Poor Fishy

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

i'm not one who usually buys wal-mart fish, but i always go back to see if any of them are in terrible condition. lately, their bettas have looked pretty decent (minus the few i saw rotting in their dishes ). i was picking them up and looking at them, making sure they were at least worthy for someone to buy and get them out of there and i came across this gorgeous boy - pink body with shimmery green in it, matching green, blue and red in his tail. he wasn't really moving so i turned the dish to see why. poor boy only had the bottom half of his tail! i grabbed him and begged my mom to let me get him. nobody was going to buy him, he'd end up like the other one, rotting. he's a really, really nervous fish, always flying to the bottom of the tank anytime i lift up the lid to feed him. i don't blame him, i would be, too, if i was torn up like that. but he won't eat. anytime i lift up the lid, he goes to the bottom, so i just drop one piece in. right now he's at the top, the food right in front of him, but he won't touch it. i've tried bloodworms and pellets. somewhere else on here i read flakes weren't good for them. should i attempt them or no? i really don't want to lose him just because he wasn't eating.

pictures coming soon.
oh and at the moment, he's nameless. my mom suggested triton, like the king of the sea. i like the ironicness of it, but i'm not sure.

 

[zoekin8yg]

Give him time to settle hes probably a bit stressed out. If he still wont eat after that then time to try other things. How long have you had him?

 

[catherine896]

Aww Im glad you got him. I hope he recovers well for you. Theres no harm in trying flakes just to see if he would eat them, my betta didnt touch them, dont think he even knew they were food! He loves the pellets though
He sounds like he has nice colouring, shame he is so damaged though. Cant wait for pics. I also like the name Triton, I think it suits a betta!
Goodluck with him

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

i got him on friday, so like two days ago. the other ones i have settled in right away so i didn't really think of that.
i may try flakes, but the only ones i have are tropical fish flakes, not betta flakes . would they be worth trying?

 

[Betta91]

I think tropical would be okay...In community tanks with Bettas, that's the kind of food they normally go after anyway. How big of a tank do you have him in right now? Some fish get a fear of small areas if they have been in cups for a long period of time. I had a Betta once that would not eat and eventually killed himself. Right now, the best thing to do is to keep trying, and make sure he is as comfortable as possible in his environment. Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

he's in a split half gallon (it's one gallon total). i was afraid to put him in anything bigger (i dont have anything that's less than like three gallons at the moment) that i had because of his tail. he has almost no tail left and i thought if he was in anything bigger he might struggle to swim. i know it's small but i'm keeping an eye on him. it's getting water changes every two days, almost all of the water. not just because it's so small, but to help his tail heal.

 

[blue_betta]

try him on live food, some live daphnia or live mosquito larvae, i imagine he would find it hard to refuse them

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

ehh i'm not one who likes feeding live food unless i have to . if he doesn't eat anything soon, i will.

 

[blue_betta]

the movemont will spur him on, never had a fish that refused something small that wriggles!

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

i think he may have started eating, there's no flakes floating. i really dont want to have to go to live food unless i have to.

 

[zoekin8yg]

Try again with the pellets. Or get frozen foods attach to a small stick or something and wiggle it in the water

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

get frozen foods attach to a small stick or something and wiggle it in the water

hmm i may have to do that.

 

[Amunet]

Keep us updated on the lil fella! I hope he gets better!

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

will do. i'm grounded so i'm not suppose to be online, but i have to get on here for the poor little fella.
pictures will come tomorrow - when i can get online .

but he does lookk like he's starting to eat. i watched him grab a bloodworm yesterday, but he's so nervous he snuck up on it then grabbed it and flew back down to the bottom of the tank. i'm almost afraid to know why his tail's all torn up .

 

[demonmagus]

he should be fine, I'd be pretty nervous after being put through what he had