I went to Petco and found 2 bettas in one cup ~

[BlueHaven]

Did that get your attention? :D
It's true, but not like it might seem, it was an accident. I went to Petco, which was fun because it is so far away.This is the second time i've gone and the time was the first I actually took a look at all their fish. I have been thinking about getting an orange HM so I thought Petco would be a good place to look.
Anyway,
I got to see the workers open up a new shipment of bettas and put them on the shelves. There were alot of blue ones, a pretty yellow one and some other colors. Two of the bettas were put in one cup together and it was pointed out, so they quickly moved them to their own.
The funny thing though is that the bettas didn't fight each other or flare, they acted like it was normal. It makes sense that they didn't fight, they were probably trying adjust to their surroundings, but I wonder if it's possible they came from the same breeder?
Half their fish looked healthy, and half looked a bit under the weather. I didn't find any that looked bad, but a few weren't moving very much so I guess that counts as not so good .
There was cute little red one with purple scales that stared at me the whole time, trying to get my attention by showing himself off.
It was so cute because he literally swam around and faced me like he was the same as me saying "hey, look at me, I'm perky and happy, pick me!" I could tell he had a lot of personality.
I felt bad not bringing him home, but he was healthy so I'm sure someone will get him! They all would stare at me though so it was hard not to want to take them home! lol
With those "please let me go with you?" look on their faces!
I didn't know bettas were shipped in such small packages!
But each of them didn't have much room to move, they had blue water though and looked healthy when placed in the cups.
It was cool to see!
They had VT, CT, and HM. I belive they had Double Tails too, I remember seing one.

Do you think bettas understand when someone does not want them or like them?
Because when I got my CT (a while back), I carried him around and went back to the bettas to look again before I ended up getting him. When I did this he literally turned around and looked at the shelf then turned back and looked at me like he didn't want to be put back down.
Or is it more of us feel like they are "talking" to you?
Haha

[BETTACHKALOVE]

All of them looked healthy because it new shipment. With care a lot of stores do for bettas they all probably will look sick in a week. Because a lot of stores really don't take good care of them.

One time someone told me i rescue sick betta from store because they deserve to live even though they sick. I told her it better to rescue healthy one ,because it will became sick soon. It so sad.

They all look at me when I am there and I want them all. I just hate to see them in those little cups with no water.

[Comatose]

Yep, that got my attention. :) With that shipment, it's good that the Petco people moved them. I know some stores would leave them. I think that bettas react to people and other bettas, but I don't think they recognise the shelf they were on.

[BlueHaven]

Lol, Comatose, your signature is awesome. :D

Why would they leave them?
That's just rude.

It makes sense to get a healthier one instead, but it is sad to leave the sick ones there, you want to give them a chance too!

We all should start a petition to get the stores like petsmart and petco (and walmart), to house them in larger homes.

[Luimeril]

they could have just... not cared at the moment. stressed from shipping probably made them sluggish. good that they were removed, though!

my petco's amazing. i soooo wish i could go there more! ;A; one day, i'll talk my mom into taking me. xD

[wildmagic713]

If they built bays, even if they were only one or two gallons, they could keep just as many Bettas on just as much floor space. It'd just be more vertical.

[Abby]

my town has 3 lps, ones great, ones ok the others terrible.
im banned from the terrible one lol
the OK one has a LARGE bay tank that isnt used O.O they store the bettas in long flat Chinese containers cleaned once a week and fed not sure how often. but they are not even treating fish atm for fin damage because they have NO treatment they sold out of it i was like "Why not go grab some from the other store?"
(PIPPIN WAS PURCHASED HERE)

my other fish were all bought from the other petshop, and Charz is coming from there on monday. they get great care by actual betta owners.

[Goomba3]

Originally Posted by BlueHaven

It makes sense to get a healthier one instead, but it is sad to leave the sick ones there, you want to give them a chance too!

This is horrible to say, but a lot of stores have a return policy, so if they die within a certain amount of time (I know my Petsmart lengthened theirs to 30 days, I believe) you can return them and get a new one. So, if you get a sick one and he/she dies, you can at least know you gave him/her a happy and warm home for a few days before he/she passed away. Then you can return her and get a new one and try to save that one. Again, horrible to say, but it's true.

[carzz]

Were they females? Because multi- female can be placed together in a comm. tank. I tried. But damned luna was being the bitch of the bunch, haha, so I moved them :D

[BlueHaven]

They were males.
But haha, my female bettas is very dominant over her space, she's probably be the top one if she was with other females. :)

Goomba ~
Well, even if it's sad, your right...

There is a smal petstore around here that Saltwater and freshwater fish, it's an awesome place. They have great things and the fish are very healthy.
I haven't seen bettas that you could buy though, but I did see one before, I think it belonged to someone who worked there. I'll have to see if they do get betta fish sometime. :D