Ive been asked so many times......

[ChristinaRoss]

why do you have so many bettas? how did u get into this hobby?

so ill give the short version of how this hobby started for me..........

3 years ago i divorced after 17 years, ive since moved 3 times, gotten remarried, had a baby and gotten a job at a plant nursery. The carts I had to move at the nursery were 7' high x 4' wide and 3' long, weighing about 500lbs when the plants were watered..........i went to move one and yanked it too hard to get it to move. I pulled my shoulder out and herniated 2 discs in my neck.
so in the past 2 years ive been to over 150 physical therapies, 50 doctor appointments, multiple steroid shots in my shoulder and neck and 2 surgeries.
I find out on the 25th about my neck sugery. Replacing 2 of my discs and even MORE physical therapies. oh joy.

I was an extremely active person, was on softball, dodgeball and volleyball teams. when i wasnt doing that i was on the lake every weekend swimming and boating, hiking. I used to be a speed walker, 6 miles in an hour, 5 days a week. I used to make gothic dolls (over 400) and paintings (over 100)that I sold.

Since I can no longer do any of those activites, I needed to find a hobby I could do at home that I would enjoy that wouldnt physically hurt me.

I grew up with my parents owning a petstore. ive had just about every animal.......I figured why not fish? I have a toddler to chase, I didnt need a dog to chase too, lol

so anyways, what I THOUGHT would be a couple of fish in maybe a couple of tanks has GROWN into a fullblown obsession. LOL

so thats my story..............whats yours?

[charliehasacola]

I've been abused by almost every man in my life and even most of the women. My mum has anger issues and my father refuses to pay me attention. I turned to animals after years of therapy not working, but my mum wouldn't let me have any. I finally talked her into a fish and the hobby has grown on me since.

[Jupiter]

I can't rememeber why I originally bought those two male bettas about 5 years ago...I knew nothing about bettas and didn't take care of them well.

I will tell you about why I started keeping them again, however.

I was born in Ottawa, but moved to Windsor when I was still pretty young. Ever since then, I've been aspiring to come back to Ottawa.
I moved to Ottawa to take pre-university courses. My aunt and uncle very generously allowed me to move in with them. I came here last January to start my winter semester. Though I enjoyed it very much, it did get lonely.
As I've mentioned before, I have a cat named Smokey that I couldn't bring with me, as my aunt is allergic. I didn't think I would miss Smokey so much. During the winter that I was here, my aunt was expecting. It was a bit difficult, as she had some complications with the baby (though she delivered him in summer and he's doing well now, thankfully ).

I went back to Windsor to spend my summer with my family, and I decided I'd get a pet (if my aunt and uncle let me) when I returned for fall semester. Well, my aunt and uncle are very clean people (whereas I'm not...lol), so I knew anything that couldn't be kept in a tank was out of the question. My uncle has a 25 gallon with some goldfish, so I figured that they would be okay with me getting fish as well...

I originally wanted an axolotl, but wasn't able to find any in Ottawa. My room is too small to hold a big tank, as I later wanted to get an eel. Then I remembered my old female betta Zoro, and how much i enjoyed her. She had a lot of personality for a fish. Thankfully bettas didn't need huge tanks, either. So out I went to get a betta!

[Elaina]

I have always been an animal person, I currently work as a vet tech, and I'm going to school to become a CVT. I would love to have a bunch of cats, but currently living at my mom's place that isn't really an option so I've turned to Bettas to replace my "crazy cat lady" tendencies .
I've since become a "crazy betta lady," which I'm really ok with, but my mom really isn't too pleased about it!

[Jupiter]

Lol Elaina. I've always wanted a bunch of cats as well...everyone teases and says I'll never get married that way.

[Elaina]

All my friends tease me saying that I'm going to become a crazy cat lady someday, and I'm like "Become a crazy cat lady? I already AM!"

[SaylorKennedy]

I found my old 2 gallon tank downstairs one day in August and did some research on what could live in it, found out that bettas were really the only thing and got one...and then some more. :)
That's my story.
I must say, after having broken my tibia, it's been nice to actually have something to do with tank cleanings, redecorating, or just watching them...it keeps me busy as well as my dog and hamster. (Although water changes are still difficult, I manage to do them at a slower pace and a bit of creativity.)

[Jupiter]

Originally Posted by Elaina

All my friends tease me saying that I'm going to become a crazy cat lady someday, and I'm like "Become a crazy cat lady? I already AM!"

Lol! We could move in together and have a cat kingdom!

[doggyhog]

I had a betta a few years ago... and one day I was in the car with my mom and I was like "Hey... mom.. can I get another fish?" It was a totally random question! And she was like... "Umm.. sure.." Sooo, I begged my brother to take me to walmart because I wanted my betta THAT day! LOL I'm impatient sometimes.

I really wanted a pet then. I was just bored and needed a little friend. :) I was actually really depressed because I was very very sick last winter. my little Jello helped me and gave me SO much joy! He is a character!!! Then, I did some more research and found out about tank dividers! THAT was a great discovery! LOL
I then got another, then another, then another, then another, then another, then another, then another, and another!! LOL

[AlexXx]

One day I was drinking at my buddies place. I noticed on his bar he had some FISH, in some empty alcohol bottles! I was intrigued. I asked him about them and he told me he started out with just two then that multiplied into four. So a few months later, my g/f and i were in sport authority getting me some goggles to swim. I mentioned we should go look in petsmart next door and see the puppies and such. We saw some betta and started looking, i picked up a female and a male. Its been all down hill from there lol.