Betta With Bloated Belly, Otherwise Fine?

[Raticataticus]

So my betta has a bloated belly, he was a little bit lethargic this morning but seems fine now.
 
This is not my betta but mine's belly looks just like this http/www.wetwebmedia.com/Anabantoids/Bettas/DSC01143[1]%20betta.JPG
 
 
He seems fairly okay now although his belly is big I think it has shrunk a little bit since this morning.
 
I have fed him a little bit of a frozen pea and he seemed to really like it.
 
What's wrong with him?

 

[RRaquariums]

What have you been feeding him as his normal food?
And what's the temp of his tank?

 

[the_lock_man]

Bettas are notoriously greedy little wossnames, and can often become bloated. They have no reflex to tell them that they are full. The pea was a good idea, I would also fast him for a couple of days as well, and see how he goes. Try and be careful how much you feed him in the future.

 

[rodders666]

I'm led to believe a Betta's belly is same size or smaller than it's eye, so it's really easy to overfeed. I found this out the hard way, by listening to a lfs & reading feeding instructions off pellet box. I realised that they want you to overfeed, it means you buy their product more often.

If you feed them a Betta Pellet, then try to half one and feed it in two parts, and do that twice a day, with once a day every other. I did Mon, Wed, Fri 2 pellets, Tues, Thur, Sat 1 pellet then fast/treat every other Sunday (one Sunday nothing, following Sunday brine shrimp).

For now, fast it for a couple of days and if it's just a 'pig out belly' then it'll go down.

 

[Raticataticus]

I'm led to believe a Betta's belly is same size or smaller than it's eye, so it's really easy to overfeed. I found this out the hard way, by listening to a lfs & reading feeding instructions off pellet box. I realised that they want you to overfeed, it means you buy their product more often.

If you feed them a Betta Pellet, then try to half one and feed it in two parts, and do that twice a day, with once a day every other. I did Mon, Wed, Fri 2 pellets, Tues, Thur, Sat 1 pellet then fast/treat every other Sunday (one Sunday nothing, following Sunday brine shrimp).

For now, fast it for a couple of days and if it's just a 'pig out belly' then it'll go down.

 
Well if this is the truth I have been waaay over feeding him. I've been giving him at least 2 pellets twice per day plus flakes if I happen to walk by and he does the 'hungry swim' to the front of the tank. I thought I was doing the right thing because he eats all of it within a few minutes.

 

[Wildbetta]

Bettas are little beggers and love to eat.  They are a species that is very prone to bloating so feeding has to be watched carefully.  Their stomach is almost the size of their eyeball so take that into account when you feed.  Depending on the size of the pellets you are feeding it is good to feed them once or maybe twice a day with maybe up to 3(if they are tiny) pellets at a time.  Keeping a day or two as non feeding days also helps keep your betta from getting too bloated/constipated.  Feeding peas is something that works for a lot of people to relieve bloating/constipation but I actually recommend frozen daphina instead as the bettas tend to go for it better and more consistently than peas.
 
I would fast your betta for at least 3 days to get his stomach back down to normal before doing anything else at the moment.  

 

[l_l_l]

Everything that these guys said is absolutely spot on.
My Betta will always seem to be hungry, but in fact it's just curious. They really enjoy your presence!
You can speak to him and show him tricks, they are fun creatures.
I feed mine a portion about the size of it's eye ball, and that's it.
Sometimes I'll skip feeding, sometimes I wont!
 
Hope this helps!

 

[Raticataticus]

Well his belly has still not gone down. I haven't fed him for a few days other than to give him peas a couple times. His belly has gotten bigger if anything to the point where some of his scales are looking a little funny.
 
Here are some pics. Sorry they are bad quality. He is a very naughty fish and will not stay still long enough for the camera to focus. Behaviourally he seems fine.
 

 

 

[attibones]

Can you get a picture of him from above?

Stop feeding peas. Fast him for a week. No food at all. If it still doesn't seem to work, you my have a parasite.

 

[Raticataticus]

Can you get a picture of him from above?

Stop feeding peas. Fast him for a week. No food at all. If it still doesn't seem to work, you my have a parasite.

I can't really get a pic from above as he moves too much for the camera to focus properly. 
 
If it's the pinecone thing with the scales you are wondering about, a couple of his scales look like they are gonna pop off but the rest look normal, although stretched from the bloating.

 

[sawickib]

OMG i never knew that i thought it was a normal thing for the bloat!

 

[attibones]

Can you get a picture of him from above?
Stop feeding peas. Fast him for a week. No food at all. If it still doesn't seem to work, you my have a parasite.

I can't really get a pic from above as he moves too much for the camera to focus properly. 
 
If it's the pinecone thing with the scales you are wondering about, a couple of his scales look like they are gonna pop off but the rest look normal, although stretched from the bloating.

That's called dropsy. If it's just a few scales, probably isn't dropsy. What's the temperature of this tank? If you can catch dropsy fast enough, adding salt helps because it draws out the moisture which is trapped in the swim bladder (I think that's the organ it affects). I wonder if the same thing would work here? Regardless, make sure the water temp is at about 82-84 degrees Fahrenheit. Maybe do extra water changes. Those things will at least keep him comfortable until you see results one way or the other.

 

[Wildbetta]

With the recent pics of your boy, it looks like he is developing dropsy.  Dropsy is a symptom of kidney failure in the fish.  This can be brought on by several different things from constipation to parasites.  At this point, I would bump the heat up to around 84F and do not feed anything for a week to see if he gets any better.  Also adding epsom salt to his tank at around 2 tablespoon per 5 gallons to help draw fluid out of his body to help his kidneys and hopefully give you more time to see what might be wrong with him.

 

[Raticataticus]

With the recent pics of your boy, it looks like he is developing dropsy.  Dropsy is a symptom of kidney failure in the fish.  This can be brought on by several different things from constipation to parasites.  At this point, I would bump the heat up to around 84F and do not feed anything for a week to see if he gets any better.  Also adding epsom salt to his tank at around 2 tablespoon per 5 gallons to help draw fluid out of his body to help his kidneys and hopefully give you more time to see what might be wrong with him.

 
Is it okay to add the epsom salts if you have snails?

 

[sawickib]

Yea snails and invertebrates die when copper is introduced into the tank, and can stay in the tank pretty much for ever, because it gets in the acrylic and slowly leaches out. So it pretty much is a biological nuke when you use copper.
But i would imagine most snails are tolerant to epsom salts.