The kids I babysit for each have their own bettas. Both are in horrible condition, have the beginings of finrot, and just look so sad. They are kept in 1/4-1/2 gallons with gravel filled with fish flakes and no dechlorinator to be seen. What can I do? I would like to give them a caresheet or something, but I don't want to come across as "you don't know how to care for animals" and such. How can I bring it up? This family is the kind with lots of pets that are somewhat slightly neglected.

If it were me I would just care for the fish, they probably wouldn't even notice. That is up to you. Since you do work for them maybe you should say something. You should mention that you love fish, and everything to do with them. Any chance to work with them you will. Tell them you notice their beautiful Betta's and that you weren't sure if they noticed that a few had finrot. Ask if they wouldn't mind if you fixed that for them. That it would definitely be you pleasure, being that you love working with fish. That way that gives you permission to change their water, and give them meds. It also doesn't make them feel bad, or feel like you are saying they don't take good care of their fish. If you want to care for all of their animal while you are there, suggest they pay you a very low amount in addition to the babysitting money. I would suggest 2-5 dollars. That way they just think you want to make a little extra money, and they are happy they don't have to clean up as much after their pets.

Those are just a few ideas of what I would do. I'm sure some others will have even better ideas. Good luck!

that sounds like a good idea. i think i would try tha path to be honest.
im sure they wouldnt even notice if you did clean them out a bit.

Good suggestions from the previous posters. I agree. When I was there babysitting, I would just give the tanks a cleaning. I'm sure they wouldn't mind and if they said anything later, you could just saying something like "Oh, I love fish and I felt like doing it", or something like that

Good luck with them and let us know how it goes.

i agree with what's been said too, i'm sure they won't complain obviously they don't like doing it themselves so they'd probably be happy to have you do it for them.

Thanks, I feel better about this now The only problem is that I don't babysit on a regular schedual. Sometimes I babysit twice a week, but most of the time its once every few months. The bettas are still acting fine (puzzles me beyond belief since I slave over Orchard's health and he still has problems) so I want to do something before things go down hill. Ermm...do I just call them and ask about it? My brother is friends with their boy, so maybe I could "stage" to bring michael home cuz he stayed over too long, and tell them "by the wayyy....". What do you guys think?

if it were ME (o course, i dont know these people) I would bring a caresheet and some dechole, and "teach" the kids how to do it and why. and bringing in the movie Nemo helps with young kids... (thats how i teach adults at my work, through there kids)

How old are the children?

i agree -
depending on how old the children are, you could use the baby sitting time to teach them how to take care of their pets properly.
you could make it a 'fun' activity for them, they will usually respond to that.

The boy is 11ish (seems much less interested in the fish..or his hermit crab, or his bird, etc) and the girl is turing six this month I think. I think she really likes her "Fisha" and just LOVES to feed it Fisha is HUGE, like this big ________________________________________ with fins

Okay...

In 2 1/2 hours, I am going to confront them!! I'm scared, I don't like situations like this. I'll post how it went, but I need words of encouragement!

Christmas is coming, if you can afford it why don't you get a small basket and fill it with small samples of the things they need, and a care sheet

give it to them early

Good luck! *Hugs*

i'm sure you'll do great w/ 'em.

let us know how it went...

I did it!!! Omg I'm so proud of myself. I know, dorky, but I'm shy with people, especially when I telling people that they are doing things wrong.

So I talked to the mom, and it turns out its a tad worse than I thought. They get their water changed every 1-2 weeks, and no water conditioner! My god..how are these things still alive and making bubblenests? I wish Orchard was like that lol.

I was right, they are in 1/4 gallon tanks. The son tried to tell me bettas were supposed to live in little containers GRRR! So I told them that with a container that small, they will need to be doing water changes at least every other day to keep ammonia down. I suggested the cheapest and best thing for them was to buy a 10 gal tank from walmart and a divider and keep each on either side, with the water level at least three inches below the divider and some plants/decorations along the wall of the divider. I could only guess since I've never kept bettas in those conditions, but I said that this way they would probably only need water changes once a week. Is that right? I'm gonna make them a caresheet and bring them the leftovers of my cheapie conditioner to start them off. The woman said they have a lot of animals, so the fish don't get taken care of. I had to resist telling she shouldn't have bought them...of course they are planning on getting the little girl a hamster soon too. That is too many animals, even for myself. If you are going to have two cats, a dog, a bird, two fish, a hermit crab and a hamster, you better be taking good care of all of them.

Thanks for the help everyone Can some one direct me to some good care sheets and info on different kinds of rot?

wtg!

Well done!! lets just hope they carry on listening to you, they do sound like they want to care for them right, at least they are not the people who will turn their noses up at you.

Good job! I am proud of you

Great job, Kissy!

I completely agree with you about the fact that no matter how many animals you have, they all need to be taken care of. It is no excuse to say the fish are neglected because there are other animals to be taken are of. Augh.

Anyways, great job again!

congrats hun!! im so proud of you
it takes alot of guts to do something like that

I did it again today!!! A girl in my english class said she won a goldfish and was keeping it in a vase. I gave her some basic care info and sent her to Kokos. She seems like she wants to keep the thing alive and likes them, so I hope she does good! She says she does daily waterchanges already, so thats a good sign I'm begininning to feel a bit more confident!

Good for you Kissy! I'm glad you are able to help people.

My boss told me that they keep their betta in a little clear container - he said it was probably only a quart!! I tried to tell him that he needs a bigger container and a plant, but he just walked away.

I gave them the caresheet I made and some extra cheapie water conditioner to start them off. I hope they upgrade! They might go away next week so if they do, they asked me to let their dog out and stuff. I can do waterchanges too muahahaha!!

dang, ur on a roll kissy!

Sadly, the family did not get them bigger tanks. I hope they are at least changing the water more often and feeding less... I guess its good that they are using waterconditioner now.