Although I may post photos
of new strains/ color variations or new spawns available for sale, to give
a general idea of what the "look" of the strain is, I do not post photos of each and every lot
sold on BETTATALK. In case you are wondering why I don't, I created
this page. I think it will greatly clarify things.
Before I get started though, I
wanted to say that if you are a first time buyer and you feel truly
nervous about buying from me without a photo to look at, you
should first look at my track record
and reference section. If this still does not fix your anxiety
attack, try Xanax LOL. Just kidding. I have been known to put bettas
on the webcam as a favor to a new customer, so to show him/her there
is nothing to be worried about LOL. So do ask if you must.
Usually I am able to. The webcam, by the way, is much more accurate
at showing a fish then a still shot is. With the cam, you can see
your betta move around, swim, flare, court his mate, nap, pick his
nose, etc :))... It's like it is already home with you :). I ask
that you refrain from asking me to monopolize the webcam for the
sole purpose of showing you fish for sale UNLESS YOU HAVE NEVER
BOUGHT FROM ME BEFORE AND REALLY, TRULY, ARE NERVOUS ABOUT IT. This,
out of consideration for all our other bettacam viewers and also to
preserve my sanity (providing there is any left in the first place,
that is LOL). Having said that, I will (if you are a first time buyer who
suffers from severe anxiety disorder LOL) put the fish on
display on the webcam, if it will make you feel better.
OK, now back to the lots photos
topic.
You may feel that a seller is
doing you a favor by posting photos of their lots for sale. However,
you may be overlooking some very important facts:
 | great breeding stock has
been sold for 50 years (or more) without the help of photos: People
have relied on the reputation and knowledge of seasoned breeders
to provide them with quality stock for over 50 years now. Sales
were conducted via telephone or through letters and never
included any photos of stock. The customer relied on the
credibility and reputation of the breeder. Internet betta sales
themselves are relatively new. They started only about 6 to 8 years ago. I was privileged to be one of the first breeders to
make internet betta purchases a viable and popular option for
the public. None of us established breeders ever posted any
photos of lots. Recently, many auction sites have popped up and
a very large number of novices and inexperienced people use them
to attempt to sell their stock. When dealing with an auction, it
is useful to see the item you are to bid on. So photos were
posted (and I agree that for auction purpose they should be).
Hence a new photo fad started. Today everyone and anyone posts
photos of fish to sell them. Ironically the very very top
breeders do not. Gorgeous lines were developed in the past (for
100 years) using great stock purchased via mail and ordered via
phone from reputable top breeders. The fact is that there were
less record of low quality stock, defective stock and scamming
then (without photos) than there is now (with photos LOL). Many
novices now hook buyers by posting photos. Photos may 'look'
nice, but if the lines are not established, gene pool not clean,
the stock will throw nothing worth while. A photo can never
replace the knowledge, hard work and reputation of a seasoned
top breeder. It is the stock of such breeders we offer for sale
here.
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| risk of infection: Most
of you may not know that taking photos of a betta entails moving
the betta to a "photo tank". Scratches, hard water
deposits and lack of clarity and adequate lighting usually make
all betta jars unsuitable to take photos. Hence when breeders
take photos of their lots, they usually move the fishes to a
tank used just for the purpose of taking shots. This will be a
brand new tank with very good lighting, set aside for the sole
purpose of taking shots. Due to lack of space (and oftentimes,
finances), breeders rarely have more than one of those in their
fishrooms. This means that all (or most) of the lots will end up
sharing the same tank while being photographed. This
sharing of the same water greatly increases the chances of
contamination, should one of the betta carry a disease ( a very
likely chance). Then you purchase the lot and bring the disease
into your fishroom.
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| photos can be deceiving:
Ever tried internet dating? You see a nice photo then you meet
the person and go "OH my God he/she looks NOTHING like the
photo". Needless to say, usually they look a lot WORSE then
their photo LOL... Well, if
I got a penny for each email I have received from people
complaining the bettas they got from Joe Schmoe do not look anything
like their photo, I would be a rich girl in deed :). Photos are
rarely a good representation of a fish. They can either make the
bettas look better or not give justice to the betta. Betta
colors are especially hard to capture on film and most often do
not translate well. Some breeders take a photo of one nice male,
then send you a similar sibling (not the same fish though) of
lesser caliber (and you'll never know for sure). This is easily
done with solid colored fish who usually look all pretty much
the same LOL color wise. Basing your
decision to purchase on a photo is actually a lot less accurate
method than basing your decision on the gene pool, purity of a
line and knowledge, credibility and advice of a reputable seller.
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| you can't SEE what you are
truly buying. Remember, when you buy top lines bettas you
buy GENES. More specifically you buy a gene POOL. In the pool
are oftentimes many genes, some of which are recessive
(genotype) meaning that they are carried by the betta but do not
SHOW. So here a photo would be of no help. To best understand
this VITAL concept (phenotypes and genotypes and their
respective photo outcome) you really really should click
here and read that page. You'll be soooo glad you did.
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Only fully
mature bettas look flashy. If you see a betta with long
showy fins on a photo, chances are the betta is already past its
breeding prime. No 4 months old betta look like the one pictured
below.
If you see a large long finned betta such as one to the left,
chances are it is over 8 months old and already past its
breeding prime. Another risk is that the gorgeous male has been
put up for sale by a breeder because it is actually what I refer
to as a "reject". These are very nice fishes that the
breeder selected to breed but that just wouldn't spawn. Or maybe
it is a female killer. Most breeders will not mention it and
simply put the nice photo up to hook the buyer. It is after all
hard to resist a gorgeous fish. But a gorgeous fish that won't
spawn for you or kill the female is as useless as a pet store
betta. It is a known fact that one should be very careful
if a fish looks "too" good to be for sale. There is
usually a reason why it is being 'dumped'. This does not imply
that ALL gorgeous fish are 'duds', but unless the buyer has a
top notch reputation I would be extra careful and weary.
Especially if the breeder does not have a large number of lots
for sale on a consistent basis.
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| The ideal stock is very
young and sometimes does not (yet) look like much: Your ideal stock is
a very young (the younger the better) virgin pair (one
that is not someone else's past failure) that is between 3 to 5
months old. If you purchase a betta that is older, it may look
flashy but has already lost most of its breeding
potential/lifespan. Bettas at a young age do not look like much
at all and if you saw them you probably would not want to pay
more than $5 for them LOL. Fins have not developed and
oftentimes neither has pattern or color. Consider the lot
below:
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photo of lot when male is 3
months old (looks like crap)
worth in your head: $5
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photo of same lot at
8 months old (looks gorgeous)
worth in your head: $500
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This is the SAME
betta!!!! As the above example clearly demonstrates,
taking photos of very young stock is a complete and alter waste
of time. Photos will not be of any help to demonstrate and
evaluate the REAL potential of the lot. Photos cannot replace
the knowledge the breeder has of his/her line and the track
record of the line itself (which will indicate the true
potential of your lot's genes). Remember, when you buy bettas,
you buy genes.
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| Taking good photos of a betta is
extremely time consuming. I am very experienced in taking betta
photos and still I find it very challenging to get a good shot.
Bettas don't pose for photos LOL. They don't stand still, are
constantly moving around (fidgety) and it is hard to get a clear shot. Also
they don't flare on command (trust me on that one, I TRIED!). Getting them to display and then being
able to snap the shot just at the full display split second is real
hard. A male that is not fully flaring will not look like much. Here
is an example to illustrate this:
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|
male in
normal state |
SAME male in
display state (note that lighting is now reflecting somewhat
differently on his pigments making him look almost like a different
fish color wise) |
Which would YOU buy? Well, it is
the SAME fish! I find that it takes on average about 15mn and about
20 shots to capture one good shot of ONE single betta (one that is
representative of what the fish looks like when flaring). Then count
on another 5 mn to download, process, reduce the image and upload
it. = 20 min per fish. You do the math. Say a seller has about 30
pairs to sell that week then it will take him/her about 10 hours
JUST to take photos of the males!!!!!!! Who has that kind of free
time on their hands? Remember that all of us have day jobs (and a
few of us have - or try to have - lives LOL)!! And while people are kept so busy snapping
their photos, they no longer have the time to be busy caring
for their bettas. That time wasted snapping photos would be best used caring for the bettas
themselves and insuring that they have the cleanest, most
sanitary living conditions. Water changes, health checks, daily
feeding, cleaning of tanks, regimented sanitization of aquarium
equipment is extremely time consuming but it is also ESSENTIAL.
Wasting this precious time on snapping useless shots of young
pairs seems a poor decision to me.
| successful breeders do
not need photos to sell bettas. They have worked hard at earning
a great reputation and that reputation alone sells stock. A not
so known/not so successful breeder may have lots of free time to
snap photos because they do not have many fish to sell / much customers interested
in buying their fishes. They have not yet paid their dues and do
not have a track record. When a successful breeder is offering
and selling 70-100 bettas a week, don't expect them to have time
to snap photos of them all. Neither should they need to. The
BETTATALK stock page offers one of the largest variety of
strains available on any one page at any time of the year. Just
take a look at our catalog and you
will see. This is not an easy accomplishment. I feel I am doing
more good to the betta community by locating and offering top
stock in many many color variations, than by offering only 10
lots for sale a month with cute photos.
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| I recommend photos for
auctioned lots. This is one situation where a photo is
indispensable because there is no set price and a bidding war
cannot be fought if you do not see what you are fighting for.
How else would you know when to stop biding when the price is
soaring into high altitudes? I am the one who started betta
auctions on the internet, with the launching of my "bidding
room" over 6 years ago, long before any of the current
auction sites ever existed. I am the one who posted photos of
the lots for auctions. Ironically I then came to the realization
that auctions were nothing but trouble (people over bid and end
up paying too much for bettas, because they so badly want to
"win" they go over board LOL). So I ended up canning my bidding room and
never offered another fish for auction again :). I prefer my
current system: one price, no wars, no hassles. First come first
serve, you order it first, it is yours.
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For all the above reason I have
never and never will post photos of the lots available weekly on the
stock page. Remember that I remain the most active seller of top
bettas in the US and that I have positive feedbacks coming out of my
nostrils (see my refs section). however, should you be a first time
buyer and really really nervous about trusting me, you are welcome
to ask me to put the bettas on the webcam. That, I can do :).
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