# Petco 'baby boy' Betta fish



## dnote (Dec 20, 2015)

Hi All,

I was at petco the other day and picked up a 'baby boy' betta fish. Apparently these are fry/juvenile male bettas. I'm curious, does anyone know if the species of betta vary for the 'baby' offering? I'm wondering if there's a possibility that i got one of the $20 species... that would be awesome.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

All the bettas in cups are the same species, B. splendens, they're just different varieties. 
You probably just got a random cull. It's one that the breeder thought would grow up to be lower-quality. It could probably be most of the betta varieties, though it's unlikely you got a double-tail or elephant ear.


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## roostertech (Oct 27, 2015)

dnote said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I was at petco the other day and picked up a 'baby boy' betta fish. Apparently these are fry/juvenile male bettas. I'm curious, does anyone know if the species of betta vary for the 'baby' offering? I'm wondering if there's a possibility that i got one of the $20 species... that would be awesome.


Unless you want the full experience of raising a betta from baby I would stay away from it and just buy the exact betta you want. Young bettas are harder to keep than adult and might not survive. Whoever came up with that scheme is genius. "We are just gonna sell people younger, cheaper, more fragile fish and make it sound $pecial"


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

As stated above, its best not to buy the baby bettas. 
Betta splendens include: crowntail, veiltail, rosetail, doubletail, halfmoon, halfmoon plakat, delta, elephant ear and more. They are all in the same species/breed. Petstores typically don't sell wild types or wild/complex breeds of bettas as they are more delicate and expansive (for the store to buy initially before mark up).
Betta spelnden fry need pristine-ly clean water and very warm water to properly grow. However in those tiny cold store cups they don't get that... They often starve too as they are fed by knowledgeable employees that expect fry to be able to eat the food they feed the adults. 
Buying a "baby betta" you gamble on gender and tail type as well as final coloration, its not likely you'll get a good (pricey) betta as it grows from fry to adult-the breeder would keep and grow it themselves then sell at a much higher price if it was a 'better quality' fish.


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## BrynnaCC (Jan 5, 2014)

I know it's ethically questionable, but I did find raising a betta from a baby to be an absolute delight. The roulette aspect is fun. I've seen my Petco's slightly older babies with signs of becoming double tails, crown tails, and elephant ears so there is a chance that will happen depending on the supplier.

HOWEVER: I had an aged former shrimp tank that was FILLED with detritus worms, daphnia, and springtails ready for her when she came home. She got nice and fat off of that stuff, but if I hadn't been well-prepared, I don't know what her chances would have been.


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Young bettas are really that hard to raise successfully? Not saying anyone is wrong. I, myself, have not yet kept a Betta, but I have come across conflicting information of betta fry/young rearing.

I have seen lots of videos of B. splendens being raised in seriously overstocked tanks, murky water (mainly from overseas breeders) and they all would still look healthy (no visible diseases, and showing no symptoms of illness either). And I have heard of many hobbyist (some of which, really do seem amateur-ish) raising their batches of Betta fry just fine.

I personally haven't seen bettas sold at young ages (females I do) so I can't say for sure whether the juvi's really are "low quality" (don't think that would have to mean unhealthy, just not "pretty" in comparison to the others) or if they would get just as nice as the others, but are simply sold cheaper because they are younger (just look at the color and fin shapes, you should be able to visualize/get a general idea of what it will grow up to look like and determine whether or not it will look "pretty" or not).

Personally, when I buy fish, I purposely buy the young fish. The younger, the longer they have to live and the more you get to see them grow up and that way you know they have lived a good life with healthy food and environment since they are in your possession. Where as older fish, you don't really know it's history, since they are already "ripened" with age, they don't have as much time remaining, and you don't know how well they were taken care of throughout their life (which does affect the longevity of the fish). That is assuming of course that you do raise the young well.

Not sure how young of a "baby" betta would be, so it does depend on the age, as far as care and sensitivity.


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## roostertech (Oct 27, 2015)

WaterLife said:


> Young bettas are really that hard to raise successfully? Not saying anyone is wrong. I, myself, have not yet kept a Betta, but I have come across conflicting information of betta fry/young rearing.
> 
> I have seen lots of videos of B. splendens being raised in seriously overstocked tanks, murky water (mainly from overseas breeders) and they all would still look healthy (no visible diseases, and showing no symptoms of illness either). And I have heard of many hobbyist (some of which, really do seem amateur-ish) raising their batches of Betta fry just fine.
> 
> ...


"Adult" betta is about 3 months old, they continue to grow a bit more till about 1 yr, and they live up to 5 yrs.

"Adult" betta are still very young in their lifetime and has plenty of growth, transformation to go through but at least you know they are proven to be healthy.

The "murky, dirty" environment are often time the best to raise young ones as it have a lot of natural foods. Young bettas might require live/special food that most people are not prepared to provide.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Unless you have a nice pond, with lots of microbial life, it is a lot of work raising betta fry... mainly in providing fresh live food...
They grow super fast in a pond.


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