My betta is very bloated and has not eaten for weeks. Is he going to die?

Question

How can I feed a pea to my betta when he hasn't eaten anything for a week. Also I do believe he has Dropsy and there is no known cure. Can a pet store have any meds that can help?

Answer 1

no, if it is dropsy there is NOTHING that can help. the only thing that might help is adding aquarium salt to his water or doing a salt dip, but these only work if it's not really dropsy. dropsy is kidney failure. the only time salt dip works is if the bloating is from excess water and such... to add freshwater aquarium salt to his water add 1/2 a teaspoon to 1 gallon, or a tablespoon to every 5 gallons.

to do a salt dip add 4 teaspoon to a gallon of water, leave the fish in for up to 30 mins. watch him closely for any signs of distress and take him out immediately if he shows any.

good luck, I hope it's not real dropsy.

Answer 2

Hi there, I'd need more specific information on the betta's conditions and habitat. From my own knowledge a bloated fish can mean 4 or more things (going from ok-worst case scenarios). 1. He may be constipated from overfeeding. If he hasn't eaten for up to 3 weeks, he will eventually grow too weak to eat and will die. This has happened recently to my betta and I am grieving over his loss. If you're lucky the fish may get better and eat. Try feeding him a cooked, pealed pea. 2. He may have a swim bladder disorder (also caused, usually, by overfeeding) This can go away on it's own, if not, the fish may just starve to death because swim bladder will disable it from being able to properly swim to get food. There may be medications for it but usually the fish gets well on it's own. 3. Your betta may have Dropsy, a serious disease that usually and almost always, cannot be cured. If his scales start to pop out and look like a pine cone, the best you can do is try to treat him well and make things as comfortable as you can for him until the end. 4. He may have cancer or fish Tuburculosis, both of which have no known cure. If that is the case, just pray for the little guy and be sure to steralize everything he was in incase you decide to get another betta, because TB is a serious disease. There's a lot you can find out about it online. As for cancer, which I suspect my Miikun died of, not much you can do. I haven't been able to find any info on fish cancer.

The best cure is prevention. Always have test kits on hand and make sure your betta's water conditions are perfect in terms of PH, Nitrates, Nitrites, Ammonia, ect. Also, never let food rot on the bottom of his tank or bowl. Using a bit of aquarium salt is a good preventative for ich and fungal diseases. Try to vary his diet, some illnesses can be caused by lack of variety. Make sure the temperature is right. There's a lot of good info all over the net on these topics so learn as much as you can so you can take the best of care of your betta.

I wish you and your betta the best of luck.

Answer 3

If he continues to not eat, of course he will die.

Is he pooping? He sounds impacted Give him smell pieces of a pea (without the outer shell). He may eat that. Do not offer him any other type of food for a few days to a week, until he starts pooping again.

Are his scales sticking out, sort of like a pinecone? If so, that is Dropsy, a disease that is pretty well incurable and usually results from poor water conditions.

I'm guess that your betta is in a bowl without a filter and heater, right? Keeping bettas like this can result in a myriad of problems such as impaction, because colder temperatures inhibit their ability to metabolize their food. The best thing you could for him right now would be to put him in a real tank, at least 5 gallons, with a real filter (AZOO palm filter, for example) and a heater to heat the water to 80F.

If you cannot do this, at least replace 50%-80% of the water every day to reduce the ammonia levels, and move the betta bowl closer to a lamp, or increase the temp of your house to warm the water.

Answer 4

Bloated as in - does he look like a pinecone? That would be dropsy and I don't believe there's any cure for that. A trip to your local pet shop will help you - they can sell you meds to help your fish.
Don't forget, Bettas like warm water (use an aquarium heater) and larger tanks to swim in than the teensy bowls that they're sold in.

Answer 5

he hasnt ate anything for weeks? why didnt you do something about this sooner? you could have tried some fish med on him or done something...its sad how people wait until the last moment and then try to figure something out on how to make the fish better...

Answer 6

I hear they turn white when they are going to die but I don't know if thats true

Answer 7

Yes, probably. I sorry.