Fishes – Wild Hearts Wild Life

Last week I wrote about swim bladder disease in betta fish. I mentioned that, over the years, I've kept quite a few bettas. I don't own any currently and haven't now for years. My last two were a beautiful pair of black dragon scale bettas. Although they were stunning fish, keeping them honestly wasn't the best experience for me. I dealt with quite a few health issues with them, including recurring swim bladder issues, diamond eye, and tumors. The number of issues I've experienced with my pet bettas has made me ponder whether or not betta breeding is being done humanly. https://wildheartswildlife.com/swim-bladder-disease-in-betta-fish It Ain't Easy Being Fishy Fishkeeping can be hard sometimes. Fish, like other pets, can develop a variety of illnesses. However, with fish, keepers are usually pretty much on their own as far as attempting to treat them goes. Vets who will treat fish are typically few and far between. In my opinion, the genetics of certain species of fish, bettas being a big one, aren't as healthy as they could be. Some of the things that really draw people to bettas can oftentimes prove to be their downfall. They are commonly bred in mass quantities in attempts to create the most beautiful, long-finned, colorful fish. Fish that will sell. But beautiful fish that will sell, sadly, doesn't always equal healthy fish. Going to a private breeder, like I did to get my fish, can ensure that a bit more care went into the pairing. But, as I think my fish proved, doesn't mean they'll be free of genetic health issues. Diamond eye and an increase in the prevalence of tumors are both more common in certain types of bettas, such as dragon scales, which suggests that these issues are based on genetics. Learning that made me feel bad. I should have done more research before purchasing my fish. I put too much trust into a fish breeder, assuming that purchasing fish from a private breeder would mean that my fish would be healthier. Unfortunately not all breeders, of any type of animals, always have the animals' best interest at heart. To be fair, I purchased these two fish many years ago now. Since then I've learned a lot. In the future I'll be more careful about where I get my pets, yes even including any fish. Fish Should Be Bred For Health In my opinion, any animals being bred as pets should be bred with a focus on health and longevity. Yes, dragon scale bettas are beautiful, but is it fair to continue producing them if a majority of them experience health issues such as blindness? Unfortunately, unlike dogs and cats for example, there are no commonly available genetic tests that can be done on fish. Health issues often don't become apparent until a fish is older, oftentimes after it has already been bred. In addition, each betta spawn can potentially produce over 500 fertile eggs! It would be a task and a half for a breeder to keep tabs on all the fish they've produced, to monitor the ongoing health of their lines. But, in the very least, types of fish with known predispositions for health issues could be avoided, unless a breeder is somehow actively working towards attempting to eliminate said health issues. All of this is complicated by the fact that many people think of fish, especially bettas, as disposable pets. They're small, generally cheap, easy to get, and commonly replaced. These more casual fish keepers are unlikely to want to pay higher prices for a healthy, well bred fish, thus keeping poor quality mass production type breeders in business. I'm not a fish breeder, and I, unfortunately, don't know what the answers are here. What I do know is that before I purchase any fish again in the future, I'll be doing much more research into the type of fish. I will ensure that the particular strain is not genetically prone to developing health issues, and I will select breeders whose ethics towards breeding align more with my own. A Break From Bettas I love bettas. But I'm not going to jump into getting a new one anytime soon. My poor experiences keeping bettas over the years have led me to feel like these gems of the aquarium can be stressful pets. Dealing with things like swim bladder disease, fish with fins so long they can't swim well, genetic blindness, and tumors isn't any fun. If anyone is, or knows of, a reputable betta breeder that is actively trying to work towards healthier fish I'd love to hear about them!