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I cannot believe this... + *rescue*

1K views 25 replies 13 participants last post by  ChoclateBetta 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey everyone!

So as you might know by now, I have been rescuing and raising baby bettas from Petco. Well one of my pity buys from about 2 weeks ago died night before last, so yesterday, I stopped by Petco on the way home to pick up a new one.

There were 2 dead baby bettast there.

I knew exacly which one I wanted as soon as I saw her. She has a gimpy pectoral fin on one side (whether it was torn, a birth defect, or just a mess up from poor treatment, I don't know, but I guess I'll find out when it does or doesn't grow back). But she has to do this awkward little wobble to get around. She is extremely skinny, colorless, lethargic (barely moves at ALL), and sickly looking.

Out of curiosity, I tested the ammonia in her cup. I was expecting 0.25 ppm, maybe 0.5 ppm at the most. This is what I got instead:


This is absolutely ridiculous! Her ammonia was in between 4ppm and 8ppm (and although it doesn't look like it in the picture, it was closer to 8ppm). What's more is that I would have guessed her tempurature to be *maybe* in the low 60's. It literally felt ice cold. And my hands were not warm because my tank at 82 degrees felt warm to the touch. And one more thing: they treat the babies at Petco like adults. As in they get fed exactly the same thing. Unhealthy PELLETS.

My mom and I brought her (and some other things for the other animals) up to check out, and the lady there started handing me a packet of paper. When I asked her what it was, she said it was a caresheet that I had to fill out for the betta. Umm, what? Okay, I could understand that if they actually treated their bettas like animals, but not the way they treat them. My mom just looked at her and said, "she takes these bettas home to raise them and save them from this store because they are dying here." Needless to say, the lady put the caresheet back without another word. :cool:

She is not doing so hot this morning. I acclimated her for about 45 minutes last night. I would have done for longer, but I had to go to swim practice. Please keep her in your prayers! I want the poor baby to have a chance and a good life. Anyway, sorry for all the babbling; here she is...(sorry for the bad pictures...my good camera was downstairs and I didn't want to go get it :oops:)



Yes, that's her laying at the bottom...and yes, I got photobombed by my impersonating balloon molly (long story) :lol:





Please, if anyone has any advice or suggestions for me, please, please help!

Thank you~
Meg

Edit: forgot to mention that I can't get her to eat a bite. And I feed my baby bettas all frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms. She won't even look at the food.
 
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#4 ·
Thank you! I might have to try those! I haven't done those in the past just because I like giving my babies all frozen food (or live when I can get my hands on some)...so it is extremely high in protein. But I might give those a try...

Thank you for your quick replies!
 
#7 ·
You can also buy the hikari kind...apparently they are so small they look like dust? Not sure though! And I'm pretty sure that Petco will be cheaper to buy it from (at least where I live, at petco they are 5 dollars, at Petsmart they re 9 but yours might be different).
Good luck with her and I hope she makes it!
 
#11 ·
I rescued a female 2 weeks ago. She wasn't listed as a baby but she was small enough to be! She lived for 2 days, not because of the ammonia in her cup but because of the ammonia in our water! Naturally it is 0.5..gr. but it is frustrating isn't it? You know what is wrong but sometimes it is too late...
 
#12 ·
I'm so sorry to hear that! And yes, it is so frustrating! I have the babies floating in my ten gallon, so when I change their water every day, I just fill a new cup up with my tank water (it's convenient because they are already completely acclimated to it), scoop them up with my hand, and rinse out the old cup for next time..My water parameters are perfect but I think the high ammonia just did too much damage...she was so tiny! :-( I hope it was the ammonia and not something I did! :-(
 
#16 · (Edited)
S.I.P. She seemed like a great betta. Someday she'll meet you under Rainbow Bridge and you will get to spend all those great moments with her that you missed before.




Earlier, on this page it was said that she didn't make it.
 
#17 ·
Thank you all so much! Speaknow13, she did die :-( I think she was too far gone when I got her

I did, however pick up another one to eat...the water in her cup is still icky, but I have already gotten some food into her (brine shrimp), which is hopefully a good sign. She watches me everywhere I go, and I managed to get her for free. And I brought up a filthy cup with an adult male and told them to clean it... :roll:

And speaknow13, I really want to see your babies but the picture won't show up!
 
#18 ·
Hey so I got one baby betta and I was fairly new at betta keeping so I doubted he'd live but he did and I just made sure he had a heater in his tank, and I got him the Hikari brine shrimp cubes and new life spectrum growth I think it's called. There are also tiny hikari pellets for like tetras and he really enjoyed those. I fed him 2 times a day.
 
#21 ·
Exactly! If they wanna make sure the bettas are cared for, change their water or give medication to the sick ones instead of telling someone else to fill out a care sheet!!! :evil:
 
#22 ·
*sigh* if I was handed a sheet for betta care to fill out I would say this. " This is my *number of fish*. I've cared for them for the last 2 years and have never had one die from sickness. While every time I come in here I see at least 3 dead bettas. I think YOU need to fill out the care sheet. I'm not filling that out so let me pay for my fish and go home". Sounds a bit harsh I know.
 
#25 ·
Yea the care sheet thing was kind of crazy. I told them that I saved their dying fish and tried to raise them and heal them. Honestly, I have no idea what she was thinking! Haha

ChocolateBetta: I might have filled out the form, or at least just look at it, but I had a swim practice that I had to get to and had no time to dilly dally...and it wasn't that hard to get her to put it back :)

Kevron: I was thinking the same exact thing! "No, YOU fill out the form!" :lol:
 
#26 ·
I think buying the big bulk orders from tropical plants 40 grams and that it like 100s of leafs would give a pet store enough leaves for all there Bettas.
 
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