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How old are the bettas in the pet stores?

11K views 18 replies 15 participants last post by  ao 
#1 ·
Somewhere I heard that they may be around 3 months. Then I also heard that they were full grown. At what age is a betta actually full grown, and does anyone know how old they are when they are shipped to the pet stores?
 
#3 ·
In one store here in the UK I was told that their bettas average about a year of age when they are imported, I know in some places they'll be much younger but in others they could be much older (especially if they don't get sold in good time).
 
#5 ·
I think it depends on the store. I've seen bettas that looked as young as 12 weeks (not petco baby bettas) and others who were probably well over a year.
 
#8 ·
Well, the youngest fish I've seen was 5 weeks. And it was starving and TINY (I bought him/her, he's okay!)
But I think where I am, they average 4 months old. Some of them don't have their color completely filled out or are as vibrant yet, but appear fully grown.
 
#10 ·
I think PetSmart and PetCo and other large chain stores churn them out faster and younger because of their push to sell small tanks and cute "baby" fish. Mom and pop stores sell older ones, at least here they do. I bet Lakitu and Ludendorff (both from the same lps) were about a yr old. They idk, look older. Everytime I look at PetSmart bettas they seem younger. In size and appearance. Bowser, from PS, was smaller at purchase than most at the lps.
I always thought about age too. It could also be smaller fish from stores like PetSmart are like.. inbred or something in the water makes them smaller. There's a lot of emphasis here on the forum about separating them and cleaning the water so it doesn't inhibit their growth patterns. Maybe the dirty tanks don't start at the petstore level.
 
#13 ·
Betta are bred from 3 to 6months. By 9+ they are full length but are still putting on weight. At 1 year, they're full grown and too old to breed. Their fins continue to grow, however slowly, throughout their lives.

If a petstore fish is older than 4 months, the breeder has lost money by feeding it, housing it and keeping it too long. That's why they try to ship as soon as they can....including the pernicious "baby" Betta trend.

Yes, there is a "stunting hormone" excreted by fish trying to keep other fry small and uncompetitive.
 
#15 ·
At my LPS they sell their betta's at 9 months old, which is a pretty good age.
 
#17 ·
My friend that is head of aquatics at Petco says majority of the Betta's that they get are around 3-4 months old. I myself have seen some that look way younger and way older.
 
#19 ·
I think the reason they begin breeding at 3mo is to keep the breeding process at a compressed time frame. it may take many generations to achieve their perfect fish... if it takes 12 generations... at 3 mnths it will only take 3 years of breeding as opposed to 12 years at 1 year old...
 
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