All My Boys And Girls

[RandomWiktor]

Hey all! It's been a while I've been on, so I thought I'd pop in with some pics of my beautiful boys and girls. With a few exceptions, these guys are all rescues; either breeder culls, adoptions, or were given for free or at discounts from stores due to the poor condition they were in. Now they all have 5g tanks (well, special needs guys are in super-shallow 2.5g's), get a healthy varied diet, and clean water. With no further adeui, here's... everyone! (Oh - and if you're wondering about all the tail biters, I deliberately seek them out and adopt them)

Adelei is an SD male surrendered by his former owner when she moved. He has a spinal deformity and swim bladder disease, and because of this can not swim properly and must be in a special, extra-shallow tank.

Aria is a DTPK female with a severe jaw deformity surrendered by her breeder due to her special and time-consuming care needs.

Chuck is a CT male given to me by a pet store due to a severe and deadly infestation of the Ich protozoal parasite.

Clarence is a VT male taken from a pet store after being severely injured and almost killed during a fight.

Esenem is a PK female who I adopted from breeder due to an anal fin deformity.

Glen is a male VT taken from Walmart. He exhibits tail biting behavior, a common stereotypical behavior abnormality of uknown origin in bettas.

Innoby is a PK male given to me by a pet store as he was suffering with a life-threatening Ich infestation.

Jeff Klee is a VT male removed from a pet store suffering from flexibacter, a deadly gram negative infection. He exhibits tail biting behavior, a common stereotypical behavior abnormality of uknown origin in bettas.

Ladron is a VT male. He was "proactively removed" from WalMart suffering from severe ammonia poisoning and Ich. He was the only surviving fish after a series of complaints regarding cruel practices, and was in only two inches of water (and 1cm of waste) when rescued.

Leucothea is a VT female surrendered by her owner, who tended to "hoarde" fish. The odd indentation in her back is due to a severe injury from a flower pot in her aquarium (the sealant fell off).

Lupin is a DTPK male surrendered by his breeder due to a kink in his spine.

Lute is a PK male taken from a pet store after suffering gross neglect that nearly killed him. He has a slime-coat overproduction problem and needs an extra large tank and very frequent cleanings to maintain water quality.

Lysistrata is a VT (I think...) female taken from a pet store as the sole survivor of a devastating columnaris outbreak. The missing notch in her fin is the result of a chinese algae eater attack that occured in-store.

Mahalo is a VT male taken from WalMart. He had a mild case of septicemia, but to be honest, I just wanted him since I haven't gotten a fish other than a rescue in a long time

Matamoras is a VT male taken from WalMart where he was dying of septicemia. Believe it or not, he's over three years old!

Murphy is a VT male found abandoned in a cup on my front door step in the middle of January; his origin is unknown. He has gill deformities and is a tail-biter.

Nanahara is a CT male who was fought with another male (Noriko) by a customer in a PETCO store.

Noriko is a VT male who was fought with another male (Nanahara) by a customer in a PETCO store. He is a Water Mold survivor.

Pitaya is a PK female who was surrendered by her breeder due to deformities and special needs. She is almost entirely blind.

Quasi is a VT male taken from a pet store where he was suffering from neglect. He has gill deformities and is very aged. He exhibits tail biting behavior, a common stereotypical behavior abnormality of uknown origin in bettas.

Rail is a VT male surrendered by an animal hoarder. He was severely emaciated and suffering from gill disease, internal parasites, and fin rot when he was given to me. He has a deformity of his dorsal fin.

Reefer is a VT male obtained as a "refund" for a betta who was removed for hospice care from Petsmart. He exhibits tail biting behavior, a common stereotypical behavior abnormality of uknown origin in bettas.

Rocco is a VT male removed from a pet store due to a seizure disorder.

Rorn is a VT male removed from a pet store due to advanced emaciation and a severe parasite infestation. He exhibits tail biting behavior, a common stereotypical behavior abnormality of uknown origin in bettas.

Royal is a CT male removed from a pet store due to ammonia poisoning. It was later determined that he has TB, a deadly zoonotic disease found in fish. He has a permenant spinal deformity, stays thin, and requires special handling as a result.

D'oh, there's more, but I can't post 'em till someone else does because the forum tries to merge my posts, at which point there are too many pics.

 

[Heather.]

all your fish are lovely ..I love murphy and adelei ..These fish are very lucky to have you rescue them..You should be proud of yourself..
Heather xx

 

[RandomWiktor]

Here's the rest (and thanks for the compliments, Heather ^^)

Shelldon is a CT male removed from a pet store due to abuse from a customer; he was being violently shaken by a young girl and was injured as a result. He exhibits tail biting behavior, a common stereotypical behavior abnormality of uknown origin in bettas.

Shokora is a VT male given to me by a pet store as he was dying of septicemia. He exhibits tail biting behavior, a common stereotypical behavior abnormality of uknown origin in bettas.

Shyboy is a VT male given to me by a pet store as he was dying of starvation. He is almost entirely blind and is unfortunately suffering from lymphocytosis in his old age (3.5+ years old)

Skelt is a HM male surrendered by his owner, who tended to "hoarde" fish. This is an old picture when he was still suffering from obesity; he is much healthier today.

Skinny Mini is a VT female removed from a pet store due to severe emaciation and parasitic infestation. She is a water mold survivor.

Spyro is a VT male that belongs to a friend but is currently under my care.

Starvin' Marvin' is a VT male given to me by a store as he was dying from starvation, mediated in part by a severe internal parasitic infection. He has a swimming disability and must be kept in an extra shallow tank. This is a photo of him still in the healing process; he has made progress since then, but still needs to gain some weight and recover fin to be healthy.

Stasis is a VT female brought home by a family member who thought she was suffering from swim bladder disease; she actually was severely constipated, which in fish can actually be a fatal condition.

Tag is a PK male removed from a pet store due to neglectful care. He was also suffering from a potentially fatal bought of severe constipation.

Taur is a CT male removed from a pet store after being released into a tank with another betta and fought. In addition, he was suffering from hexamita and ich.

Tusker is a VT male removed from a pet store with severe fin rot and internal parasites.

Vertigo is a VT male surrendered by his owner due to his disabilities; he can not orient properly due to neurological damage (possibly hydrogen sulfide poisoning) and as a result occasionally gets stuck upside-down. This is obviously dangerous for an air-breathing species, so he needs close monitoring.

Vlad is a VT male removed from a pet store suffering from septicemia. He has several deformities, including an absent left ventral and dorsal fin.

Warsaw is a PK male removed from a pet store after being released into a tank with another male and fought. He was also suffering from septicemia, hexamita, and Ich. He has permenant disabilities from a swim bladder injury sustained in the fight and requires a special extra shallow environment.

Zion is a CT male removed from a pet store due to grossly negligent care practices. He was suffering from gill disease.

Francis, the VT male my mom rescued from ammonia poisoning and fin rot. He's colored up nicely in this updated photo.

Lt. Dan is a male CT given to me by a pet store as he was dying of a severe internal infection. He had swim bladder disease, gill disease, and his fins were rotted down to his body. This picture is not current and shows him in the process of recovery.

Shalimar is a chocolate VT male. I have to be honest, he isn't a rescue; I just bought him because he's a handsome bastard and I wanted to put him on my desk so I could watch him all day =)

Sumalee is a VT female given to me by her former owner, who tended to "hoarde" fish.

 

[somethinfishy]

wow I'd like to thank you (and I'm sure the fish would if they could talk ) for taking such good care of these poor bettas awesome job

 

[Heather.]

yeah if your fish could talk im sure they would be thanking you so much

 

[stang1]

Well done for rescuing all those fish. They are all so beautiful!
So heartbreaking reading all their stories but at least they have a good home now.

 

[FBTgirl]

They are nice looking fish!!!

 

[zoekin8yg]

wow you have a lot of lovely little fishies! How can you tell if a fish has some of these problems?

 

[Jaded12]

Awsome, just awsome!! What you do is so amazing!! People on here could learn so much from you

 

[RandomWiktor]

Example, zoe? I'm not sure what problems you'd be speaking of so I can't really answer your question.

 

[zoekin8yg]

oops sorry i forgot to mention....hexamita, flexibacter, slime-coat overproduction erm i think that was all the ones I was wondering about. Forgot to say the girl with the jaw deformity is so pretty, poor thing, how does she feed?

 

[lisie]

Ren, your fish all look great, as usual!

Aria and Esenem look SO awesome!! I can't believe how much little Aria's grown.

I *love* Vlad, and don't even get me started on Tag...

 

[Amunet]

Oh my gosh.. you are such a wonderful person for rescueing all of those poor lil bettas!
And what wonderful pictures as well! WOW!

Just curious.. is it hard to feed the almost blind bettas? What do you have to do to get their attention to feed?

 

[jollysue]

Wondered what you were up to.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Thanks for your kind words, everyone!

To answer some questions...

hexamita, flexibacter, slime-coat overproduction erm i think that was all the ones I was wondering about.

Flexibacter is just another term for Columnaris; the typical symptoms are rapidly spreading cottony growths, often on the mouth and face or in the "saddle-back" presentation, resulting in open red sores, rapid fin loss, and death if not promptly treated. The more virulent cases can kill in less than a day, the less virulent still generally kill in less than a few days if no treatment is attempted.

Hexamita is an aggressive internal protozoal parasite. It results in the condition "hole in the head disease," as well as other health problems. It is very common for fish with a history of untreated hexamita to develop serious diseases and suffer chronic poor health, a testament to the toll this parasite takes on the body.

As for slime-coat overproduction, this is observed by a constantly shedding and re-generating slime coat that is not associated with a disease state. Lute has been treated for almost everything under the sun trying to rule out a source of irritation. All I've found that helps is never salting his water, never using slime-coat promoting products on him, and using plenty of IAL to make the water conditions more like they ought to be for bettas (my water is unfortunately hard with high pH). I know one or two other people who have fish with this issue, and we're all stumped as to what causes it.

Forgot to say the girl with the jaw deformity is so pretty, poor thing, how does she feed?

Aria can only eat wet foods (ie. frozen diets), broken up into extremely tiny pieces (she's only about an inch long from nose to tail, maybe less). She just kindof sucks them into her mouth, so they have to be small enough that she doesn't need to attempt chewing.

Just curious.. is it hard to feed the almost blind bettas? What do you have to do to get their attention to feed?

Most of the blind guys feel the vibration of the feeding door being lifted and swim right up to the surface! I usually feed them their food pre-soaked since it helps release the smells of whatever they're eating. Fish have a fantastic sense of smell, so they always find it quickly. They really can't be fed anything that sinks TOO fast, though.