Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Betta Fish - Intro to Caring for Fish

If anyone has kids, a spouse, etc. for which you want to convey a little of your love for fish, I think betta fish are a great introduction.

I got my wife a betta fish for Christmas a long time ago. He made it almost six years, and was a fantastic pet. During the summer, she kept him on the island in the kitchen. When he was hungry, he would swim sideways to where you were moving and show off his fish plumage. When you finally brought your face to the side of his aquarium, he would turn and swim straight up to your face. She would then feed him.

I finally had to replace her betta this Christmas. The pet stores now have a much greater variety of species (or perhaps hybrids?), some of which look almost as fancy as piscine peacocks!

Her new fish has now learned similar behaviors to her old betta, and is pretty entertaining for a pet that you cannot cuddle. He is very fancy and we have never had to treat for any of the various aquarium fish maladies. (I don't know if that is just luck, or if they are just hardy fish.)

Just throwing ideas out there for the rest of the pondmeisters.

However, IMO if you had a 6 y.o. granddaughter and got her a good one, then you might retain your "favorite grandparent" title even longer!

We had Harvey the Creek Bass in an aquarium in our kitchen. He was tiny when we caught him while seining minnows in a shallow creek but grew too big and we eventually let him go. He was a lot of fun, especially at feeding time. He ate pellets and anything alive that we put in there that he could fit in his mouth.

My kids have tried to keep many "pets" from creeks. Some worked out well, others did not. All were educational.

One of my daughters started with a tiny red-eared slider. One of MY favorite memories is of her belly laughing as she fed the turtle the very end of a shrimp tail after we peeled shrimp for me to grill. He would pounce on that tiny bit of shrimp meat as if he was worried that his treat was about to swim away.

She would feed him 10, and then we would put the rest in the fridge and give him 10 more the next day!

Two of my kids went on to volunteer at the local rescue shelter, probably based on their joy in caring for animals when they were little.

IMHO , no doubt , kids learn a lot about Love , from the animals in their Lives. Puppies, Kittens, Betta's , the list goes on. If the parents don't cave in ( take over the care) and stand their ground about proper care of the pet, then kids can learn tons about responsibility.

Agreed.

I can't imagine any better training for becoming a parent than raising a puppy or a kitten (mostly) by yourself!