You can train bettas :D

Squeakfish

Squeakfish

Fight the current!
Jan 9, 2008
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SoCal
I am currently in the process of training my betta to flare on command.
I put a mirror in front of his tank and whenever he flares, I give him one betta pellet.
He used to not even notice the mirror was there, only allowing his fins to fan out when he saw his reflection.
So far, he's progressed to where the minute the mirror shows up, he swims straight to it and flares quickly multiple times, then looks up for food. I've only been doing this for a few days. He is learning so fast!
I'm hoping to get it to the point where I can make him flare without the mirror, but that may take some serious training. Even if he doesn't learn that much, it's still great to find out I can train my fish! :grinyes:
 
Be careful how much you feed your betta. They have an insatiable appetite and can eat themselves to death if given the opportunity. Or in your case, he might flare himself to death!
 
good old operant conditioning. Skinner would be so proud. you'd be rather amazed at how many times a rat will press a level (1500+) to get a couple sugar pellets. animals are so funny :rofl:
 
aquaparadise10 said:
Isn't de only reason why he flares is because he sees another male?
Click to expand...

well he sees himself, which he thinks is another male. However, you can see that the behavior has been reinforced by the food because the behavior became more frequent (i.e. an increased number of flares at the mirror). hence, he learned = operant conditioning (at least in this case it's operant)

it's funny how many things can / are conditioned not only into animals but ourselves as well.
 
the only issue that i can see with thi whole thing is that when a betta flares its because he goes into fighting mode and wants to scare off or fight the other "betta like" fish. When you do this though they get stressed out. How would you feel if you thought someone was always trying to break into your house, you be super stressed out.
 
never said it was a good idea lol. that being said, I don't think it would be considered a stressor. the betta is expressing his dominance by flaring up. this is common with all types of wild animals. since the mirror is removed, it's as if the other fish ran off (which is the point of him flaring up). it's almost like a confidence booster or something :lol:

edit:
to the OP, based on what I know about conditioning I don't think you will be able to get him to flare without the mirror, or some other type of stimulus. that's how this stuff works. you might be able to replace the mirror with some other type of stimulus (your finger, a picture, something). otherwise, if you able to get him to flare whenever he wants food (which will probably be always), he's going to flare all of the time, which probably wouldn't be good. come to think of it, this sounds more like classical conditioning than operant, but that's besides the point.

fun little experiment though.
 
you can train goldfish to go here to see the kit lol http://www.fish-school.com/
fishschool.jpg
 
*raises eyebrows* Do those kit things even work?

But anyways, I've heard that bettas can be trained but never actually heard of anyone doing it. should be an interesting experience, and it will impress your friends. ;)
 
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