Petco vs Petsmart bettas?

[SQUIRT1216]

So I live in a college town where i only have petsmart near me. I heard Petco carry much better pool of bettas but the closest one is 60 miles away. I would make a drive but i dont want to drive 2 hours back and forth and be disappointed. Anyone have both in their town and want to share their opinions?

Thanks.

P.S kinda a complete different question, but is this really a veiltail? He's pretty but his tail is rounded
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/aucti...svt&1357566478

[jinxhex]

I've gotten all of my Bettas from my local Petco, but when I go to the local PetSmart, I usually just glance at the Betta area when I'm waiting in line, and the ones at Petco usually appear larger, healthier, and more vibrant to me. I think it really just depends on where you're located, a little bit of luck, and personal preference. I've heard the best places to get any kind of fish are the Ma & Pa shops, but I don't have any of those around!

[BettaPirate]

If I dive north the petco is horrible and petsmart has way better fish but if I drive south the petco has great fish and knowledgeable staff so it is hard to say

[SQUIRT1216]

Ok, I will make a drive sometime this weekend. Finger cross, high hope haha. At least there is a fish store and another petsmart near by so hopefully it wont be too bad

[aemaki09]

I like petco's selection much better but I dont like their prices at all.

I'm in the same situation as you, the closes petco is about 40 miles away, and petsmart is like 5 away, I only ever go to petco if I go out that way and I rarely get a fish because I dont want to pay that much for a pet-store betta.

[TheCheese909]

It depends, really. I've gotten a few really nice Bettas from PetSmart, but I've also gotten some amazing looking ones from PetCo..

PetCo does sell higher end Bettas, they seem to get them from great breeders and PetSmart is now breeding their own fish, including their Bettas and they honestly don't seem to know as much about the different types. I often find PetSmart to have mixes of HM and DT labeled as HMs. Since PetSmart is breeding their own you can often find quite young ones there too, under a year but not in their fry stage any more, unlike PetCo who usually has either fry or 1 year+.

My PetSmart gets their Bettas in on I believe Friday or Thursday, while PetCo gets theirs in Wednesday. You may want to call your nearest PetCo before diving out and see what day they get their shipment of Bettas in. You don't want to drive out and have them only have about 4 VTs left or something.

Also, it varies between PetCo to PetCo, my local store has about 8 different types of males while the one in a neighboring town has double that as well as higher end Bettas in color and posture.


Here is a handful of photos of Bettas I have gotten from each store:


Petsmart boy (got real lucky with him! they never turn out this great):

From this:


To this:


PetCo boy:

From this:


To this:
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...61640836_n.jpg (img may stretch screen, so i left with just a link)


PetSmart:


PetCo:


PetSmart (Delta labeled as a HM):


PetCo:


PetSmart (i love this guy so much lol, he's grown the most):




Now none of these guys are super amazingly amazing like PetCo can get in, but they are uhm, yes, "higher quality" Bettas and they keep getting better and better ones in. They are also much more expensive, so remember to bring your money with you, you can end up buying a $24 Betta. But you never know what you might find, or who may find you. Currently I only have 4 Bettas, two are from PetCo and two are from PetSmart.

[SQUIRT1216]

Holy cow to the first one, that's what you call ugly duckling to a freaking phoenix.... can't seem to pick up my jaw

And i don't think ive ever found amazing ones from petsmart like you did, i guess college kids not really that into bettas (yea, the town is 50,000 people and 30,000 of them are students lol). Even though i go there like almost 3 times a week. The lady who works there probably judge me a lot for just browsing and not buying.

[finnfinnfriend]

Basically it really just depends on where you are specifically. Just check your Petco AND Petsmart for at least a couple of weeks and see which bettas seem healthier :)

[hannah16]

Call before you go to PetCo because honestly, if you go there when they don't have anything in stock, you'll be disappointed. Ask when they are expecting there next shipment and go the day after to ensure they're all on the shelf.

Personally, I've got most of my bettas from Petco, I prefer the quality they offer. You drop a good buck, but normally it's worth it. Personally, I've only got two bettas from Petsmart recently, one is a baby HM, the other is a slightly older HMPKEE, one pectoral didn't develop fully though, but I can't complain, I only paid $6 for him on sale.

[Tikibirds]

My local petco has a bigger variety tailwise but they are in much worse shape . When I was in Alaska, walmart had some that could rival the ones on Aquabid! But unless you were there on delivery day, they ended up in poor condition prety quick