Betta Doesn't Like His Food?

[M'al-finny]

Atta-Betta comes to the top of the tank when he sees my hand ... I drop in a Betta Bio-Gold ball and he eats it eagerly (by which I infer he's hungry) and then spits it out! Eventually, I clean them out of the filter cover.

He also is very interested in the flake food (don't have brand with me here) but again, he sucks a big bite in and blows it back out. Is that how they take bites or is he rejecting his meal?

Sorry, I am just so ignorant of what is normal about the way they eat. I don't want to starve my Betta (or my Danios) by ignorance!

PS - I have seen him get fin-nipped only once by a Danio; mostly he is alert and patrols his territory.

Should I just assume that if he gets hungry enough, he'll eat more and just make sure to keep offering food?

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Sometimes a bite is too big and the fish will spit out the extra. In other cases they simply don't like the food and thus spit it out. Bettas can be quite picky about their food sometimes. Mine doesn't like TetraMin flakes, but loves the crisps. Not sure why there would be any difference. Also seems to really like the tiny sinking pellets I got for him (the only time I've seen him jump was when piece got stuck to the lid of his tank and he was trying to get at it). With bettas it's a really good idea to supplement their diet with treats too like bloodworm, daphnia, and peas, because a varied diet is good for digestive health.

 

[ChaseTheBetta]

My betta used to do that all the time! I even bought him a few different foods, but he didn't even try to eat them. After a few months, he stopped doing it. I have no idea why, maybe he was sick or something. Hopefully your betta will stop doing it too.