# Some Petco employees actually do care for the Betta fish



## BettaPirate (Nov 20, 2012)

I always read mixed reviews on here about buying petco products and betta fish. I have walked into one of the Petco stores where there are at least two dead Betta fish in the little cups and they place male betta fish next to eachother so that they continue to flare at eachother and get stressed out.

I have to say that I think a lot of that depends on the quality of the people working at the store. I walked into three different Petco stores in the past month and found that not only were the Betta fish spread out more so the males did not flare at eachother all day but they also did hourly checks on the fish, water safety checks daily and their water was warm enough to stimulate the fish to move around. Not ideal conditions for sure but much better than I have seen at other pet stores. I also liked that when I was asking questions about Betta care they suggested at least a 2 gallon tank with a heater and a good hiding spot!

I am not trying to write a rave review for petco because I do know that a lot can treat their Betta fish just as bad as wal-mart, well maybe not THAT bad, but close. I do want to say that there are caring individuals working at local Petco stores around me who love Bettas


----------



## Okami (Oct 10, 2011)

my local pet-co is one of them. The staff being knowedgeable is key in making sure people know what they are doing when getting a Betta.


----------



## hannah16 (Mar 3, 2011)

BettaPirate said:


> I always read mixed reviews on here about buying petco products and betta fish. I have walked into one of the Petco stores where there are at least two dead Betta fish in the little cups and they place male betta fish next to eachother so that they continue to flare at eachother and get stressed out.
> 
> I have to say that I think a lot of that depends on the quality of the people working at the store. I walked into three different Petco stores in the past month and found that not only were the Betta fish spread out more so the males did not flare at eachother all day but they also did hourly checks on the fish, water safety checks daily and their water was warm enough to stimulate the fish to move around. Not ideal conditions for sure but much better than I have seen at other pet stores. I also liked that when I was asking questions about Betta care they suggested at least a 2 gallon tank with a heater and a good hiding spot!
> 
> I am not trying to write a rave review for petco because I do know that a lot can treat their Betta fish just as bad as wal-mart, well maybe not THAT bad, but close. I do want to say that there are caring individuals working at local Petco stores around me who love Bettas



http://www.change.org/petitions/walmart-stop-the-sale-and-abuse-of-betta-fish 

Help stop Walmart =]


----------



## BettaPirate (Nov 20, 2012)

I have signed that before. I can't even go near their Betta section  that is when/if I shop their at all


----------



## hannah16 (Mar 3, 2011)

BettaPirate said:


> I have signed that before. I can't even go near their Betta section  that is when/if I shop their at all


I always go into the betta section so if I see dirty water I use there "betta" water and swap it out. I leave the empty bottle there so they know someone gives a darn. I also, move the dead bettas off the shelves and put them in the sink so no one else turns away from buy the live ones.


----------



## BettaPirate (Nov 20, 2012)

That is nice of you! I don't even really understand why they even sell fish.


----------



## hannah16 (Mar 3, 2011)

Thank you. I've always done it. And I unstack them too so they can breathe. Last time I popped the little holes on the top so they had better air flow.


----------



## rosy delta (Jul 17, 2012)

I know. My closest Petco is excellent in their care of bettas, and all the fish. They take care to hire knowledgeable people i think. at least for the fish. the next closest one stinks. horrible care - or rather no caring at all. so, if you have an excellent store of any kind near you, tell them and patronize them. the others dont!


----------



## BettaPirate (Nov 20, 2012)

I mentioned to the workers at the bad petco that they had two dead Betta fish out on the shelf and they just kind of blew me off. So when I went to one of the good Petco stores I told them what I had seen and they had me fill out a complaint form to send to corporate. I was glad at least someone listened to me.


----------



## rosy delta (Jul 17, 2012)

oh good idea. i will do that next time too!


----------



## Hershey (Sep 28, 2012)

BettaPirate said:


> I have signed that before. I can't even go near their Betta section  that is when/if I shop their at all


I actually have a CT from there now, and all he has is bloat. I guess it varies. I went to the Walmart today and the fish looked much better.. but where are the fish from last week? :I


----------



## cbernhard11 (Nov 27, 2012)

I really wish they would do that at my local petsmart store  they have two different setups in the store. One is were all the cups are very close next to each other (some dead, some stressed, some flaring) and the other is along the wall they have community tanks where the fish are separated by plastic bars. So its all the same water and some of the small females are always getting into each others tanks and on a couple occasions basically killing each other. Also with it being all the same water you see some that just look sick so there goes that whole row they might get a fungus or disease too  Its probably not entirely that they don't care, but the store also gets so busy they don't even notice some of these things.


----------



## BettaPirate (Nov 20, 2012)

wow, I have never seen Bettas in a community tank at a pet store, that's different. The petsmart I stopped at only had about 7 and they said they never stock more than 20 at a time to make sure that the ones they do have are purchased first. They all looked REALLY small, like they were not quite adult age, either that or their growth was stunted from the small cups.


----------



## RoMay (Nov 28, 2012)

One thing I have noticed is it doesn't depend on the name of the petstore but rather the people who work there. You can have the best or worst known company in business but it's up the the employees to take care of the animals there. 

My itty bitty betta was from Petco. While others where healthy looking she was a floater. They didn't even give me a discount on a mostly dead fish.


----------



## Butterfly (Nov 13, 2012)

it definitely has everything to do with the people that work there. If they care enough about the animals(as one working at an ANIMAL STORE should), they will go above and beyond as a good worker and CARETAKER in order to give the animals the best care that they possibly can within means. 

It's not like the petco by my place is busy AT ALL. yet the people still can't manage to change the --- water >.< 

lol funny walmart. You can do that and get away with it. Awesome.


----------



## BettaPirate (Nov 20, 2012)

RoMay said:


> One thing I have noticed is it doesn't depend on the name of the petstore but rather the people who work there. You can have the best or worst known company in business but it's up the the employees to take care of the animals there.
> 
> My itty bitty betta was from Petco. While others where healthy looking she was a floater. They didn't even give me a discount on a mostly dead fish.


Wow, you can get a discount on a cracked tank but not on a mostly dead fish, something is wrong there.

If I ever have the money or space to take care for a rescue betta I will take a before and after picture and take them back to the store to show them!


----------



## RoMay (Nov 28, 2012)

BettaPirate said:


> Wow, you can get a discount on a cracked tank but not on a mostly dead fish, something is wrong there.
> 
> If I ever have the money or space to take care for a rescue betta I will take a before and after picture and take them back to the store to show them!


I did find a picture of Kaoru (betta) when she was first beginning to swim and she wasn't using her tail and it was just hanging limp behind her. It is absolutely amazing the transformation she's been making. Yeah, she did live, but I have no idea how. Though I wish I got a picture of her when she was a floater so I could have recorded the road she's taken so far.

Petco is where I got her, but the employees at petsmart are the ones rooting for her. Petsmart has the best supplies for smaller tanks less then 2 gal.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i59/Apple__Ro/DSC02557.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i59/Apple__Ro/DSC02559.jpg
Earliest pictures I have. It amazes me how darker she's become. BTW the top pic she isn't turning, that's how her spine used to be.


----------



## BettaPirate (Nov 20, 2012)

poor baby! but i'm glad she is on the road to recovery! I am taking a trip to walmart tomorrow for some Christmas crafts for my son and I know I won't be able to just walk past the betta section without shedding a tear for the poor fishies


----------



## Saphira101 (Nov 14, 2012)

my petsmart is AWESOME with the bettas, I always get mine from them because the water is clean, the bettas are healthy, and the employees are knowledgeable. my local petco on the other hand is terrible with bettas (not to mention all of the other fish; they don't even isolate sick ones.) last time I was there getting a new siphon I saw this male lying on the bottom of his cup that was breathing heavily but couldn't get up for air.  just about broke my heart. when I'm old enough to get a job, I'll work there and do water changes, (not only for bettas but for all the fish) feed them adequately, and give some decent advice to customers.


----------



## emeraldmaster (Sep 6, 2012)

I personally screamed at the fish person in Walmart for half an hour on how to care for fish. Then I made sure that my complaints were heard by the Manager. I was offered one of the bettas for free, the one that started the nagging. A cambodian crowntail girl in 1cm of water. Couldn't take her, but left a mighty big impression. Now the fish tanks, ALL of them, are cared for. I asked around until I met the new fish person. Lucky for me, her has studdied fish for 30 years, and is a HUGE fanatic. The other employees are still scared of me. All of this took place at Walmart!


----------



## BettaPirate (Nov 20, 2012)

Today I went to Wal-Mart and they only had female betta but they all looked healthy and had clean water, but I did see a half empty bottle of their "betta water" so I wonder if a concerned citizen helped out the fish. Then I went to Petsmart and they had a LOT of bettas today and all looked alright except the one dead one  it was hidden behind a price sigh and I think that's why the fish workers missed him. The two ladies working the fish department were very upset and went and did a off schedule check on all the other betta. Then I went to a different petco than I had written about previously and it was HORRIBLE! no one was even in the fish section working and there was at least one dead fish in each tank and I counted at LEAST 4 dead betta and at least 8 with finrot! poor babies! I would have taken them all if I could


----------



## Saphira101 (Nov 14, 2012)




----------



## emeraldmaster (Sep 6, 2012)

They need a good yelling, you may change their ways. but it will be hard.


----------

