Hi, everyone! I'm a little new here so please forgive anything I do. I'm still getting my bearings. 
I have a question for everyone, it's about my female betta fish and her bubble nest.
Yes, I'm serious. When I called the aquarium store that I bought her from, their first response was, "...What?"
Last time she built the nest back in October/November, I did a lot of research and discovered that only males build the nests. She's definitely a female, however, because she was in a community tank with other females in the store and I'm sure if she was a male someone would have noticed. So why is she making a nest? I can't figure it out.
She's built this nest before, a few weeks after I brought her home, but it was a very small one back then and she seemed to be defensive of it. I ended up removing it because I was afraid that it might disturb her, expecting to have babies. This time, the nest is much larger but she doesn't seem concerned about its safety. I've not removed it because I don't think it's hurting her, and also I'm very curious. Right now as I type this she's adding new bubbles to the nest and building up the bottom.
I did call the store where I bought her from today because they're very knowledgeable about bettas and they've helped me in the past, but the man who answered had never heard of a female making a nest, though he agreed that it wasn't hurting her.
To put it all into context, she's had fin rot for about two months now. I was giving her a treatment by Jungle Fever once a week (I go to school in the middle of nowhere and don't have a car so Wal-Mart was my only option for medicine) that kept it at bay but never actually cured her. When I went home for winter break, I had access to a real fish store again and bought her Maracyn-II. I did a second week of treatment with the Maracyn-II that ended yesterday and it's only been the past few days that she's been working on her nest, so is it possible that it's connected? Her first nest, however, was made before she got sick, and I think (I hope I don't jinx myself) that the maracyn-II healed her fin rot.
So here's my question -- why would she be making this nest?
Here are a few pictures of her and her nest -
The bubble nest that she's working on-
My betta, taken around the time I first got her, just so you can see that she's really a female-
(P.S. - Her name's Delilah. I love her a lot. My roommate thinks we should just "embrace her creativity" and treat it as a "hobby," but I'm paranoid about her health.)
I have a question for everyone, it's about my female betta fish and her bubble nest.
Yes, I'm serious. When I called the aquarium store that I bought her from, their first response was, "...What?"
Last time she built the nest back in October/November, I did a lot of research and discovered that only males build the nests. She's definitely a female, however, because she was in a community tank with other females in the store and I'm sure if she was a male someone would have noticed. So why is she making a nest? I can't figure it out.
She's built this nest before, a few weeks after I brought her home, but it was a very small one back then and she seemed to be defensive of it. I ended up removing it because I was afraid that it might disturb her, expecting to have babies. This time, the nest is much larger but she doesn't seem concerned about its safety. I've not removed it because I don't think it's hurting her, and also I'm very curious. Right now as I type this she's adding new bubbles to the nest and building up the bottom.
I did call the store where I bought her from today because they're very knowledgeable about bettas and they've helped me in the past, but the man who answered had never heard of a female making a nest, though he agreed that it wasn't hurting her.
To put it all into context, she's had fin rot for about two months now. I was giving her a treatment by Jungle Fever once a week (I go to school in the middle of nowhere and don't have a car so Wal-Mart was my only option for medicine) that kept it at bay but never actually cured her. When I went home for winter break, I had access to a real fish store again and bought her Maracyn-II. I did a second week of treatment with the Maracyn-II that ended yesterday and it's only been the past few days that she's been working on her nest, so is it possible that it's connected? Her first nest, however, was made before she got sick, and I think (I hope I don't jinx myself) that the maracyn-II healed her fin rot.
So here's my question -- why would she be making this nest?
Here are a few pictures of her and her nest -
The bubble nest that she's working on-
My betta, taken around the time I first got her, just so you can see that she's really a female-
(P.S. - Her name's Delilah.
I love her a lot. My roommate thinks we should just "embrace her creativity" and treat it as a "hobby," but I'm paranoid about her health.)
