My poor Betta has had a ROUGH 24-hour period. First of all, Magellan (the Betta) celebrated his 1st birthday on Friday (YAY!! I've had him for 7 months now, and going by the general rule that Bettas are about five months old before they're taken to the stores to sell, I estimate him to be a year old!).
Anyway, on Saturday evening, I noticed he had something coming out of his mouth. Upon further investigation, I noticed it was a hair. It looked long enough that I could try to get it out of his mouth either by grabbing it or trapping it against the side of the tank while he swam away from it. After about 10 minutes of patiently "chasing" him around the tank, he wasn't having any of it! I left him alone for about half an hour to see if he could get it out on his own and when I came back, he looked a little panicked and like he might have been having trouble breathing. So I grabbed a pair of my tweezers and washed them off well with hot water only (no soap!) and tried to get the hair out that way. I was able to get it out on the third try. It wasn't very long, about an inch and a half, which was about as much as I saw when it was in his mouth. I turned the tank light off and left him alone (I checked on him but didn't get too close as not to rile him any) to let him rest.
Tonight, I was transferring him from his "carrier" tank (I had gone home from college for a week and came back tonight) to the big tank and he jumped out of the net! I think he *might* have hit the metal bar on the top of the tank stand (it's covered with a velvet-ish material) and fell on the floor! I was able to scoop him back up and get him in the tank quickly (he was out of the water for about 6 or 7 seconds total), but the poor thing has just been through SO much in the last 24 hours!
SO, will he be alright? Is this just too much stress for his little fish body to handle? Did hitting the floor do him in? He seems to be doing alright for now...he's swimming, moving his fins, and coming up for air. I didn't feed him last night because I usually don't on Saturdays as to let his digestive system rest and clear out, but after the stress of being chased to get hair out of his mouth, I thought it might make him sick if I fed him. Should I feed him a little tonight? Should I wait until tomorrow afternoon or evening (if he's still around) to feed him?
Basically, I'm freaking out and am wanting to know if he's going to be okay or if I should be expecting a dead fish in the morning. Is there anything I can do to make him more comfortable?
Also, when I had my hand in the tank for the hair incident, I had washed my hands and arms (to the elbows) with just hot water (no soap) and I had washed my hands up to the elbows (again without soap) tonight just before the catastrophe of having to scoop him off the floor, so my hands were clean and did not have any soap residue on them.
Any help/advice/suggestions you could give me would be greatly appreciated! I'm so attached to this fish it's not funny!
Thank you for reading all of this! I know I rambled quite a bit, but I'm REALLY nervous right now!
Anyway, on Saturday evening, I noticed he had something coming out of his mouth. Upon further investigation, I noticed it was a hair. It looked long enough that I could try to get it out of his mouth either by grabbing it or trapping it against the side of the tank while he swam away from it. After about 10 minutes of patiently "chasing" him around the tank, he wasn't having any of it! I left him alone for about half an hour to see if he could get it out on his own and when I came back, he looked a little panicked and like he might have been having trouble breathing. So I grabbed a pair of my tweezers and washed them off well with hot water only (no soap!) and tried to get the hair out that way. I was able to get it out on the third try. It wasn't very long, about an inch and a half, which was about as much as I saw when it was in his mouth. I turned the tank light off and left him alone (I checked on him but didn't get too close as not to rile him any) to let him rest.
Tonight, I was transferring him from his "carrier" tank (I had gone home from college for a week and came back tonight) to the big tank and he jumped out of the net! I think he *might* have hit the metal bar on the top of the tank stand (it's covered with a velvet-ish material) and fell on the floor! I was able to scoop him back up and get him in the tank quickly (he was out of the water for about 6 or 7 seconds total), but the poor thing has just been through SO much in the last 24 hours!
SO, will he be alright? Is this just too much stress for his little fish body to handle? Did hitting the floor do him in? He seems to be doing alright for now...he's swimming, moving his fins, and coming up for air. I didn't feed him last night because I usually don't on Saturdays as to let his digestive system rest and clear out, but after the stress of being chased to get hair out of his mouth, I thought it might make him sick if I fed him. Should I feed him a little tonight? Should I wait until tomorrow afternoon or evening (if he's still around) to feed him?
Basically, I'm freaking out and am wanting to know if he's going to be okay or if I should be expecting a dead fish in the morning. Is there anything I can do to make him more comfortable?
Also, when I had my hand in the tank for the hair incident, I had washed my hands and arms (to the elbows) with just hot water (no soap) and I had washed my hands up to the elbows (again without soap) tonight just before the catastrophe of having to scoop him off the floor, so my hands were clean and did not have any soap residue on them.
Any help/advice/suggestions you could give me would be greatly appreciated! I'm so attached to this fish it's not funny!
Thank you for reading all of this! I know I rambled quite a bit, but I'm REALLY nervous right now!
. I rinsed him off, put him in the cup (again) and he was VERY upset with me. However, by the next day, he was doing great and hungry for breakfast. Now, he is king of his new, big tank (55) and harasses the loaches.