i have a beta fish who just wont eat. i give him food and he tries it and then spits it out. im scared that hes not eating enough and hes the prettiest one i have. should i change the kind of food? i see him go to the bottom of the bowl and check his poo to see if its food, thats nasty.
2007-06-27 20:49:12 · 11 answers · asked by ? 3 in Pets ➔ Fish
Along with Kylie's suggestion of new food, and the possibility that the water needs changed, if he isn't at a comfortable temperature, he won't have much of an appetite either.
Since you mention that he's in a bowl, you may not be using a heater - bettas do best when their between 75-85o F. Too warm or too cool and the become lethargic and won't eat as well.
Since he's in a bowl, the water should be changed frequently (every 2-3 days) to keep the ammonia and nitrite inthe water from building up - both are toxic to fish, and both have appetite loss as a symptom.
If you're seeing poo in the bowl, either he's fairly new, or he must be eating something. If he is new, you might just be giving him a different food than what he's used to eating. It may also be too large ot too hard for him to eat comfortably - try soaking it a minute or so in water before you feed him. You may also be overfeeding him - 3-4 pellets about 1-2 times a day is all the need - if you give him too much, he may just not be interested. You can also try changing the food, or varying his diet to include some frozen bloodworms or daphnia.
2007-06-27 22:09:48 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Is he new? Many bettas don't eat when they're getting used to their new surroundings. If that's the case, just wait a few days and try feeding him again. Bettas will eat when they are hungry enough.
He might also just be picky. What are you feeding him? The recommended diet for a betta is a staple of pellets (they don't really like flakes), and maybe blood worms, mosquito larve, brine shrimp or daphnia as treats once or twice a week. Bettas can be picky eaters and they love variety in their diet. However, this doesn't mean you need to keep searching for and buying new foods till your betta finds one he likes! Like I said, bettas will eat anything when they are hungry enough. As long as your food isn't bad for him (has the right protein content, etc) it is fine to make him wait until he's hungry enough to eat it.
It might be that he can't get the food into his mouth. I've seen that happen with a lot of bettas. You might have to get some small pellets for him. I use HBH Betta Bites which are tiny, and I feed my bettas about 3 or 4 each once a day.
The last thing it could be is parasites. However, I don't think this is the case because if he were feeling ill, he wouldn't even be trying to eat, and you described his behaviour as trying to eat, then spitting it out. Is he displaying any other signs of illness? Lethargy, discolouration, clamped fins, any growths/lesions/wounds? If not, I wouldn't worry about it.
My guess is that he's just bored of his food or wants something else. If you want to change the food, you can, but it's also acceptable to just give him time until he changes his mind about the food, as long as the kind of food you're trying to feed him is suitable for bettas.
By the way, your fish won't die. Bettas can live for up to a week without getting any food. They have stomachs the size of their eyes. It'll be at least 7 days before the hunger starts to hinder their health. It's actually better to underfeed your fish than to overfeed him to prevent problems like constipation and swim bladder diseases.
PS. I hope you are remembering to remove all the food he spits out! Uneaten food rots at the bottom of the tank and leads to really bad fish disease VERY fast. It's usually recommended to net out anything your fish doesn't eat within 10 minutes.
2007-06-27 22:18:01 · answer #2 · answered by ninjaaa! 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
yo, girl, firstly, maybe you are right, you should change the beta fiish's food but then as the fish go down to the bottom of the bowl nd search 4 food, tht is very normal, ok? dun make life difficult.
2007-06-27 21:12:54 · answer #3 · answered by Felicia 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hey,
Maybe try and change the water, but you have to remember, go to the fish shop and get chemicals which take out the toxins in the water. But it depends on if your fish are warm-watered or just normal watered.
Good Luck.
2007-06-27 21:16:44 · answer #4 · answered by Katie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Kylie is right. Most bettas will try the pellets, them spit them out. Buy some flake food; I've never had a betta refuse it.
2007-06-27 20:58:55 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try giving the fish new food, or try cleaning its bowl
2007-06-27 20:54:37 · answer #6 · answered by danny k 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
well he's not gonna die but try changeing his water in 4-5 days, try to find some better quality food he'll might eat it
2007-06-28 03:08:02 · answer #7 · answered by always right 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
try a different food. I've found a lot of the cheapy pellet brands are too big to it in their mouths real well, so they won't eat those. what are you feeding yours?
2007-06-27 20:53:35 · answer #8 · answered by Kylie Anne 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Oh well, that happened to my fish before. well maybe it is sick. You might just give it the food tablet for fish..... It works!!!!
But if it died.....
I know the feeling...... :((
2007-06-27 21:00:58 · answer #9 · answered by Ren. :) 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
take him to the pet store and tell them what is wrong
they can help you
good luck
2007-06-27 20:58:05 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋