I stole a fish from a customer to save its life...

[MyBoyHarper]

And I felt great about it!

I was at the pet store where I used to work visiting my friend whoworks there. The fishy is a beta fish and it was the only one, a prettylittle female. And she was sitting in the beta cup on the rack wherethey sell them. I was talking to the guy that works there whoisa friend of mine anda realyoungthuggish looking guy comes in and tells the guy I wastalking to that he wanted the fish.My friendaskedhim why (the guy was obviously not a fish person) and he said he wantedit as a feeder fish. While the guy's back was turned andmyfriendwas trying to convince him that he shouldn't, I grabbedthe fish and ran.

I payed for her at the register in the back and my friend gave her tobe for $1 and I hid her behind the counter. A minute later, I heard theguy going, "What the hell!Itwas just here a minuteago!"

I'm glad I got her, poor thing! She was living in a little tiny cup with dirty water, but she's much happier now.

Before:

After:

 

[KimboUNCW1]

omg good for you!! i would've done the same thing.... how awful of him to try to use that beautiful fish as fish food :X

 

[Haley]

Great! I have a beta as well.

He was in a little cup at the store. I brought him home and put him in a very very large tank. Hes so happy!

Congrats on your newest addition

 

[naturestee]

Aw, congrats! I have two betta girlsin my 10 gallon, and they're loving it. I hate how peoplethink they're okay to be kept in little cups permanently. Theboys I've had just loved the tank I had for them and had so muchcharacter. The girls I have right now are pretty cheeky too.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Not to down the thread, Good for youMBH! But my husband used to have these 2 tiger oscars fishand he bought feeders for them! :shock: He said one time hewas at Walmart in the animal section and an old lady was in front ofhim at the register and he asked for them cuz she had to wait forsomething and she freaked out. :shock:

Also, he fed them hotdogs if he had no food and they loved it!

One night, we were sitting here on the computer and the last oneflopped out of the darn tank and was flopping all over on the carpetnot 1 foot away from me!!! :shock::shock::shock:

My husband said it would do this, aggression, then you have to get ridof them or they'll break through the tank and waterEVERYWHERE! Yikes.

I can't stand fish for that reason. Eeeewww!

 

[peapoo_bunny]

Good for you MBH!!! sticking up for thefish!:zoro i would have done the same thing! i find it amazing and sadthat people think that bettas can live in tiny little containers theirwhole life

 

[Bassetluv]

Good for you for rescuing such a pretty littlegirl! I wonder why the fellow wanted to buy a betta as a feeder fish?Usually feeders are very cheap to obtain in pet stores, and tend to begoldfish and the like. Bettas (around here) are pricier...and wouldn'tstrike most people to be used for such a thing, simply because of theirbeauty. (btw, I'd have done the same thing as you. Not quite thesame example, but I was at a local fair once and they were sellingChampagne d'Argent as meat rabbits. I was so upset about it at the timethat I impulsively bought a small female to rescue her from her fate,and would have taken them all if I could have.)

I love bettas, and hate walking into pet shops and to see them in thoselittle cups. Even though the breed originated in small ponds/puddles,and very shallow rice paddies in Asia, to me that doesn't justify thethought that they are content to live in such small confines. I believethat many pet stores do keep them in the small containers since themales cannot be kept together, and because of this, they have to behoused separately. Lack of space makes the housing of bettas in smallcups feasible, and it doesn't harm the fish since they are labyrinthbreathers. However, I do wish in selling them, the staff wouldencourage potential owners to keep them in a larger setup. If I were afish I certainly wouldn't want to be condemned to live my life in aspace barely large enough for me to move. (Most of the males I've seenfor sale around here almost fill the entire space of the cup they arein.)

Congrats on your new friend, MyBoyHarper...I'm sure she is much happier now that she has her own domain! Kudos to you!

 

[naturestee]

LOL! I love the small pond arguementfor bettas. Yes, they evolved in small ponds. Thatwere often the size of my house, not the size of my waterglass. How the heck would a species of fish survive if itonly had a tiny puddle that fit one fish? It would have totravel to another puddle to mate, but they're not capable of survivingon land.

I think people will just use any excuse they can to keep an animal in a way that doesn't inconvenience the owner.

 

[MyBoyHarper]

I agree with naturstee about the puddle and pondtheory. I've always heard they originated in puddles too, but what's asmall "puddle"? I've seen puddles 2 and 3 feet wide, LOL. Or likenaturstee said, ponds that are the size of a backyard.

As far as the man's intentions, I'm not sure. He originally mentionedthat he wanted to put it with some large gourami's and my friend whowe'll call Frank, told him that gourami's would eat her and it's notadviseable. The guy then told Frank that he didn't care,andhe would just use her a feeder fish since his fish were hungry and thestore was out of feeder goldfish.

I think some people don't have a heart, poor little girl. And as far astank size, she is swimming all over the one she's in now, exploringeverything. The tank is only temporary, as soon as I get some moneynext week, I'll be buying her the same exact container, but larger.It's a 3 gallon size, the one she's in nowis only a 1/2gallon. I'm sure she'll enjoy the 3 gallon even more.

 

[Bassetluv]

MyBoyHarper wrote:

I agree with naturstee about the puddle and pond theory.I've always heard they originated in puddles too, but what's a small"puddle"? I've seen puddles 2 and 3 feet wide, LOL. Or like natursteesaid, ponds that are the size of a backyard.

From what I read years ago about bettas in the wild, they thrive inrice paddies, but have been found to be living in areas as small asindents in the earth that were formed from oxen and horse hoofprints.From what I remember, they said that the rains would come and fill upentire areas, then drought would dry up everything except a fewimpressions in the land, and bettas were found to be living in thesesmall puddles. So long as some water remained, bettas survived. Theyare hardy and can live in very shallow, muddy waters - since theyactually breathe air from the surface - but that doesn't mean it isideal living conditions for them. All it means is that the strongestwere hardy enough to survive in tough living conditions.

 

[maherwoman]

I think it's wonderful what you did for that little sweetie, MBH!! She's beautiful!!

And she looks REALLY happy in her new home, too. I can'timagine how freeing it must feel to go from a tiny little tuperwarecontainer (which is what those remind me of, lol) to a big, open spacelike that. Now she can stretch her fins...hehe!

 

[MyBoyHarper]

I ended up naming her Daisy, and I went outtoday and got her a new fishy bowl. It's the same exact one pictured,but much larger. It's about 3x larger, actually. She looks so happytoo! Everytime I come up to the front of the tank, she swims up andjust sits there looking at me.

 

[ani-lover]

i would have done exactly the same i have 5 bettas. i have three males and two females.
in the middle is the yellow female http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/kjband13oc/100_0334.jpg
this is our first betta before he went into his bigger container male yellow
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/kjband13oc/100_9993.jpg
this is the last one i got i named him Velvet http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/kjband13oc/100_0337.jpg
this is my other female Rosie
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/kjband13oc/100_0294.jpg
this is my blue male
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/kjband13oc/100_0087.jpg

the yellow male is in a 96 oz container
all the others are in 48 oz containers

 

[myLoki]

Good for you MBH! I have a male betta namedMagellan. My sisters call him Man Jello. They misheard me the firsttime I told them his name. Now they think it's really funny. :brat:He'sa crown-tail and has a green body and red fins. I have a gallon and ahalf brandy sifter setup for him. He loves it! They're such fiestylittle creatures. I had him on the floor once while I was moving thingsaround on my desk and Loki came up to him. He started flaring likecrazy. Loki just bumped his bowl a few times and hopped away. Sillyrabbit. Silly fish.


t and Loki

 

[maherwoman]

Hehe!! Funny animals!!

Love the "Man Jello" idea, particularly given how colorful your boy is!

myLoki wrote:

Good for you MBH! I have amale betta named Magellan. My sisters call him Man Jello. They misheardme the first time I told them his name. Now they think it's reallyfunny. :brat:He's a crown-tail and has a green body and red fins. Ihave a gallon and a half brandy sifter setup for him. He loves it!They're such fiesty little creatures. I had him on the floor once whileI was moving things around on my desk and Loki came up to him. Hestarted flaring like crazy. Loki just bumped his bowl a few times andhopped away. Silly rabbit. Silly fish.


t and Loki

 

[maherwoman]

Aww...Daisy is such a pretty name. I'mquite partial to it (the only reason I didn't name either of my girlsDaisy, to start off with, is because my sister had a pup namedDaisy...but Maisie's middle name is now Daisy in memorial for that samepuppy).

I bet she's all happy and swimming around and around, seeing just whatfun she can have with all that room!! That'scute...I bet she's saying "thank you" when she comes up to seeyou.

MyBoyHarper wrote:

I ended up naming herDaisy, and I went out today and got her a new fishy bowl. It's the sameexact one pictured, but much larger. It's about 3x larger, actually.She looks so happy too! Everytime I come up to the front of the tank,she swims up and just sits there looking at me.

 

[binkies]

Well I have to join in too!Our little feller has no name, but he lives in a 10 gallon tank withtwo Creamcicle Mollies and a Snail. Pardon the gunk in the tank, I hadjust put more water in and it stirred up things.

 

[maherwoman]

Oh wow...very nice pictures, binkies!!

 

[edwinf8936]

I hate that the stores sell the fish in the tiny containers, you know they won't live long.
ed

 

[2snowbunnies]

Good for you!

They sell them at my petco. My girls each have one in a nice big tank each. w/ lights and filters.

They are so beautiful!

Congrats on your water baby.