Petco Problems...

[Aluyasha]

I know all of you have seen many threads about something like this but well...
I was at Petco yesterday and there was a poster stating that on saturday, they will be doing a 'bulid a Betta'...ugh...
For $10, you get a VT of your choice, gravel, food, one plant, and a tiny glass bowl. :/
Why do petstores keep doing this? (I know it is for money, but still).
Also while I was there, I saw two dead Bettas and three almost dead Bettas.
And why does Petco always, always, have sick and bloated females? I saw a beautiful Cambodian CT female there but she was so bloated that her stomache was actually ripping open. Poor girl. :(

Hmm, just a thought. Who do you think is worse, Petco or Petsmart?

[Alex09]

My PetCo is doing the "build a betta" thing too. I go to 2 different Petco's. One does an ok job at taking care of the bettas, the other does a lousy job.

[Nutt007]

My petsmart is your generic, neglect the fish, store.
My petco takes wonderful care of their bettas, even though they don't have much unique bettas any more.
If my PetCo even dares doing the ridiculous 'build a betta' event, Im switiching to Petsmart.

[wallywestisthebest333]

I dont really know which is better as I've only really been to Petsmart. :/

At my Petsmart back home they have a betta barracks system along the wall at Adult eye level between the upper and lower tanks. It's pretty nice except that their tails can go between the dividers and the glass (or plexiglass I'm not sure which) so they can still see and chomp at each other if given the opportunity. I've even seen two in the same barrack so that wasn't good. The compartments can also get pretty dirty with waste despite their water (for the most part, some whole sections of the barracks system have barely any water flow and suffer) staying clear.

Overall it is better than the one in my sister's college town though. At that petsmart they keep their bettas in cups. :/

The Petco I went to kept all their bettas on a tiny dark shelf in neglected cups. :[ It was a real shame. They had alright plants though. :/

Every petstore is different though as they're usually a family affair. I know it sounds ridiculous but at least Petsmart is a Franchise (like Mc Donald's or Pizza Hut) where a family or a single person can own a store or set of stores and as long as they go by the basic guidelines they can do everything else the way that they see fit.

I like my local Petsmart back home because it's easier to take pictures of the boys but sometimes the current in some sections (there are multiple sections with multiple barracks in each section) have too strong of flow, some have too weak, some have it great, and some have none. :[ And despite my asking they wont fix it. But I still think it's much nicer than what most other stores have. :/

But yeah as I said it all depends on the owner. :/

[AngelicScars]

Well, Petco has the build a betta in their ad so I'm assuming it's for all Petcos.
On that note, I've been tempted to go during to inform people, but I bet they wouldn't listen either way.