My male Betta seems to be very tactile. I wouldn't say he glances off things, or is trying to rub off against objects. He doesn't act agitated or itchy or uncomfortable.
When I added an ammonia alert to the tank, he nosed it a bit and even reached out with one of his ventral fins to pat at the edges and the stem of the suction cup, giving it a good once-over, just feeling it out. He wiggles through the moss and other bunched plants all the times, and even between the petrified wood (which is really smooth from eons of weather) pieces in the tank. He does swim up along the glass, but he's more attracted to the various objects with different textures and behaves as though he loves feeling them and the different tactile sensations.
Is this something others have observed in their own Bettas, or is this unusual behavior that I should be investigating?
His tank is a 10gallon planted, I check my own water with the API liquid test, the results are in optimal ranges, although I want to get more floating plants, possibly duckweed. I do weekly water changes, 25-50%, and I have three gold Inca snails as tankmates. The only other objects in the tank are the coconut half betta hide you can buy on the market, and a colorful coffee cup I boiled to death in a saucepan of water from the dollar store. Oh, and three moss balls, For a tank background, I glued wacky geometric shapes of bright glitter paper to a larger piece of poster board, and prop it up behind his tank. He seems to like it, and floats and flutters around it checking out all the bright colors and angles. (nothing actually reflects him, not even the holographic silver elements, it's just brilliant and pretty and bright and interesting, and I can flip it over to the other side that's too long for the tank so he gets a different view each day, so to speak.)
He doesn't flare a lot, he just spreads his fins when relaxing, like he's showing off his dashing good looks. I've seen him do real flares, gills and all, and most of the time he's resting on his fins like a tripod, looking for all the world like he's merely showing off, calm as can be.
Am I reading him wrong? He's the first betta I've owned.
When I added an ammonia alert to the tank, he nosed it a bit and even reached out with one of his ventral fins to pat at the edges and the stem of the suction cup, giving it a good once-over, just feeling it out. He wiggles through the moss and other bunched plants all the times, and even between the petrified wood (which is really smooth from eons of weather) pieces in the tank. He does swim up along the glass, but he's more attracted to the various objects with different textures and behaves as though he loves feeling them and the different tactile sensations.
Is this something others have observed in their own Bettas, or is this unusual behavior that I should be investigating?
His tank is a 10gallon planted, I check my own water with the API liquid test, the results are in optimal ranges, although I want to get more floating plants, possibly duckweed. I do weekly water changes, 25-50%, and I have three gold Inca snails as tankmates. The only other objects in the tank are the coconut half betta hide you can buy on the market, and a colorful coffee cup I boiled to death in a saucepan of water from the dollar store. Oh, and three moss balls, For a tank background, I glued wacky geometric shapes of bright glitter paper to a larger piece of poster board, and prop it up behind his tank. He seems to like it, and floats and flutters around it checking out all the bright colors and angles. (nothing actually reflects him, not even the holographic silver elements, it's just brilliant and pretty and bright and interesting, and I can flip it over to the other side that's too long for the tank so he gets a different view each day, so to speak.)
He doesn't flare a lot, he just spreads his fins when relaxing, like he's showing off his dashing good looks. I've seen him do real flares, gills and all, and most of the time he's resting on his fins like a tripod, looking for all the world like he's merely showing off, calm as can be.
Am I reading him wrong? He's the first betta I've owned.
