It's really hard for me to know how much he actually eats, since he's in a community tank with Mollies. I try to feed the mollies their flakes first (sometimes betta eats a few of those), I even try to distract the mollies with the pellets for my cory cats, but no go. As soon as I put in the freeze dried bloodworms, they all swarm, and I only ever really see Mr. Blue Betta get maybe two bites.
We all go through that routine usually twice a day. A little more if there's fry, and if there's not, sometimes I'll only feed once a day.
What exactly is a "blanched pea?" lol I think I have some frozen peas in my freezer, would those work? How many and how often? And in place of regular food?
And no, other than the big belly/neck, he seems fine. Behaving now just as he did since, well, about day 3, after he got used to his tank mates. I've had him in there for about 3-4 months.