Me, enters pet shop, sees lady looking at tank with son and talking about which goldfish they should get.
Me (to little boy): Wow, you must be lucky if you have a tank big enough for goldfish!
Lady: It's not that big (makes a 10-15 gallon sort of size with hands).
Me: Erm...that's too small for a goldfish...
Lady: But don't they just grow to the size of their tank?
Me: *goes into simple details about how no, that's what they tell you in petshops, but it's actually about ammonia stunting their growth. Gestures to comets* These guys get mroe than a foot long, and those fancies don't get much smaller.
Lady: Wow, I never knew that!
Petshop assistant: Can I help you?
Lady: Yes please, we'll have two of the black ones.
Me: *rarr!*
I honestly thought I'd made a convert, there. :(
Unfortunately pet ownership for parents is about making the child happy and nothing else. They don't intend on teaching them that animals no matter what it is needs some fundamental basic care that varies across all species even in the same genus. Don't get me wrong my son gets a lot of joy out of the pets we have, (dogs, fish and a few more species when he gets older) but at the same time I use them as a way to teach responsibility, biology, and compassion. I do the main care taking of the animals but I let him help at this stage and will transfer more responsibility as he gets older. For some parents they throw the fish in a bowl or whatever give the kid a can of the cheapest flakes and say have at it. They do this because it's easy, it makes the child happy, and well fish are cheap.
possibly even doing the sock slide if your apartment came with tiles, or fake hardwood flooring."
Needless to say he didn't say another thing and just got my shrimp xD
HE might have thought you were nuts... but totally! I go slow with my new girls, from a cup, to just under a gallon for a week or so in quarantine, and then into a 33. They often ignore the girls for a day or so while just going woah.... what's this? what's this? Wheee! Filter. What's... oh! who's this!?
HE might have thought you were nuts... but totally! I go slow with my new girls, from a cup, to just under a gallon for a week or so in quarantine, and then into a 33. They often ignore the girls for a day or so while just going woah.... what's this? what's this? Wheee! Filter. What's... oh! who's this!?
I got that impression too xD
I have noticed I did that with all but 1 of my bettas I did a small transition with moving to a bigger space. 2.5, 3.5, 5.5
Spike just got slowly acclimated to water/temp/was "left to fend for himself". He isn't showing any stressing tho. In fact he is just as active as he was the second I saw him.
Unfortunately pet ownership for parents is about making the child happy and nothing else. They don't intend on teaching them that animals no matter what it is needs some fundamental basic care that varies across all species even in the same genus. Don't get me wrong my son gets a lot of joy out of the pets we have, (dogs, fish and a few more species when he gets older) but at the same time I use them as a way to teach responsibility, biology, and compassion. I do the main care taking of the animals but I let him help at this stage and will transfer more responsibility as he gets older. For some parents they throw the fish in a bowl or whatever give the kid a can of the cheapest flakes and say have at it. They do this because it's easy, it makes the child happy, and well fish are cheap.
Bingo, freemike.
It makes me sad that ignorant parents raise ignorant kids, and the cycle of selfishness just goes on and on. They are missing out on so much - the joy of feeling compassion, of caring for something, and learning together.
And then those kids grow up and get jobs at PetCo...
All our pets have always been treated as a part of our family, so Daughter's got no clue why people have pet animals they don't care about on that level. It truly makes no sense to her. I'm proud of that.
Grim, that's just sickening and beyond irresponsible. I'd have called the SPCA.
i recommend going on stores websites and posting reviews with brief overviews of basic care. ive noticed that even online information is inaccurate on stores' websites. i posted a comment on either petco or petsmart i dont remember and linked here for accurate information on bettas after seeing a family walk out with 2 bettas and either a bowl or tank i couldnt see that couldnt have been more than 1 gallon. probably less. now maybe they had another tank at home i dont know but regardless that tank/bowl they bought was too small for a lot of things...
thank you! :) i feel like its an effective way to get important information to those who wouldnt normally look for it :) i tried telling my friends who also own bettas that their water needs to be in the high 70s at least and they looked at me like i was crazy and told me i was going to boil my fish! i just want to prevent thoughts like that as much as possible!
thank you! :) i feel like its an effective way to get important information to those who wouldnt normally look for it :) i tried telling my friends who also own bettas that their water needs to be in the high 70s at least and they looked at me like i was crazy and told me i was going to boil my fish! i just want to prevent thoughts like that as much as possible!
Absolutely crazy! lol.
You are right on about the misinformation they have available, for example here
"Semi-Aggressive Tropical fish picture of a betta Semi-aggressive tropical fish share the vibrant colors and animated personalities of their non-aggressive counterparts. They tend to bully smaller tank mates, so it's best to make sure all semi-aggressive tropical fish in your tank are similar in size."
When I've had a male betta in with either other bettas or other fish I insert a clear plastic barrier that he can't get through so that I can still see the whole tank, well planted, but I don't have to keep two heater/filter set ups.
The one store that had them all in together just floors me! On pretty much anything, there is now one pretty universal solution... Google (or equivalent). With information, even just basic info, so readily available, it is crazy how little people know.
I was in both Petco and Petsmart today, and the bettas in both places were in poor shape. Several looked to be close to death, and most were lying on the bottom of their tiny bowls, not even moving if I picked up the bowl to look at them. Hubby just doesn't understand, and I tried not to harp on it, but I was really bothered. There was one female that was quite small, all white except for dark fins that I thought might turn out to be a marble later on. I wanted her in the worst way. She looked so sweet and in need of lots of room and good care. She probably would have thought she was in heaven to even get out of that bowl. But I only have one tank set up, and it has a male betta, and I don't want to divide a 10 gallon tank, as I feel 5 gallons isn't enough for each fish, so I had to pass her by. Now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just buy one of those tank dividers and do it! They said bettas come in every Friday. Here is is Sunday, and I can't believe how bad those fish looked.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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