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Better
Betta Shopping Online
by Wendy
McKenna
Having made my
first online betta purchase about 5 months ago, and NOT having any of
the original fish left from that purchase today… I thought it might
be beneficial to share my experience with others who have been tempted
by the lovely pictures most have seen posted in betta stock shops online.
Probably the first
thing to do is ask questions of your potential supplier, such as:
- How OLD are
the fish? (Someone might actually be weeding out their old breeding
stock)
- How are the
bettas packaged for shipping? How much experience does the breeder
have with shipping bettas? How many hours will the heat pack stay
warm?
- What is the
fishes' lineage (go as far back as the breeder has knowledge of, and
as much detail on coloration, finnage, etc. as they have available)?
- In what kind
of water are you bettas raised (pH, temperature range, hard/soft,
distilled, R/O, etc.)?
- What kind of
foods are they offered regularly?
- Do you closely
inbreed successive generations and if so, what malformations/physical
weaknesses have shown up, even in a few fish?
The next round of
questioning should be posed to your betta community friends:
- Has anyone
purchased fish from this breeder before? What was the result?
- Has anyone
heard anything about their reputation or breeding/keeping practices?
You see, I got so
excited about acquiring this particular strain of fish that I neglected
to ask ANY of those questions. Within two weeks, 2 out of the 4 fish purchased
had gone to visit the Tidy-Bowl man without even so much as a hiccup.
That left me with one pair. The female spawned with one of my males, thankfully
(the mama of my current grown-out spawn) and then she and the remaining
male died within a month. For what reason, I cannot clearly say. Literally
overnight, there was the male in the bottom of his bowl. No loss of color,
no loss of finnage, no worms protruding, no outward signs of distress.
No signs precluded it either. The female died much the same. Needless
to say, it left me with a sour taste in my mouth about purchasing bettas
sight-unseen. But it was my own fault for not asking even cursory questions…and
was probably the result of not accommodating the conditions to which the
bettas were accustomed.
Though my next
experience proved wonderfully positive, it wasn’t the usual purchase
sort of thing. Our club began sharing betta genes with some other breeders
in Southern California and elsewhere. After asking about what environments
in which their bettas had been conditioned to thrive, I was better armed
with information and have had 100% success with fish received from that
shipment.
Something to keep
in mind as well…."You get what you pay for"….can usually ring true.
The better, more reputable and established breeders online (and off)
aren’t going to ship you a pair of decent fish for under $20/pair. Expect
to pay $25-$50/pair or more for quality fish….and that’s BEFORE shipping
(which generally amounts to $25 for Express Mail for as many as 6-8
fish in one box; pool your order with friends to save shipping costs.
During warmer months, sometimes priority mail is acceptable -- and it's
cheaper -- but if it's too hot, it's just as bad as being shipped in
mid-winter).
Lastly….confirm
the date the shipment will take place….and ship to a place where you
will be that day or have ready access to, so you can confirm receipt
with the breeder and also check the fishes' health immediately….and
report any anomalies.
Happy betta surfing!
-- Wendy
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