Should I flush?

[loveandaPLATY]

I have a female betta, and she's been constipated and bloated for months and months. I tried many unsuccessful times to feed her things that would help her make a bowel movement. She refused to eat them. After a while I just gave up. I figured she would die, and she didn't. Her activities were normal so I just let it go. She has now gotten to that point in the past 2 days where her little fins cannot support her weight anymore. She sits lazily on the bottom, or if she has enough energy she gets to the top of her bubble and uses the plant leaves to support her. I really don't know what my options are here. She will not eat anything but her brown pellets and she really looks like shes going to explode. Should I wait, or should I just get it over with?

 

[stephalpha]

have you tried fasting her?

 

[UCF-Planted]

Whatever you do, don't flush a live fish, ever. It's really poisoning the fish to death. If you decide that euthanasia is best do something a little more human, like spraying the gills with rubbing alcohol or even freezing. Flushing live is a worst possible scenario.

I second the fast idea, bettas can go a long time without food, so don't worry about starving her, but not feeding may help her out. Also a salt bath may help some, maybe somebody can chime in on what kind of salt to try. Epsom salt works well for people, maybe fish also?

 

[rwilliams254]

Have you tried pouring Pepto Bismol in the tank.



....KIDDING...

 

[palmbreeze]

I'm sure you've tried the frozen pea thing. Try fasting as others have said. I've also heard that salt baths help with betta constipation. www.bettatalk.com is a good site for help on betta problems. Don't flush her alive please! I use Clove Oil to Euthenize any fish.

 

[Weezer]

If the good suggestions fail, i would use the freezer method...

 

[Coler]

^ I agree...give her a chance...but whatever you do don't flush her alive.

 

[loveandaPLATY]

I wasn't intending to flush her alive. I would've done something to finish her off. And yeah, I've tried fasting. I'm gonna try the pea thing one more time. She can't really swim away so I'm gonna try sticking it on a tooth pick and seeing if that will work. I really hate to see her die. She is beautiful!

 

[spirals]

How much has she been eating? Those little brown pellets can fill up a Betta pretty quickly. I'd suggest fast her for about 4 or 5 days then offer 1 pellet, fast another couple of days, then offer another. Is the water quality up to par?

 

[Corvina]

Ahhhh. I agree with the fasting idea, but if you've tried it I don't know.
Poor thing.
Clove oil if you have to euthanize is said to be humane. Available @ a drugstore. Good Luck!