Female Beta

[gina_61]

hi, im new to the forum.... can anyone help me!!
my female beta has a huge swelling on her under side.. she is not eating.. just hanging around the plants at the top of the tank, i only started keeping beta and know vert little about them, i dont really want to leave her suffering if she is really sick...

 

[MaddieJ]

A picture would really help us out. How long have you had her? Has she changed colour (to a duller colour) in the time youve had her? What are you trying to feed her? Has she eaten at all since youve had her?

 

[gina_61]

A picture would really help us out. How long have you had her? Has she changed colour (to a duller colour) in the time youve had her? What are you trying to feed her? Has she eaten at all since youve had her?

thankyou for thae reply... i will try to get a picture on here.
i have her about a 6 weeks. i also have another female ( the male died a few days ago ) is it possible she could be pregnant?? only today i noticed that she didnt eat... i have been away with work and my partner has been feeding them.. so they were not being closley observed.
she is still the same color.. the lump is on her front underside and her back is arched pushing her tail upwards.. any idea??

 

[MaddieJ]

Fighters are mouth brooders, The female gets squeezed by the male and 'drops' eggs, which he then scoops up in his mouth and proudly puts them into the bubblenest he has made untill they hatch. So no your female isnt pregnant She may however be full of eggs. Is she in with just one other female? Or is she alone? Although two females together can work perfectly fine, they easily turn on each other which causes stress, I wont press the matter but something for you to think about. However if they are kept seperately thats also fine.

You say your hubby has been feeding them, could he have overfed her? She may have over eaten and as a result be bloated. Try feeding her a cooked, shelled pea, you know the stuff inside the outter shell. What temp is her water at?

Sorry for lots of typing, just trying to help xxx

 

[gina_61]

thank you for your help :good
she is in with the other female.. i also have other fish in there ( some neon tetras a molly and three small bala sarks and a pearl gourami ) is that wise?
i think she could be full of eggs cause you can kinda see all the little round balls. what will happen if she is?? maybe a silly question but..would it help to get another male??
i will try feeding her the pea.. i cant get blood worms here. but tyhey seem to be ok with the flake food/ water temp is about 27 degrees.

 

[catherine896]

No, those fish are not a good idea.
Id get both the bettas out of that tank ASAP. Neons can be nippy, mollys and bettas dont get on and gourami and bettas are both labyrinth fish and will fight.

Really need a pic to be able to see if she is full of eggs or maybe bloated. Any chance of a pic?

 

[lilfishie]

are her scales sticking out any, like a pinecone?

 

[Maxsmom]

Well... your female has either been overfed (constipated or swim bladder disease), or she is eggie. She's not going to have babies unless there is a male in the tank and they mate. But I wouldn't advise that - it takes a lot of work to maintain a hatching (fry) and a lot of experience. Males and females CANNOT be kept together... and TWO females are asking for trouble as well. You need a min 3 females in a 10 gallon tank with LOTS of plants (fake or real), and lots of hiding places. That's the only way your females MAY live in harmony.

They also don't do well with the other species you have in there with them. Again, you may have not seen a lot of aggression yet... but it will most likely happen.

Gouramis are a definite no-no... just like Catherine said... bettas and gouramies are of a similar species and will fight. Neon tetras CAN be nippy - more with males though... but I honestly wouldn't put them with females. The molly's MAY coexist... but you'll have to watch that carefully.

My best suggestions are to remove the female bettas and keep them separately in min 2 - 2.5 gal tanks/bowls each. Females can be quite the acrobats so make sure your tanks have covers. The other fish can probably coexist (I'm not very familiar with their individual water needs though.) As for the possible over-feeding... you can safely fast them for a couple of days to see if the swelling goes down. It's good to fast them now and then...

What kind of food do you feed them and how much? Please, please stay away from anything freeze-dried as they do tend to help constipate the bettas. A good quality pellet (like Hikari Betta Bio Gold) is good along with frozen/thawed foods like bloodworms, daphnia, brine shrimp, etc.

She may just be eggie, too... which she will either expel or absorb. Females have an oviposter behind their ventral fins (the longish fins under their heads that are shaped like a "v"). Usually, when their eggie - the oviposter is more pronounced.

Hope some of this info has helped! Good luck with them!

 

[zoekin8yg]

Fighters are mouth brooders, The female gets squeezed by the male and 'drops' eggs, which he then scoops up in his mouth and proudly puts them into the bubblenest he has made untill they hatch. So no your female isnt pregnant She may however be full of eggs. Is she in with just one other female? Or is she alone? Although two females together can work perfectly fine, they easily turn on each other which causes stress, I wont press the matter but something for you to think about. However if they are kept seperately thats also fine.

You say your hubby has been feeding them, could he have overfed her? She may have over eaten and as a result be bloated. Try feeding her a cooked, shelled pea, you know the stuff inside the outter shell. What temp is her water at?

Sorry for lots of typing, just trying to help xxx

They arent mouth brooders, that means that the eggs/fry develop in the mouth, some other bettas do this but splendens dont they are bubblenesters, which of course you know, youve just confused terms

 

[MaddieJ]

Yes sorry lol, I'd had a few baileys.. thanks for clearing that up for me lol, I would never have even spotted my mistake

 

[gina_61]

the poor girl has died
i hope she wasn't in pain
i just wish i could have done something..... thanks to you all for trying to help.

 

[lilfishie]

Aw sorry for your loss *hugs*

 

[Maxsmom]

I'm very sorry, Gina...

 

[The_Dude]

Oh, that sucks. Sorry for your loss. *hugs*