my beta ALWAYS comes to the top for the pellets when i feed him! he eats them, no problem! starting yesterday he has benn going for the food but the pellet sits in his mouth like its stuck! i know he's not keeping it there on purpose becaz he still tries to keep eating despite the pellet hanging out of his mouth! is he sick or whats up? hurry he's hungry!
2007-07-06 04:19:32 · 8 answers · asked by nikki 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
The only question I have that you didn't answer in your question is this: Does he eventually get the pellet eaten? If so, then he's just allowing it to soften a bit so he can eat it more easily. Try soaking the pellets in a small amount of water from the bowl or tank before feeding and see if that helps. You can also try feeding him something different such as frozen blood worms or daphnia.
If it is some type of disease you will see additional signs of the disease within a day or two. Treatment of course would vary depending on the problem. If that becomes the case, you will need to post an additional quesiton with those details.
If I can help further feel free to email me.
MM
2007-07-06 05:22:36 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It may be as simple as the pellet is too large or deadly like a disease called columnaris. Columnaris usually affects the mouth area and can fill up the mouth cavity. A solution would be to stop feeding and change all of the water. Add a teaspoon or so of non iodized salt to the bowl. Wait a few days and feed try to feed again. You should really only feed your betta 3 times a week, around 5 pellets. So if you have been stuffing him 2 times a day with 10 or more pellets than you are vastly over feeding. I know what the package says 2 to 3 times a day all they can eat in 5 minutes, that's the perfect way to over feed your fish. Change his food out monthly it does go bad. Bettas can be picky too. The food is not right they won't eat it. Change the water more often and change the food and he'll likely come around.
2007-07-06 11:42:07 · answer #2 · answered by Sunday P 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
How old is he? Does the fish's body look okay?
Try breaking the pellets up a bit. My female betas like their pellets crushed. I just use the lid of the food container on the table to crush 3 or 4 pellets per fish.
Good Luck!
2007-07-06 11:25:07 · answer #3 · answered by A S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You could try another type of food. Bloodworms are very easy for them to eat. Betta's need a variety in their diet. Like MM said he might be softening the pellet which is making it easier for him to swallow. I think the pellets are just too big for him. Like someone else posted try crushing it up a little and see if he can get that down.
2007-07-06 20:03:03 · answer #4 · answered by LuvinLife 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's simple my fish used to do this until I realised that some of the pellets are bigger than their mouths * Go figure * so I just began crushing them up a bit. My fish are a whole lot happier :).
2007-07-06 13:14:19 · answer #5 · answered by ♥ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it sounds like he is having a bit of trouble trying to eat it, maybe if you smash some of the pellets so they're smaller, he might be able to eat them alot better.
2007-07-06 11:25:12 · answer #6 · answered by Ashley H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
that happened to my betta also. i did a 25% water change everyday for a week (don't forget to dechlorine the water) then he started to eat again. not sure if this will work for you, but it's worth a try.
i hope your betta will start to eat soon.
2007-07-06 11:34:35 · answer #7 · answered by Celes 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe his tank isnt always clean and he eats the bacteria of the sides my betta had this problem but it went away. Dont worry.
2007-07-06 11:23:21 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋