Post date: Nov 28, 2010 3:35:46 AM
November 27, 2010
As I've browsed online and in the pet store and as I've gained betta experience, I've become a little bit alarmed at some of the betta products I've seen. While some of
them may or may not really be good products, some obviously aren't.
More and more you find vendors selling tiny little betta kits, and I feel like they're getting smaller than smaller to the point that they are measured in ounces instead of gallons. While I feel that a betta can be kept in a one gallon environment under specific conditions (which I outline throughout the site), many of these tiny betta bowls are even less than half a gallon. Now it's just gotten ridiculous. I mean yes, you can keep a dog in a crate, but you can't leave it in there very long or you're going to have yourself an unhappy, unhealthy dog. The same goes for bettas in these little plastic things. And, to make matters worse, the kits include things like sharp gravel or plastic plants, both of which can rip fins so easily. Ironically, in the instructions in these kits, they milk the whole "you need to treat your betta well" idea. They don't make this very apparent with their products. A lot of them include a sample of food; the only kind I've ever seen included is flakes, and as anyone who's read the site knows, I'm not a fan of flakes for bettas. The kits that I have on the right are a perfect example.
So many people buy a betta not having done their research and so they bring home a new fish and a tiny betta kit. They're completely convinced that they're doing a good thing for their fish. So they use the plastic plants and try to feed their bettas "as many flakes as the fish can eat in three minutes" (I mean, what kind of directions are these? Do we say, "your dinner should be as much as you can stuff in your face in ten minutes?" ).
This all makes me wonder if the product makers know anything about bettas. Surely they must know something about the pets for which they create products. But this may be a separate issue from the bigger question: are product makers in the betta industry well-meaning? They could know perfectly well that bettas can't live with plastic plants, but they earn much more revenue by including plastic ones in their kits or by just selling plastic plants advertised for bettas. Plastic is a whole bunch cheaper than silk. So are these companies taking advantage of the ignorance of the typical betta owner by selling these products? I'm afraid that they answer seems to be yes, dear readers. It's sad, isn't it? So what can we do about that?
Whenever I can, I encourage people to buy the right kind of bowl or tank. This is the main thing you have to do, I think, especially if you hear someone saying that they're thinking of buying a betta. Tell them that they're going to see these inhumane little kits around the store and the shouldn't buy them. They'll be more likely to listen to you after that than to fall for the "oh look! A complete betta kit!" deal. Tell them to do their research first by reading this site or other good ones that encourage good treatment of bettas.
The poor betta is too hardy for its own good; it can survive through so much and because of this, people think that their bettas are healthy. So you and I have to encourage our friends and peers to find kind ways to treat their fish. Please help me do that, especially as people begin buying bettas as gifts this holiday season.