<p>Before you laugh - don't (please.)
I've heard of schools allowing non lethal fish as pets. </p>
<p>I have two beta in one tank that's barely 1 ft x 1 ft. Would any school let me bring them? It was weird leaving them when I went on vacation for a week. </p>
<p>Is there a list of schools that allow this? I'm wondering if any of the schools I'm applying to allow it. Thanks</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity, are those betta female? I was under the impression that in general, keeping 2 betta in the same tank means that they will inevitably fight and kill each other (if they’re male, anyway).</p>
<p>(Not exactly relevant, just the first thing that popped into my head. Haha)</p>
<p>But to answer your question, most schools would be fine with that…it should be easy enough to find on the school’s website.</p>
<p>they are both female, but there’s a divider in the tank.</p>
<p>when i bought them, the guy didn’t tell me they were commonly known as “siamese fighting fish.” every now and then they see each other through the holes of the divider and ram into it, but for the most part they are fine.</p>
<p>and on a college’s website, would it be under what to bring?</p>
<p>Dude… they fight each other??? Why is there a divider? That’s freakin awesome! Free entertainment right there.</p>
<p>not funny at all…
and there are a lot of aggressive fish species…</p>
<p>Check college housing policies. Run a Google search for _______ College/University housing policies. Pets should be in there.</p>
<p>thanks, i did that and only found some for a few.</p>
<p>curse anti-pet colleges :(</p>
<p>but i found that many schools allow cats, a lesser amount allow dogs, and even a handful allow pets/rodents. that’s overkill. guess i’ll have to remember to select pet-free housing.</p>
<p>I actually have had no experiences where I heard of a college that wouldn’t let you bring fish. Our school allows fish in up to a 20-gallon tank. Most people have bettas here.</p>
<p>20 gallons? that’s huge!</p>
<p>i checked some schools’ websites and they explicitly said “no pets allowed on property owned by the school (with the exception of guide animals).”</p>
<p>maybe i’ll ask when i get accepted to the schools if they’ll make an exception??</p>
<p>It really does depend on the college. Mine (UCSC) allows “anything that would die if not submerged in water.” Maximum tank size allowed is 10 gallons. I have a male betta in a 3 gallon tank.</p>
<p>Remember that you will need to figure out how to bring your fish home over long breaks otherwise you risk killing your fish from a dirty tank (especially if you don’t have a filter) or starvation among other possibilities. I live close enough that I can just pack up my little guy in a small travel tank and bring his tank home with as little stress to him as possible. There are those multi-day feeders, but I’ve never had good luck with them. Either the fish ignore them or they don’t dissolve over time like they should. It’s generally not a problem to leave a betta for a few days, but I wouldn’t leave them any longer than that without food and regular tank cleanings</p>
<p>Not my place to judge, but you really should get a second tank for one of those female bettas. Even females are known to be aggressive towards each other and it can be highly stressful to them if they can see each other through the divider. Plus that tank barely sounds big enough for even one betta let alone two. I feel bad enough with my little guy when he flares and attacks his own reflection :(</p>
<p>
Colleges like to word things weird. One was like “a pet that must live under water.” I feel like my idea of a thin roof-tank above a room housing my bird would not be appreciated.</p>
<p>
Easy for you to say; it isn’t socially acceptable for us non-kender to steal things, so we have to pay.</p>
<p>i’ll be within a 2.5 hour drive, and i do have travel tanks.</p>
<p>my beta are actually doing fine. i have them watch TV all the time so they don’t focus on each other, and even when they can see each other through the tiny holes, they just stare, they’ve only hit the divider once or twice.</p>
<p>and i do want to get a bigger tank, but none have dividers and i can’t afford getting two bigger tanks. </p>
<p>but i know what you mean, i feel bad when i accidentally feed them too much. once i put food in but too much came out, so i quickly tried to take it out. but the red fish ate it so quickly and she was basically upside down, and the blue one had food coming out of its gills :O</p>
<p>i basically treat them like my own kids, and people think its weird to get attached to fish.</p>
<p>BillyMc: That was the wording my RA/CA gave to the hall for the year, actually XD. I forget the precise wording in the handbook, but that line sums it up the best. The full thing was about a paragraph long if I recall right.</p>
<p>And Kenders do not steal. They borrow and find ;). Poor Kenders always get such a bad reputation just because a few people had some bad experiences traveling with one. But I’m happy someone finally recognized the nickname.</p>
<p>CPUscientist3000: I’m glad to hear you’re offering them stimulation! My little guy is sadly not in view of my tv/computer monitor so I alternate things outside his tank. Thankfully I have tons of little plushies and toys in my room so this isn’t too difficult. He seems to like a gold dragon I have the most. I’ll be trying a plastic Yoshi toy with him later, though.</p>
<p>If you can, definitely try to get a bigger tank or a second tank (at least as big as the one you have already). Craigslist can sometimes yield some good deals, but be very careful when using it if you do. Your bettas will love you for it! I can’t imagine having my little guy in any less than 3 gallons. He has absolutely flourished having the space. I do understand and empathize about cost issues, though.</p>
<p>Ack on the food! Definitely be careful with that (although I’m sure you are now). Bettas are very easy to overfeed. I usually give mine a day of fasting to clear out his system so he doesn’t get swim bladder or anything. I’ve also heard about using bits of defrosted pea to help with clearing a betta’s system. I haven’t tried it yet, but I might over spring break as a treat for my betta.</p>
<p>I had the problem mine would not eat. Had to give him live worms (tube I think? I don’t think they were blood) before he finally associated me with food when I first got him. He’ll take pellets now, thankfully. The worms were a hassle to deal with in my small dorm room.</p>
<p>for a graduation present i’ll ask for a larger dual tank :)</p>
<p>i give mine a day of fasting too. i tried the pea… made them even more bloated ahaha. the scariest thing was the food coming out of the gills, i know that hurt :(</p>
<p>i give mine pellets, gel brine shrimp, and freeze dried bloodworms.</p>
<p>back on topic: i will be bringing them to college no matter what hehehe</p>
<p>Poor things :(</p>
<p>At least you won’t have to worry about freezer space since you don’t have them on any frozen food. But something to consider as well. Plus having a small amount of freezer space is a benefit to you sometimes as well :)</p>
<p>I would imagine fish shouldn’t be too hard to hide if your college for some reason doesn’t allow them. I can’t imagine fish not being allowed, just a limitation on tank size. Bettas are definitely very easy to take care of in college.</p>
<p>I don’t know how you go about it, but I keep a pitcher in my room to let some water sit over night (with some water conditioner, of course) when I do weekly partial water changes. Just something to think about bringing (if you hadn’t already). I also use a turkey baster to help clean out the gravel and to siphon out a portion of the water for a partial water change. Cheap, but effective and easy to store in a small space.</p>
<p>Thankfully bettas are fairly resilient (more so than many goldfish). They do make great dorm pets. I hope there won’t be any issue bringing them with you!</p>
<p>I use the baster too haha. </p>
<p>I have water in small containers that I let sit for when I do water changes. And yes betas are really resilient. I tell my betas everyday how proud I am of them for surviving since august. I was an inexperienced fish owner ;)</p>
<p>And thanks, I hope there’s no problem with me bringing them; I wouldn’t have the guts to sneak lol</p>
<p>
Of course, of course.</p>
<p>
Best part of that series, in my opinion. Though most of the 3000 or so spinoff novels were Kender-light, if there were any at all.</p>
<p>CPUscientist3000: I’m glad someone else uses the baster! I’ve been doing everything I can to find the best space saving ideas and still give my betta good care (the pitcher has served well since it takes up less of a footprint on my desk, but holds a decent amount of water). Biggest challenge I’ve faced is keeping the tank at a decent temperature with all the changing weather we’ve had here in Santa Cruz the last few months. It actually snowed here a couple weeks ago! My betta has been tolerating the changes well, though.</p>
<p>[OT]
BillyMc: There’s so little love for Kenders, isn’t there </3? There’s an awesome site called the Kencyclopedia (if you don’t already know about it) that has very extensive information on the race if you have any interest 
[/OT]</p>