HELP!!! Strange Betta Wound

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BagelDog

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Apr 21, 2009
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About two days ago I noticed a small wound 1/4" behind the left gil of my betta. It was somewhat yellowish in color. Yesterday the wound looked a bit more normal like it was healing. This morning I was feeding my fish some blood worms and I noticed that a blood worm was stuck on the side of the betta, or so I thought. It turns out that it was coming out of the betta! I'm not sure if it was bloodworms coming out of him or if it was his innards. I saw them "stuff" coming out when he would swim aggressively.

Strangely, he seems to be acting pretty normal. Eating well, swimming and acting like a betta should.

Is this some strange disease, is it due to overfeeding, should I hold out any hope for the little guy?!

HELP ME!

[I'll try to post pics later today. It's been really dificult to get a clean picture of the wound due it's location.]
 

BagelDog

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Apr 21, 2009
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I just did a 33% watter change the day before the "stuff" was coming out. Should I change more than that? Water parameters are great in this tank. Well maintained and cleaned.

On a side note, I treated this tank for Ich about a month earlier. Could this be a result of the treatment?
 

montanafish gal

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Aug 1, 2009
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I don't know about the Ick but I do know that lots of water changes, once or even more a day is what will help heal him the fastest if it's a wound.
 

BagelDog

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Apr 21, 2009
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I'll keep up on the water changes.

Back to my original question, has anyone ever seen their betta's guts pushing out of their body? I think it's insane that he's even alive.
 

BagelDog

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Apr 21, 2009
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Here are the pics of the wound.

After coming home and feeding the little guy I could barely see the cut.
Sick Betta 038.JPG
Then two minutes later out comes his food. :jaw-dropping:
Sick Betta 042.JPG
Is it overfeeding? I have him in a tank with seven Dwarf Neon Rainbows and a lot of bottom dwelling fish. These Rainbows have a voracious appetite so I feed them liberally. Do you think the betta blew his own stomach out trying to compete for food?

Should I stop feeding him for a day or two to help the wound heal?

Sick Betta 038.JPG Sick Betta 042.JPG
 

paperdragon

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Mar 7, 2008
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This may be a silly question, but are you sure it was a bloodworm and not actual blood? One of mine had a minor injury that bled a slight bit, and it looked pretty odd, sort of like red goo instead of liquid.
 

BagelDog

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Apr 21, 2009
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I'm really not sure about the blood worm thing. I do know that I was feeding them blood worms at that very moment I saw his "guts" come out and that the other fish were very excited to eat what was coming out of him. Just as excited as they were to be eating the blood worms.

I thought that these long red strings coming out were his intestines but he really didn't seem to phased by losing his guts. The pictures above show him right after eating a few flakes of spirulina. It's pretty obvious it's chewed up flakes coming out of him.
 

LeahK

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Jul 5, 2007
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The pictures above show him right after eating a few flakes of spirulina. It's pretty obvious it's chewed up flakes coming out of him.
Yikes! So his food is actually passing through the wound, after he eats it? I guess this means the wound goes all the way through his skin to his insides?
I hesitate to give advice in this situation, because it's so weird, and I really have no clue what's the best thing to do. But if it were me, I would isolate him and fast him. The thing is, so far nothing seems to be infected. And that wound, whatever it is, maybe it can heal. But as long as his food keeps passing through the wound, it will stay open. So, that's why I say, isolate him in some super clean water and don't let him eat anything until that wound starts to close.
 
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