From a BigChainPetStore Employee to You
I mean it, please stop buying pet store betta.
Before I had an attitude of “eh, someone has to and it’s not like things will change anyway”
But since I’ve started working there, I truly mean it.
Remember the post PETA made about how they come shipped in tiny plastic bags with a cubic inch of methylene blue water? I thought that was probably PETA making stuff up but seriously, the do.
Every week we get in betta fish that came across the ocean in just enough water to cover their gills.
Do you know WHY they’re so chill about this? Because these are this fish breeders were just going to throw away. These fish are the culls. The ones not healthy or pretty enough to keep. Yet they’re literally charging $20 for a fish that is kind of blue and yellow.
But that’s just the breeders. Their life in the store is barely better. Even at my store where we have probably the best aquatic specialist leader you can find at any store, our betta have terrible care.
Because no matter how we try, they’re still in a cup- and to give you perspective on that… One 5 gallon bucket can give water to more than 30 betta cups.
Most of you keep ONE betta in 5 gallons, mine get 10 gallons, and here is a whole store full of fish using half that.
And feeding them sucks too. All we have are freeze dried blood worms. And to try to make the cups less awful for them, we feed them ONCE A WEEK- right before they get a water change. Which mind you, they get 70 degree cold water and aquarium salt with that.
I get it. It’s easy to ignore what goes on behind the scenes- out of sight out of mind, right? But please know, you’re funneling money into thousands of lives for their abuse. Please, get mad about this. Write to the companies and make a big deal out of it.
And stop. Buying. Pet store. Betta.