Beta Fish Won't Eat Betta Bio Gold Pellets Anymore!

[Kath]

Hi everyone,

I have had a male red beta fish for just over two years now. He was in a 5 gallon tank for a while when I first got him. Then put in a gallon bowl for about a year due to me moving and never got the tank reconnected. About 5 months ago I put him back into his 5 gallon tank and even got a heater. He always ate Betta Bio Gold Pellets with no problem just gobbled them up rather greadily I might say! Feb 7th I was going away on vacation and had to put him into a one gallon bowl and take him to my parents to look after him. He was in this bowl for a week and I was told he ate a couple pellets but after that either put them in his mouth and then spit them out or didn't touch them at all. He has not been eating for over a week now. When I got home on Saturday I warmed up his 5 gallon tank and got it up to right temp and Sunday put him back into it. It's now Monday and he wil not eat the pellets and often puts them in his mouth and spits them out. He will however eat several blood worms last night. I give those to him once in a while for a treat!

Could he be just really stressed out from going from his tank to a small bowl? I am conserned about him not eating the pellets where before he would gobble them up! I would feed him just the blood worms but have done a search on the net and what I read is those should be given sparenly cause they are full of protein and can cause constipation and they don't have the right nutriance that is in the pellets. Any addvice and suggestions would be helpful and very much appreciated. He is making bubbles on the surface of the water and seems to be swimming normally. I guess I should really worry when he stops moving and floats on his side.
I love my beta and hope his eating dilema can be figured out. I hope he is not starving, I would hate for him to be suffering!
Thanks

 

[jimdandy]

It could be stress unless there are any discolorations or bloating or things like that then it might be a disease (columnaris, velvet....things like that). The good thing is he is still eating something. You could try a different kind of pellet if the ones you have continue to get not eaten.

If the fish gets stomach problems like constipation or something arises I've been told a pealed and cooked pea with low sodium helps to fix digestion. If you want to try something different to feed him try frozen (or if you can find them live) brine shrimp. It sounds to me that its not anything too serious just picked up a bad [not] eating habit while you were away.

Hope this helps.

 

[ReMz]

That's odd for a betta to start rejecting a food they are accustomed to. I would attribute it possibly to a small bowl. However, was there a heater in his 1gal tank? If not, were you monitoring the temperature? A drop in temperature not only increases stress, but decreases motabilism (less eating... although not likely for a whole week).

Any signs of odd behavior that you didn't mention? (other than the good behaviors such as making a bubble nest)

Anything odd on the fins or body?

This seems like a bit of an odd case. There really doesn't seem to be anything "negative" going on with him from your description other than his "eating disorder" . Keep in mind, if you have owned him for over 2 years, he is getting a up there in age.... but doesn't seem like that's a likely culprit at this point.

 

[Kath]

Hi,

Thanks to all that have replied so far. This morning I tried to feed him the pellets again but no luck he still is not eating them. Also he isn't as happy to see me as he usually is. As soon as I would go near the tank or open the lid to feed him he would be right there looking at me and seemed rather excited. Now he spends a lot of time still just kind of hiding agains the plants I have in the tank which is rather odd. I came home for lunch today and put a couple pellets in the tank and he ate one of them but didn't touch the others. I tried the blood worms and he went for a few of them but left the rest which is unual for him. I don't see any discoloration or any signs of disease. In the one gallon bowl there was not a heater but he didn't seem to mind and ate greedily. He started this behaviour after being back in his one gallon tank at my parents place. My parents have looked after him before with no problem. I thought once he was back in his heated 5 gallon tank he would go back to being him self but this isn't the case. I am conserned as he has always been a rather hyper fish always swimming around and happy to see me.

I am going to go to a store that specializes in fish sometimes this week and ask them a few questions of what I might do. Anymore comments or suggests are welcome and appreciated.

Thanks!

P.S. He is swimming around now and he looks up at the pellet in the water like he is going to eat it and then just swims away. Can there there be a problem with a new packet of pellets. I recently got a new package when I took him to my parents. That is what they were feeding him or trying to feed him.

It could be stress unless there are any discolorations or bloating or things like that then it might be a disease (columnaris, velvet....things like that). The good thing is he is still eating something. You could try a different kind of pellet if the ones you have continue to get not eaten.

If the fish gets stomach problems like constipation or something arises I've been told a pealed and cooked pea with low sodium helps to fix digestion. If you want to try something different to feed him try frozen (or if you can find them live) brine shrimp. It sounds to me that its not anything too serious just picked up a bad [not] eating habit while you were away.

Hope this helps.

I will try the pea idea as soon as I can and see if he likes that. Thanks for the suggestions

 

[hollyp0p]

it may be, seeing as I think you said your betta is now 2 that it is just old age, maybe his time is nearing an end
seeing as you can't see any sign of disease, just that he's slowing up and not eating obviously

 

[Shuifish]

Yes, I agree with hollyp0p, old age might be the culprit. Bettas only live to about 2-3 years. Try soaking the pellet in a bit of water. He might be having a rough time eating it because its kind of hard. Keep us updated on his condition!

 

[CathyGo]

Mine always loved Hikari Micro-wafers. It floats long enough that he should gobble them up before they sink. If you look at the ingredients Micro-Wafers are actually slightly better for them too. More fish less corn and fillers. If you live near a PetCo or specialty reptile store you could try live flightless fruit flies. They come in a culture that should last at least a month with the tiny Petco one or indefinitely with the larger one's as long as you keep making new cultures using new medium. As fish get older they apparently can't smell as well so pellets become less appetizing. The motion of the fruit fly would attract him. My bettas weren't real crazy about live worms. The key seemed to be that it was on the surface. Good luck!

 

[KeTeL1]

It might be stress from moving around but, fish can be picky eaters i say. if u start feeding him the worms he might just start like the worms instead and wait for that to come around.