Our Betta

I guess my worms on the lanai aren't enough.

The boys have been wanting to get a pet again. They came across an online game in which you try to keep your fish alive and breed them to come up with new fish. (Which brought up its own set of questions. . .) They've been been pouring over a library book on aquarium fish for several days.

Fish are easy, right? Easy and possibly not quick to kill? We had goldfish when the boys were toddlers, and it was the nasty Midland water that got to them. Honest, it wasn't me.

So today we ventured out and chose a betta. The type that is supposed to thrive in a smallish environment without all the fancy set ups that non-pet-people like me can handle. (Also read: cheap.)

The boys had quite the time choosing a name.

C5's first suggestion was "Bubbly." That was quickly shot down. Soon after, though, the boys had narrowed it down to naming our betta after a Greek god.

"Who was the Greek god of war? What was his name? You know, the Romans called him Mars. . ." J9 asked. I couldn't remember. Honestly, all the Greek deities kind of blend together for me, and it has been over a year since we studied ancient Greece. Finally someone piped up, "Ares!"

T8 recommended Poseidon. Then started the lively debate over whether Ares or Poseidon was the most appropriate name for our little betta. R7 was in favor of Ares. "I can never remember how to say the other guy's name!" J9 argued against Ares, even though he recommended that name. "Sure he was the god of war, but if he got hurt, he just ran away."

I was silently rooting for Poseidon.

It was a lively 10 minute debate before settling on something they mutally agreed upon. The consensus? Poseidon. But his full name is Poseidon Ares B_____.

Oh, did I mention the boys named R7's cactus? Spike George B_____.

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Comments

We have a beta too, I am not too much of a pet person either but we have kept it alive for a whole year now. Yea!

Thanks for you comments on my blog, it made my day. :)
Posted by: Amie at April 1, 2006 07:58 AM

I had a beta for several years. He was gorgeous--dark iridescent blue with long trailing fins.

I named him Hiro after Emperor Hirohito, who died on the day we got him. After all, he WAS a Japanese fighting fish, right?

Hiro knew me. He would come and swim and dance at the side of the bowl when I came up and talked to him. As long as I talked, he danced. He only danced for me. Probably because I was the one who fed him, but I think he knew me.

He lived to be a very old man and I cried like I had lost a friend when he died. I had. I never imagined a fish could be so friendly and cheerful.

I hope your boys have as much fun with Poseidon as I did with Hiro. I should probably tell you that I was in my 30's when I had him and I still remember him fondly and think of him whenever I see (or read of) a Beta.

There are a lot of good beta websites on the web that can help you with the care and feeding of the fish. They aren't hard to take care of once you learn about their needs. Hiro loved bloodworms.
Posted by: Kim from Hiraeth at April 1, 2006 08:45 AM

and yes, I do know how to spell betta. (I hate when I misspell! grrr.)
Posted by: Kim from Hiraeth at April 1, 2006 08:47 AM

we have had a number of bettas. mostly losing them to extreme-quick weather chenges and th5 gave one a bath once... they do last a nice while mostly. like the name. and have the boys figured out they can call him PAB for short?
Posted by: mtnmama at April 1, 2006 09:07 AM

Never owned a fish, but when my older brother had gerbils in elementary school, he wanted to name them Ashurbanipal and Tigleth Pilezar. They ended up with the somewhat more conventional names of Cheeto and Sprouts. I still like the other names better though. :)

Posted by: kathryn at April 1, 2006 07:11 PM

google is the good search engine.
Posted by: Smart Posting at April 3, 2006 09:09 AM

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