How do you choose between the stunning, healthy looking bettas at the store and the ones who look in DIRE need of help? Do most of you do rescues, or purposely choose gorgeous fish?
Seriously, I'm so torn between the two options, and my heart always gravitates to animals that other people would not want (like when I adopted hamsters, I would pick ones that are missing an ear, have red eyes, or other "problems"). It breaks my heart to think the less fancy bettas may never get a home and stay stuck in their little cup forever. I certainly don't mind if they aren't fancy, but oftentimes their color improves 100% with a better tank!
At the same time, I have no experience with fish and am afraid I won't be able to help them much, if they have fin rot or something. I'd hate for them to die and be stuck with the heartache.
Personally unless I'm actually looking to take on a rescue I pick the healthy fish. Unless you actually want to spend the time and money to rehab a fish (which could end up dieing anyway) I would advise to go with the healthiest one you find.
I usually look for the healthy ones. If I did plan on getting a sick fish I would ask for a discount rather than pay full price.
I don't really have a ton of experience in nursing fish that are terribly bad off, and so I doubt I'd feel very comfortable/confident in deliberately getting a sick or injured fish. Later, when I have more space and feel ready for the challenge, I expect I'll be bringing home plenty of unlucky ones.
I also go for healthy ones. As much as I can't stand to see the sick ones suffering in those tiny cups, just rotting away, I can't justify spending $15-$30 for a sick betta.
Unless you actually want to spend the time and money to rehab a fish (which could end up dieing anyway) I would advise to go with the healthiest one you find.
Well now wait a minute.. Are bettas not WORTH the small amount of money it takes to nurse them back to health? I have read MANY threads on here about sick bettas that sounded like they had NO hope of survival and with a little love and some cheap products they where nursed back to health :D Also, you can not always tell if a petstore betta is actually healthy or not. I have been told by some of the best of the best on here that MOST of the time when you get a petstore betta, something is going to be wrong with the betta. I have had many that i bought the LOOKED and ACTED like a healthy betta ( according to every checklist and guide i have ever read) and died the next day or with in a few days =[.. I mean what if you buy a betta and within a few days it gets sick. Is he/she not worth the money to nurse back to health with the chance it might die anyways? IMO, you might as well try. My very first betta was not in good shape when i got him and he lived to be about 3 yrs old =] So IMO, if one feels they should rescue a sick betta with intentions of actually nursing it, then go for it! =]
Well, to clarify I wouldn't spend $15.99 for a sick betta, but most bettas I see are $3.99, so to me that's not too bad. I guess I should clarify and say not necessarily "SICK" (like swimbladder, dropsy, ich, etc.), but just the ones that look sad, drab, and thin compared to the "new arrivals" who would be spotted and taken home soon.
I don't know. I guess I'll "know" the right one when going to pick one out, but I can't help but be drawn to the less fancy ones who would probably become beautiful with some TLC. :)
Well, with buying any animal, there's always that gamble that they're already sick even if they "look" healthy. I go with an open mind and pick out the one that "speaks to me". The sicker ones will be lethargic and tend to stay at the bottom where the healthier ones will be perky and swim all around. I've taken in ones that looked very healthy and got sick and ones that looked very sick and came out great...so it's a gamble. But, if you want to "rescue" one, I suggest speaking with the manager or the person in the department so you can get him/her for a discount or free. Don't pay full price.
Thats what I said. If you want to nurse a sick betta back to health by all means go for it. I never said it wasn't worth spending money to rehab a sick fish. I said unless you know what your doing its probably better to go with a healthy fish. None of the healthy bettas I ever bought had anything wrong with them. When checking betta I look for activity, color, consistency of the poop, cleanliness of the cup, I feed them to see if they are eating well, and I see if they'll flare.
I also don't believe in paying full price for a sick betta. (Although I'm guilty of this with my rescues.) If you see a sick fish in a petstore you have to report, report, report. Report it to the employee, the manager of the store, and then to corporate if conditions don't change. Make the manager give you a discount on sick/injured fish if you want to take them home. Really sick fish will probably get flushed any way so it shouldn't be so hard to get them for cheap/free.
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Healthy/gorgeous bettas vs. dull/possibly sick
I certainly don't mind if they aren't fancy, but oftentimes their color improves 100% with a better tank!
