Odd Betta Eating Habits

[angelfaerie181]

Hello, I wanted to share a problem with my betta Aristeaus's eating habits and ask everyone's advice on it. Aristeaus is perfectly happy in his bowl since the water temperature is fine, he's making plenty of bubbles, and he's never lethargic at all. However, he's not eating, and he hasn't eaten since I've had him. It has been almost a week now, and it really concerns me. I've given him bloodworms and tetramin fish flakes of varying sizes but he doesn't eat any of it. Today, I tried an experiment where I poke at the surface of the water with a paper clip over the food to see if he would eat any of it. As soon as I started doing that, Aristeaus looked up at the water and swam to the paper clip. Then, as I poked around the various floating foods, the food would slightly interest him as it floated downward. He would look at the food as it floated downward, I would stop poking the surface of the water, and as soon as it fell he would return to the paper clip. Aristeaus is a smart betta, and he figured out that the paper clip was making the commotion. So, even though I would mess with the food, he tried to snap at the paper clip! Aristeaus' interest in food makes me happy, but I have no idea how to feed my betta! Please help me as soon as possible, I don't want him to starve to death!

 

[catxx]

have you tried live food? or frozen food? they can never turn that down!
it's normal for a new betta to starve themselves when they're in a new tank and can go a week without eating anyway.
he might just be a fussy eater! they don't generally like flake food, try some small pellets, i recommend Attison Betta Pro food if you can get it, all my bettas LOVE that.

 

[lisie]

He won't starve to death, fish can live a long time without eating. I once had one that refused to eat for a month after I got him, and he was perfectly fine. Bettas just don't like change, and sometimes they pout. Just keep offering food and he'll eat when he's hungry... but make sure you remove uneaten food from his tank so it doesn't rot.