Another Betta question! He won't eat!

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Finzzup

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Dec 1, 2002
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I've literally fallen in love with Bettas now! I've got four of them now (all males, all separated).

I picked up one at Walmart and normally I wouldn't buy their fish (after reading this board) but this little guy is GORGEOUS. His colors are purple, black and orange. Kind of like a little Halloween fish. I couldn't help myself...

He's in a 2 Gallon jar, very warm room, and other Bettas in 2-3 gallon jars are also there. I've had him almost 3 weeks now and he has not eaten a single thing!! I've tried my normal Betta Bio-Gold, I've tried cheap ones, flakes, bloodworms -- and he refuses to eat.

He's very active, has a giant bubble nest that he started the day he moved in, he flares at the picture of the Betta on the food box, he seems to be perfect in every way.

I've never had this happen! Usually these little guys are like pigs after their food...

Any suggestions on what else I can do? I don't want him to starve to death -- and he is just SO PRETTY!
 
A fish thats not eating bloodworm?! Something must be done!

If you havent already, try live bloodworm or culture your own brine shrimp. If he wont eat these, then there is a problem. It could be a intestinal parasite, I dont honestly know.

You could try and explain the situation to a reputable dealer, and they may have some general medication available(which will prob cost more than the fish).

As a last resort there is always the vet. Believe me, when my £50 Discus got sick, I took him strait to the vet, and got medication (which could only be obtained from a licenced vet) which cured him in days.

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the reply, Roland... I'm just going to keep trying and hoping. I was leery of getting him from Walmart, but couldn't resist the colors.

:(
 
He sounds gorgeous! Can you post a pic?

If he looks okay, isn't displaying any symptoms and acts normal, I wouldn't worry too much. If he gets lethargic, loses color, or shows signs of disease I would start to worry. It could be that he just isn't hungry. I mean, who says you have to eat whenever food is put in front of you?

Try to give him one pellet and kind of "point it out" to him. If he takes it great. If he doesn't, I would keep watching him closely. When he's hungry he'll eat.

DrD
 
Try This

My betta didn't eat for about the same amount of time when I first got him. I also tried many different foods with no luck. I thought he would starve to death. Finally I dropped in a dried bloodworm & wiggled it just slightly with the blunt end of a bamboo skewer. He quickly ate it. After I did that for a couple of days he started eating normally. In fact now he will greedily scarf down just about anything offered.

HTH

Virginia
 
Live blackworms or glassworms have always worked great for me when I have fish that won't eat. Glassworms will float on the top of the water so just dump a couple in, and use your finger to keep the blackworm dangling right in front of the betta so it doesn't fall to the bottom. If you have other fish that eat frozen food, you could also try some frozen beefheart or brine shrimp.
 
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