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If you’re like me, children keep you busy enough without the added time, energy, and expense a cat or dog require of you. Cats and dogs must be trained, taken to the vet, and walked. You have to buy collars and tags, food and scratching posts, shots and “birth control.”
Despite all of your rational explanations, however, your child will probably still plead, beg, and even weep for a pet—something to love and cherish and care for. I think I’ve found the perfect pet. This pet requires very little food, is easy to clean up after, is quite interesting and beautiful, and costs about $2.99. It’s a male betta fish.
You can find a male betta, a smallish but very colorful tropical fish, at any pet store or even Wal-Mart, but don’t go looking for him in one of those big tanks full of goldfish. Male betta fish will kill other fish, so they must be kept all alone. You might find them in individual plastic cups on a shelf, or they might be in plastic holding tanks in a tank filled with docile goldfish (they appear to be in a penalty box, waiting to get back in the game).
Like peacocks, male betta fish outshine their female counterparts. You might see a female betta or two at the pet store, but they don’t make such interesting pets.
Since betta fish must be kept separate from other fish, you’ll only need one. Another advantage of bettas over other fish is that they require very little room for swimming. There are special hexagonal tanks created just with these fish in mind. Pet stores sell the hexagonal tanks, complete with rocks, a plant, and some starter food and water cleaner for about $6.
There are several types of food you can buy for your betta. One of the least expensive is called “BettaMin,” and you can find it anywhere that sells betta fish. Like its consumer, BettaMin is very inexpensive, and a 0.81 ounce canister will last you months. You only need to feed your fish twice a day.
Once or twice a week the betta’s tank will need cleaning. Dump the fish into a glass of room-temperature water and then rinse the tank out. Don’t use soap on the tank as its residue will hurt the fish. Just wipe down the sides and shake the rocks up to get any bacteria or residue out. Then slide the fish back into its nice, clean tank.
That’s about all there is to it. Bettas are so simple to take care of and so inexpensive to maintain that a child could actually buy it with his allowance. The tank is so small that it won’t impose on anyone, and it doesn’t smell (like some cuddlier animals).
So next time your child pleads for a pet, tell her, “Sure thing. I know just the animal for our family,” and head off to Wal-Mart for a male betta fish.
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