bloating or something worse

[Sunnyfish]

i already made a post very recently about a velvet treatment i was using on my betta in this exact part of this forum, but i'm concerned that velvet isn't the only thing my betta is dealing with.
a few days ago i noticed that he was looking a little bloated. the space right behind his head has expanded in a weird way, and i just assumed that maybe i was feeding him too much or something was wrong with the foods he was eating. i've been fasting him for multiple days, though a few days ago i dropped one pellet into his tank just so he wasn't completely starving for a week or more.
i usually fed him one pellet in the morning and one at night, but twice a week i would drop in freeze dried bloodworms or shrimp. i looked it up and found a page that said that bloating could be caused by "dry" foods (i think i know what it's referring to), but there's something peculiar about this whole thing.
first of all, he hasn't grown any "smaller" since the day i decided to cease all feeding for a few days.
secondly, i don't think i was feeding anything too often and i don't think his foods are bad for him. i guess you guys can be the judge of that, though. i'll include brands and links to the actual foods i feed if necessary. all of them were bought on impulse without much thinking since i purchased them all when i discovered what horrible conditions i was keeping my poor fish in.
my parents don't ever buy peas from the store since no one in the house likes them, and i didn't want to ask my dad to buy a huge bag of them so i could use a quarter of one single pea. this isn't even to mention that i don't know if he's even bloated. he might have something else.
he's still swimming around and still looks eager for food. nothing about his behavior has changed.
i don't know what to do at this point. i've spent so much time worrying about his velvet but i'm worried he has something else. as i stated in my last post i haven't had much REAL experience with bettas (or any fish) yet, especially not with sickness or disease. i do know about dropsy, tumors and swim bladder issues despite this, and i'm just really concerned about any of those turning out to be what he has.
i suppose i should also probably mention that the "bloating" seems to mainly take place on his left side. the right side looks pretty normal, but as soon as he turns around you can see a pretty massive lump.
i appreciate any help. does my fish have something potentially life-threatening or is it just a bit of a bloat?

 

[NickAu]

Can you post a close up photo of the fish please?

 

[Sunnyfish]

Can you post a close up photo of the fish please?

sorry for the long wait for a reply. had to do a lot of waiting since the camera battery was dead.
it looks to me like he is sorta pineconed around the area of the bloat, now that i can see everything a bit better. at the same time these are also hard to look at. he's just so discolored. i'm trying my best. he does have torn up fins as well due to fin rot but ever since i've moved him to the bigger tank it doesn't seem to have gotten any worse.
i apologize for some of them being a little bit low quality. i'm either a really bad photographer or fish are just as hard to photograph as everyone says they are. i can take more if necessary.
these are the 3 best ones i got.

 

[Sunnyfish]

just a bit of an update a few days later - the bloating still hasn't gone down. i offered him one more pellet yesterday and he's still swimming around just like he always did. is it possibly a tumor? i really hope it's not but i suppose it could be worse.
should i go back to feeding him like normal?

 

[Raymarie]

if he is just constipated I have used the pea method for years....even saved other peoples fish with it.....peas are cheap. go ahead and ask your dad. frozen peas. just put it in a little water...microwave for a few seconds...just to soften the inside and feed him the meat of the pea...not the skin. sometimes you have to put it on the end of a tooth pick because it will sink. or a spoon made from cutting the end of a straw to kinda look like a slurpee straw. you can do it 2 days in a row. and just fast him for a 3 days after....see what happens. although your fish looks bloated a little far back on his body than usual. but try the pea for real. its saved many a fish for me.

 

[Sunnyfish]

if he is just constipated I have used the pea method for years....even saved other peoples fish with it.....peas are cheap. go ahead and ask your dad. frozen peas. just put it in a little water...microwave for a few seconds...just to soften the inside and feed him the meat of the pea...not the skin. sometimes you have to put it on the end of a tooth pick because it will sink. or a spoon made from cutting the end of a straw to kinda look like a slurpee straw. you can do it 2 days in a row. and just fast him for a 3 days after....see what happens. although your fish looks bloated a little far back on his body than usual. but try the pea for real. its saved many a fish for me.

thanks a lot for the response. i'll try to get a bag of peas soon and hopefully they'll do the trick, but i guess i won't know until i try it out.

 

[MrFishMan]

Daphnia also works like peas, and if it is a tumor there isn't much you can do but I suspect it's not.
Make sure you soak your food or else it will expand in their stomachs. Especially with blood worms. I soak my food for a minute then feed.

 

[Sunnyfish]

Daphnia also works like peas, and if it is a tumor there isn't much you can do but I suspect it's not.
Make sure you soak your food or else it will expand in their stomachs. Especially with blood worms. I soak my food for a minute then feed.

never heard of daphnia before, so that's pretty interesting. i think peas would be just a tiny bit easier to get ahold of though.
i actually used to soak my betta's shrimp since they were pretty tough and big, but i stopped doing it - sounds like it could definitely be the cause.