar 3, 2011)

Last time I went to Petsmart betta's were far in between and in dirty cups. One male I walked by was dead when I walked back to the area holding the cup containing Lelouch. I kid you not this gorgeous dragon double tail was alive when I walked in the store and dead when I got to the register. Lelouch was the only betta really trying to get noticed in a way. Bubble nests, flaring. He only layed down after an employee shook his cup. Picked up up roughly and shook him some.

I was PISSED. I only said: "He's lucky." To the lady at the register and decided on his name after that.

The nameless VT I selected became Lelouch of the Petsmart Rebellion.


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## Gamma (Oct 25, 2011)

I got a girl from petsmart that's cup had a huge crack that was leaking and food on the bottom she lasted a week. Some time I'm going to blow up in that store! Don't even get me started on Walmart...


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## Litlover11 (Aug 1, 2011)

When I adopted Freyja, I tested the water in her cup and the ammonia levels were somewhere between 4.0 and 8.0! It's ridiculous how badly they treat those poor animals. Unfortunately, fish are excluded from Indiana's animal protection laws.


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## onefiveoneone (Nov 6, 2011)

Since I live in Australia, there's no Petco or Petsmart but I just went over to my LPS to get a new heater and the man over had got his facts so wrong. He was adamant that Bettas live in tiny puddles and they prefer to live that way. I told him that mine live in a 5 gallon tank and he told me that it was way too big and that he would get lethargic and die. Oh, he also said that heaters are not necessary and tried to convince me not to buy a new one.

Honestly, these people ..


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## HatsuneMiku (Jul 29, 2011)

onefiveoneone said:


> Oh, he also said that heaters are not necessary and tried to convince me not to buy a new one.
> 
> Honestly, these people ..


that happens to me a lot too and i hate that so much .. it's just so awkward .. it's like they are pretending to be your friend and intentions is to save you money so customers are suppose to think they are a good guy not pressuring you to buy something .. but they don't know any better .. it's like you have to politely tell them no thanks for their recommendations and that u want to buy the thing anyway .. but then you think to yourself .. if you should say something .. or not ..


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