fish have feelings!

[lilsexyred]

i brought my father to the pet store with me yesterday and while i was looking at bigger fish tanks he felt sorry for all the betta sitting on the shelf in the little bowls he dumped about 15 bowls into what he thought was a empty tank as i caught him dumping the last one i yelled dad no they will kill each other almost as soon as i said that a huge fish ( dont know what kind it was) came from behind a piece of drift wood in the tank and swallowed every last betta my father had dumped in the last ones tail hanging from his mouth for about 35 seconds i was so upset and my father felt horrible needless to say i think the betta would have been happier in there small cups and it cost us 2.99 a fish for every empty bowl.so im thinking in the wild these betta either will kill each other or be killed maybe it is a good thing we keep them in tanks!

 

[VTwinFanatic]

Bettas are much like any other fish, they will live in a small bowl but it will stunt their growth and they wont live as long. I presently have Four bettas and the smallest tank/ bowl that they reside in is 1 gal. Two of them are in a divided 2.5 gal which they seem to love being able to flare at each other and try to chase each other's food. But I have a problem with the bettas being in the small cups in the stores, this in turn can/will pose another problem being that i start my job at the LFS tomorrow...i have a feeling that my dorm room will have to accomidate a few more bettas along w/ my 10gal community (i have 4 dwarf gourami in there or one betta would be welcome to live happily) :dive2:

 

[YoFishboy]

i brought my father to the pet store with me yesterday and while i was looking at bigger fish tanks he felt sorry for all the betta sitting on the shelf in the little bowls he dumped about 15 bowls into what he thought was a empty tank as i caught him dumping the last one i yelled dad no they will kill each other almost as soon as i said that a huge fish ( dont know what kind it was) came from behind a piece of drift wood in the tank and swallowed every last betta my father had dumped in the last ones tail hanging from his mouth for about 35 seconds i was so upset and my father felt horrible needless to say i think the betta would have been happier in there small cups and it cost us 2.99 a fish for every empty bowl.so im thinking in the wild these betta either will kill each other or be killed maybe it is a good thing we keep them in tanks!

Oh God....sorry, I don't mean to be cruel...but that is one of the funniest things i've ever read on AC...

 

[wataugachicken]

is your dad, like. . . five? regardless of the fish's little bowls or the possible cruelty to animals, you don't go into someone's place of business and start rearranging all their stuff. they have it that way for a reason. bettas and oscars (probably what it was) and more bettas don't get along, and at the grocery store you shouldn't take all the milk out of the coolers and leave it in the bread aisle.

i totally would have made him put down an at-cost deposit on the big fish in case it died from overeating in the next day or so. i can only imagine what would have happened if he'd thrown them into a saltwater tank. . .

 

[ash]

And I don't think your dad's mistake has anything to do with this discussion- rice paddies are enormous, they have tons of room to stake out a territory. They have been a viable species in the wild for thousands of years what makes you think suddenly tiny plastic cups are making their lives better?

 

[lilsexyred]

is your dad, like. . . five? regardless of the fish's little bowls or the possible cruelty to animals, you don't go into someone's place of business and start rearranging all their stuff. they have it that way for a reason. bettas and oscars (probably what it was) and more bettas don't get along, and at the grocery store you shouldn't take all the milk out of the coolers and leave it in the bread aisle.


actually no he isnt five.and i understand how he felt if you walked by a homless person who was sleeping in a computer box and you had a refrigerator box would you not give him the bigger box? He paid for his mistake with credit card and now he knows i just thought i would share my experience with everyone so they know what could happen if you tried to be some kind of betta rescue without any knowledge of the fish.

 

[Chill]

Yup fish have feelings - the big fish was feeling hungry and now he's feeling full.
Two feelings I'm very familar with.

 

[FisheyLisa]

http://www.bettadreams.com/ricepaddies.html

Everyone..if you don't know where bettas come from , esp if you plan to care for one...PLEASE GO HERE!!!! From Bettadreams these are what betta paddies look like. I need to book mark this site, this discussion is repeated so often!!

Mine is in a 30g and swims everywhere. I don't know who said they were lazy...??!! Their preferred temp is 78 degrees at which point they are quite active. along with healthy water and varied diet, I can't see how they wouldn't be! You only need to type betta into google to research this stuff ppl!! YOu don't even need to leave your house! Or open a book...OMG sorry I am on a rant, but I remember busting my butt to research stuff in a LIBRARY with books and ...never mind. It seems it is the unresearched advice givers who are the lazy ones.

as for feelings...not even our large pets have human emotions, we just place them there, so a fish couldn't possibly...Instinct that you are the food giver, but nothing else. They don't know what they are missing when they are in a cup, only that there temp is low so they don't feel like moving...or they will bump into the side and that is undesirable.

Yes its cruel to treat animals wrong, but honestly they don't "know" better as we "know" better (or as some of us don't "know" better.)

 

[nomadofthehills]

In work in a Petstore, and I understand the betta cups. We sell 50-100 bettas a week (petsmart). I always recomend at least a 1g bowl, but many do not care. What else can I do other than give them a caresheet and tell them that the fish willl be unhappy/healthy? "My firnd has one for 2 years in a little bowl" and I say they can live 5+.


It is not economical to keep them in anyhing larger.

 

[FisheyLisa]

The cups are reasonable for a container to be sold in...all fish are kept in crowded conditions, or else a shop would need a million tanks, or have to sell on order by order basis...

but when you get home, you should have an appropriate home...you don't keep a german shepard in a 5 x 5 crate all day everyday if that is your pet.

At the very least, I would think that you'd get a fish to watch it swim and be active, and that even the uneducated, most selfish person would go for that...and those conditions call for at least a heated (some how kept around 78 degrees) 1g with healthy water.

Oh well, to each his own. Sorry this doesn't help the original post either.