Where are all the breeders from the USA

[Stone]

I have been looking around the various sites to buy bettas (aquabid, ebay, facebook) and have noticed there are so few breeders listings from the USA let alone all that many with anywhere near the quality of fish from the thai breeders. I see a few that are here in the USA but they mostly sell imports from thailand, why is this? I don't mean to insult any of the US breeders in any way, this is out of curiosity, chard here on site has some really nice fish and a few others but for the most part when I see fish listed from the US they are not so great, meanwhile a good portion of the ones from thailand can be breathtaking. Is this because most of the breeders here in the US are hobbist and not professional breeders?( by this I mean they work a job and do this on the side) I really o not like to assume things so opinions and facts from others welcome, soem of my guess is there are more fulltime breeders in thailand and the weather makes things a ton easier, be it the few "farms" I have seen pics of have been outdoors....

[trilobite]

I think the main reason that the Thai have some of the worlds best Bettas is because they have the perfect water quality, perfect food, perfect temperatures etc to produce many many spawns at a time. Therefore enabling them to choose the best individuals from a larger sample size. Plus they have the easiest access to other Thai breeders fish. And then yeah, its their job to breed fish. Not many countries are able to make it a job since it would require a similar number of spawns that the Thai have and unless you live in a tropical country its just not practical.

[GoodMorning]

Originally Posted by Stone

Is this because most of the breeders here in the US are hobbist and not professional breeders?( by this I mean they work a job and do this on the side)

For the most part, yes. It is very hard to make money breeding in the U.S. However, it is much easier to make a living doing so in Thailand, this is because the level of currency difference from here and Thailand. Now, don't quote me on this and i haven't googled the exact difference, but just from what i hear around, a dollar over here ($1 USD) is like $10 dollars for them over there. So as you can see, it is well worth it for them to invest to oversea customers.

[Stone]

Yeah the climate and access to the other breeders fish would make things tons easier

[MattsBettas]

Ha! You think a american bad...

[Bombalurina]

+1 to MattsBettas. Try finding a breeder here in Australia. :p Apart from LittleBettaFish, who breeds wilds, no one breeds anything that isn't a cichlid.

[LittleBettaFish]

Are you a member of AusAqua Bombalurina? There are quite a few betta breeders around. I think you just have to find them. AusAqua is made up of mostly Australian betta enthusiasts and breeders.

[Bombalurina]

I think I am, actually....just haven't been on the site in years. :p

[LittleBettaFish]

Yeah I've found that quite a few Australian betta breeders post on there if you are ever looking for someone 'local' to buy from.

I wish I lived somewhere like NT. Would be a much better climate to raise bettas in as you are getting right up near the tropics then.

[Bombalurina]

Yeah....but then you'd have to live in NT. :p I kid. It is a beautiful part of the world, but a little hot for me! Give me Jervis Bay any day. :p