# Healthy/gorgeous bettas vs. dull/possibly sick



## Narnian (Mar 20, 2010)

How do you choose between the stunning, healthy looking bettas at the store and the ones who look in DIRE need of help? Do most of you do rescues, or purposely choose gorgeous fish?

Seriously, I'm so torn between the two options, and my heart always gravitates to animals that other people would not want (like when I adopted hamsters, I would pick ones that are missing an ear, have red eyes, or other "problems"). It breaks my heart to think the less fancy bettas may never get a home and stay stuck in their little cup forever.  I certainly don't mind if they aren't fancy, but oftentimes their color improves 100% with a better tank!

At the same time, I have no experience with fish and am afraid I won't be able to help them much, if they have fin rot or something. I'd hate for them to die and be stuck with the heartache.

So......HOW do you choose??? :-(


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Personally unless I'm actually looking to take on a rescue I pick the healthy fish. Unless you actually want to spend the time and money to rehab a fish (which could end up dieing anyway) I would advise to go with the healthiest one you find.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I usually pick healthy ones too.


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## TigerLily (Sep 17, 2009)

I usually look for the healthy ones. If I did plan on getting a sick fish I would ask for a discount rather than pay full price.
I don't really have a ton of experience in nursing fish that are terribly bad off, and so I doubt I'd feel very comfortable/confident in deliberately getting a sick or injured fish. Later, when I have more space and feel ready for the challenge, I expect I'll be bringing home plenty of unlucky ones.


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## Kaisa (Jan 9, 2009)

I also go for healthy ones. As much as I can't stand to see the sick ones suffering in those tiny cups, just rotting away, I can't justify spending $15-$30 for a sick betta.


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## mysquishy (Mar 12, 2010)

I got one sick betta because I felt bad for him. The rest of my boys were pretty healthy.


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## DarthMaul (Mar 30, 2010)

1fish2fish said:


> Unless you actually want to spend the time and money to rehab a fish (which could end up dieing anyway) I would advise to go with the healthiest one you find.


Well now wait a minute.. Are bettas not WORTH the small amount of money it takes to nurse them back to health? I have read MANY threads on here about sick bettas that sounded like they had NO hope of survival and with a little love and some cheap products they where nursed back to health  Also, you can not always tell if a petstore betta is actually healthy or not. I have been told by some of the best of the best on here that MOST of the time when you get a petstore betta, something is going to be wrong with the betta. I have had many that i bought the LOOKED and ACTED like a healthy betta ( according to every checklist and guide i have ever read) and died the next day or with in a few days =[.. I mean what if you buy a betta and within a few days it gets sick. Is he/she not worth the money to nurse back to health with the chance it might die anyways? IMO, you might as well try. My very first betta was not in good shape when i got him and he lived to be about 3 yrs old =] So IMO, if one feels they should rescue a sick betta with intentions of actually nursing it, then go for it! =]


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## Narnian (Mar 20, 2010)

Well, to clarify I wouldn't spend $15.99 for a sick betta, but most bettas I see are $3.99, so to me that's not too bad. I guess I should clarify and say not necessarily "SICK" (like swimbladder, dropsy, ich, etc.), but just the ones that look sad, drab, and thin compared to the "new arrivals" who would be spotted and taken home soon. 

I don't know. I guess I'll "know" the right one when going to pick one out, but I can't help but be drawn to the less fancy ones who would probably become beautiful with some TLC.


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## BettaxFishxCrazy (Sep 5, 2009)

Well, with buying any animal, there's always that gamble that they're already sick even if they "look" healthy. I go with an open mind and pick out the one that "speaks to me". The sicker ones will be lethargic and tend to stay at the bottom where the healthier ones will be perky and swim all around. I've taken in ones that looked very healthy and got sick and ones that looked very sick and came out great...so it's a gamble. But, if you want to "rescue" one, I suggest speaking with the manager or the person in the department so you can get him/her for a discount or free. Don't pay full price.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Thats what I said. If you want to nurse a sick betta back to health by all means go for it. I never said it wasn't worth spending money to rehab a sick fish. I said unless you know what your doing its probably better to go with a healthy fish. None of the healthy bettas I ever bought had anything wrong with them. When checking betta I look for activity, color, consistency of the poop, cleanliness of the cup, I feed them to see if they are eating well, and I see if they'll flare. 

I also don't believe in paying full price for a sick betta. (Although I'm guilty of this with my rescues.) If you see a sick fish in a petstore you have to report, report, report. Report it to the employee, the manager of the store, and then to corporate if conditions don't change. Make the manager give you a discount on sick/injured fish if you want to take them home. Really sick fish will probably get flushed any way so it shouldn't be so hard to get them for cheap/free.


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## DarthMaul (Mar 30, 2010)

ya, sadly that is true, the less "fancy" looking ones are normally left to die in their cups =[ My girl i bought last night was for the most part plain looking, but today she is starting to change colors and is beautiful!



1fish2fish said:


> . None of the healthy bettas I ever bought had anything wrong with them. When checking betta I look for activity, color, consistency of the poop, cleanliness of the cup, I feed them to see if they are eating well, and I see if they'll flare.


Then you ARE the luckiest betta owner on the planet haha.. i have NEVER purchased a "healthy" and "active" looking betta that did not have at least one thing going wrong, most of the time minor, but a lot of cases died on me =[

How on earth do you study their poop consistency in a pet store cup? lol Also, i have purchased bettas that had bright and beautiful colors and where super active and croaked the next day =[


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Most store cups are bound to have poop in them unless the store is really good about their feeding/water change schedules. So if I see stringy or white poo in the cup.. thats not a healthy fish.

You also need to check the other bettas in the store. If one looks really healthy but all the others are really sick then chances are the healthy one is sick too. If you bought a fish from a petstore and had it die soon after then I wouldn't go back to that store.


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## DarthMaul (Mar 30, 2010)

oh believe i stopped going to the local mom and pops petstore after losing so many in such a short time


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## xswornxoffxjello (Mar 18, 2010)

I usually go with healthy fish. The last time I was at Petco though, I saw this sad-looking betta in a tiny, filthy bowl with glass rocks and a plastic plant. I felt so bad for him that I offered to buy him, but apparently he was the personal pet of one employee or another. All I can say is, he should take better care of him! Worse, they said that that betta was there as an "example" for how to "properly care for" bettas. *shudders*


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

Last time I came home with two boys. 

One was a gorgeous healthy halfmoon and one looked like a little female with "spikes" for fins. His fins were in such bad shape they didn't even know which type of betta he was. When I picked up his cup he started dancing all over the place and I just fell in love with his little face. I knew I couldn't leave him there.

That was almost 3 months ago. Today he is a *beautiful* delta. He's so much fun and has tons of personality. I have got to post some before and after pics. (I'm bad at taking pictures of these guys).


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## Narnian (Mar 20, 2010)

I want to see Romad!!!! Post post post! 

Yeah, I think what I mean is choosing ones that look sad, thin, and in need of TLC. Not necessarily sick.......though, they would surely GET sick if they didn't get a home soon!


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## doggyhog (Apr 30, 2009)

I am guilty of buying sick fish!!! 

I've bought 4 fish from my local walmart, and two were pretty darn sick. My mom doesn't really like it if I buy a sick fish, because she thinks it's a waste of money. She didn't think that Wolfie would make it. Not one bit. Buutttt... he's one of my healthiest fish now! While we were at the store she said "You can't save them all!!" And I replied "BUT, I can save this one!".
That is how I see it. People are still going to be buying fish from stores whether I do or not. Life is a precious thing. And I like saving it.  

But, it has taken me a LONG time to get them all to this point. Two of my walmart rescues are still healing. One of them I've had over a year. Poor guy has the weakest immune system a fish has ever had! My Mom is always teasing me how all my fish have problems. LOL I have two that have very little fins, one of which is partially blind, and three tail biters (GAH!). I have quite the crew! 

I do not recommend it to a beginner, but if your up for a challenge, go for it!


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