I rescued a Walmart Betta

[sirrahved]

I swear, that place should NOT be allowed to sell living creatures There were four bettas there, all in terrible condition (the ends of their fins shriveling, all very pale, not active at all!) There was even a sick goldfish (not dead yet!) being eaten by his tankmates. I picked the betta that seemed the worst off. He barely moved even when his bowl was upset. We were slightly afraid he wouldn't make it even a couple of days.

Four days later... and he's making a bubble nest! Right now we've got him in a little over a gallon of water and he's so much happier. I'd like to get him in something bigger, but this is what we could come up with last minute. It took a couple of days, but he's eating now and seems to be doing great!

Any suggestions for names? How about suggestions on how to take his picture? I've never had much luck photographing fish.

[Suki Wingy]

Congfrats! The walmart by me actually takes decent care of the bettas. Tips I give everyone for photographing bettas:
*put camera on macro mode
*use flash
The flash never really seemed to bother the fish I took pics of.

[IRescue452]

I always go through the betta bowls and put the dead ones in front. Hopefully my little effort puts some people off of supporting the walmart fish section. Glad your little guy made it.

[jackie]

I am glad you got a nice pet, but honestly, why do you all thinking you are ¨saving these fish¨?

If I went to a BYB and ¨saved¨ four puppies, everyone would freak out. All you are doing by buying these fish are supporting Walmart and other massive chains. They are going to buy more and more fish to replace the ones you bought. You are encouraging them more then anything else.

If you want to help the fish in Walmart, complain to the management everytime you see fish in bad conditions, and ask your friends to do the same. That will do a lot more in the long run, then compulsively buying fish.

[Karen]

But she did save the life of that fishie, and will now educate others, and complain to management about how horrible the conditions were. Just awful. Dev, can you contact Animal Control for the city the Walmart is in, and see if they can send an inspection team and pull their fish-selling permit?

What color is he?

[Lori Jordan]

I do agree about Walmart from what i have seen! They have them in little cups which is fine until they sell but they dont even put enough water in them..it is sad ,they do look very poor there not colourful!Im glad you are happy about your new fish!!!

[Alysser]

Congrats and thank you for saving a fish! IMO, no store should sell these animals. They have to suffer in little cups that's not even a half a gallon. They are left next to other fish with nothing else to do but puff up at each other. I'm sure they are pretty nervous about this. I would be if I was surround by my natrual enemies. Anyway, that's exactly where I got my fish and they are so much happier today. Thank you for saving this fish.

[buttercup132]

I am glad you got a nice pet, but honestly, why do you all thinking you are ¨saving these fish¨?

If I went to a BYB and ¨saved¨ four puppies, everyone would freak out. All you are doing by buying these fish are supporting Walmart and other massive chains. They are going to buy more and more fish to replace the ones you bought. You are encouraging them more then anything else.

If you want to help the fish in Walmart, complain to the management everytime you see fish in bad conditions, and ask your friends to do the same. That will do a lot more in the long run, then compulsively buying fish.

I must agree I dont see how thats rescueing them ...it's just like a pet store with puppies well technically you "saved" the puppy but its still supporting the pet store and just making more room for puppies...
Congrads on your new fish

[sirrahved]

I did save this fish, because being an experienced fish owner, I know without a doubt this fish was on its last fin. It wasn't a compulsive buy, I considered it for a few days after observing them in slightly better (but still bad) condition earlier in the week. I did complain to a worker there, after seeing them bring in a whole new shipment to suffer. I also complained to the checkout woman about the condition of the fish. Of course, right now all of them look healthy and happy because of their short experience in this condition. I just saw this one fish that I knew I could help.

If I did hear of someone buying pups from a BYB that were in the same condition this fish was in I would commend them. Considering, of course, that they were also taking actions against it. I hate the idea of animals suffering. In my experience, though, action is much more likely to happen against a byb than someone selling fish. Report puppies lying in small baskets surrounded by their own feces and urine, with injuries to their limbs, and AC&C would be there right away.

I like the idea of reporting Wal-mart. I'm sure in most wal-mart stores the fish are not in this condition. I can't believe how it was. I will have to watch to see how often they get new fish so I can see the cycle. Anyone that regularly allows fish to be in this condition should be punished.

He is a peachy color, with aqua on his fins. He's not the prettiest betta, but he's mine

I still haven't thought of a name. Maybe Yoji, after Yoji on Miami ink, or Bonzai... Still looking for suggestions

[Chilli]

Congradulations!!
Its wonderful that you rescued him. Our wal-mart doesn't carry any bettas, or else I would probably have a dozen rescued bettas.
I can't think of any good names... then again, I still have a nameless betta.

[bckrazy]

-_* Honestly, rescuers and boy-cotters will always disagree. I tend to lean on the boycotting side, but it's really nice that people like sirrahved help out a little dying Betta in need.

LOL I love Yoji! that name is adorable... I also love Bonzai, as that's my red/green BF boys name ^^ Asian themed names really fit Bettas!

Also, MalteseLove, all of the big pet stores I've seen keep their Bettas in WAY less than 1/2 gallon - more like 16 oz. I think 16 oz is totally inhumane unless the cups are being changed 2 or 3x every day, which doesn't happen!

[Tralee]

Congratulations!!! Our Walmart sells Bettas in the little plastic cups, it is terrible, fortunatly they only have a few at a time. The pet store that I got my Betta from took really good care of the fosh. They only received a small shipment of fish at a time, and each fish was put in its own 1/2 gallon bowl. There was one fish that was a little bit sick and they were giving it some medicine. The lady who owned the store made sure the bettas were vey well taaken care of and she knew a lot about bettas. I went to the same pet store in another town, and they had about 30 bettas in the little cups. It is nice when the employees make the effort to make sure the bettas are happy and healthy.

[Roxyluvsme13]

At least you made a difference in one little betta's life. Ariel was probably on her last fin, too. She's active, but wow she's in bad shape. Abrasions on her gills, and then a huge chunk of tail missing. She'll be really pretty once she heals. I like the name Yoji^^. Can't wait to seepics!

[Alysser]

Also, MalteseLove, all of the big pet stores I've seen keep their Bettas in WAY less than 1/2 gallon - more like 16 oz. I think 16 oz is totally inhumane unless the cups are being changed 2 or 3x every day, which doesn't happen!

Really?! That's so mean. Our Petco sells them in bigger cups then they used to. I doubt its a half a gallon.