Do fancy tailed bettas live shorter lives than the "regular" veil tailed?

[Tink]

My regular veiled tailed bettas all live 4-5 years
However I have never had a crown tail or half-moon tailed betta live longer than 6 months with the exact same care....

The lady at the LFS says the fancy-tailed bettas are bred solely for looks and so they are frail....that doesn't seem reasonable to me....

But has anyone else found this to be true?

[psychobunny13]

The lady at the LFS was right. Fancier ones are harder to take care of since their long fins are more suceptible to problems, and their long fins make it harder for them to swim.

[Trev0r!]

true. i have had the same VT for 4 years and i bought a HM pair and the female got sick canstantly and since the males have such large and heavy finnage, they can "blow ther tail" which means the tail rips from too much activity such as flaring or breeding. you have to be very careful with them. When breeding, you generally breed HMs when they are younger so their finnage hasnt really fully developed so there is a less chance of blowing the tail.

[BettaLu&Meg]

The lifespan for wild bettas i believe is 3-5 years and i've had friend of mine that have had crowns and viels for 51/2 years. its how u take care of your bettas. ive had my 10 and batches of frys for a while now.

[becca89]

Fancy bettas may require more attention, but they can live just as long as vt bettas do with the right care. It depends how much work you are willing to put in. My trusty crown tail is going strong and has outlived my vt that was the same age.

[BurningAMber]

I agree with becca, its all in the care, you may need to add a bit extra for the fancier finned fish especially the ones with the heavy finnage, I used to have a black/copper HMPK male who out lived all of my other fish, vts included.