Betta Walking On His Ventral Fins?

[lisalombs]

Hello all, I'm new here!

I joined to see if anyone else has seen their betta walking on their ventral fins. I've had four betta before this one (just picked him up two days ago so he's still a little ratty looking) and I've never seen any of them do anything significant with their ventrals except let them be long and flowy, but this guy's look like a > (they never straighten out) and he frequently uses them to walk along the bottom of his tank, especially when I give him bloodworms that sink right to the bottom.
 
It's really hard to get pictures of him doing it but I tried!
 
This is how he usually holds them, kind of tucked up like a dog begging.
 

 
Here he's walking on them but I missed him actually walking, he uses the bent "knee" part to pull himself along.
 

 
He's just a pet store betta but I think he's pretty cool looking. :]

 

[lisalombs]

Someone on another forum said he might be marble because this is what he looked like when I picked him up (which was actually not two days ago, I am brain addled with the flu [and had been in the hospital the past three days so I have no idea where two days ago came from tbh], I got him last Saturday according to my reciept Dx).

Still tucking up those weird little fins.
 

 
I thought he was diseased at first but he's been in clean, warm water for a week now and then I saw him actually USING them and I thought it was too weird. He's been eating blood worms/brine shrimp/pellets pretty enthusiastically.

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

He looks perfectly healthy to, just like you stated, so no need for concern.
It could be a learnt behaviour, from when the betta was younger. Sometimes juvie bettas stay along the bottom of their breeding tanks as that's where their food source usually is. They'll cruise along the bottom, but in doing so over time the friction rubs their ventral away.
Your betta could have possibly been one with such behaviour, but adapted it's fins to "walk" in doing so. Very unique to say the least, definitely interesting. Who knows maybe you have one of the only bettas which has branched off and developed a new evolutionary trait.

 

[Mamashack]

 to TFF lisa! Hope you are feeling better now!
Could it be that your betta's (has he got a name yet?) fins were deformed from birth and he's adapted how he uses them? They don't look to be damaged as such just an odd shape for ventral fins.
Whatever it is, he's a gorgeous looking fish!

 

[lisalombs]

Who knows maybe you have one of the only bettas which has branched off and developed a new evolutionary trait.

 
I was joking the other day that he must be evolving! Hopefully he doesn't climb out and try to take over.

 
 

 to TFF lisa! Hope you are feeling better now!
Could it be that your betta's (has he got a name yet?) fins were deformed from birth and he's adapted how he uses them? They don't look to be damaged as such just an odd shape for ventral fins.
Whatever it is, he's a gorgeous looking fish!

 
Thanks! Still feeling a little rough, unfortunately! I was calling him Squirt because his colors reminded me of the soda can but now that he's less yellow and more pink that's not really working out. xD Maybe I'll call him Rex because he looks like he has little arms? It must have been something like a deformity that he's adapted to, they're symmetrical like he was born that way as opposed to an early injury. It's very interesting to watch him crawl around the gravel anyway, I'm still trying to catch it on film. He's very graceful about his little strolling habit, and it doesn't look like it's effecting his normal swimming.

 

[Mamashack]

Rex would be a good name - it also means king! lol
Does he flare at anything? If so what happens to his ventral fins then? MIne hardly ever flares but when he does his ventral fins point down and slightly outwards.

 

[lisalombs]

Just tried with a mirror and boy did he get angry quick! He extended them like he does when he's walking but they were still bent, they look just like little legs. Kind of like praying mantis forelegs. And they do move independantly of each other, especially when he's walking he kind of puts "one foot in front of the other". I'm going to work on getting a video of him walking, all I have is my cell phone so I have to get a few flashlights to see if I can improve the detail, when I try now you can't see it at all.

 

[Mamashack]

Will look forward to the pics!

 

[RCA]

 lisalombs
 
This is very interesting as I have not heard/seen it before, I think most of what I would say has already been said.  Maybe Wildbetta will visit this topic and may have more experience...
 
Lovely colours, what sort of tank set up does he have, and is it heated and filtered?
 
Look forward to the video of seeing "Rex" in action.

 

[lisalombs]

He's in a heated 5gal storage bin atm, but only because his 10gal tank is curing. I'm a big fan of diy foam backgrounds for all my aquariums and terrariums! Smaller tanks are a beast, they're so narrow you really have carve and shave down the foam after it sets, but my previous betta really enjoyed the little cave systems I built in.
 
I just moved across the country for college and couldn't bring any of my tanks (cry!) with me, which is why I keep referring to "previous betta". Or my driftwood. Or my beautiful rocks.

Starting from scratch is so sad. But I do pretty cool looking natural tanks, if I do say so myself. I'll post pics of his 10 as soon as he's moved in.

 

[Wildbetta]

This is one really cool betta!!  I have never come across this particular situation before but this is a neat trick he does.  I have had bettas without ventral fins before.  Which normally tends to happen if the breeder uses microworms as the main diet after a certain time period of development although it is not 100% sure why this happens.  I have also had bettas with very curly ventral fins which seemed to be from the rosetail geno more than anything else.  I don't think I would worry about them at all or even what appears to be "odd" behavior (his walking) since otherwise he is getting along perfectly fine.  
He does appear to be a marble which just means that his color will not ever really be done changing and he might surprise you with how he changes.  For a pet store betta, you got yourself a definite winner it appears.  I love the name Rex because it makes me think of dogs and rex breed cats (which are kind of dog like).

 

[ReiRei]

What a rarity! Just read this whole thread, and am loving your Betta. The small fins make him look really cute! And with the 'walking', well, you've got yourself quite a character.

 

[Shelster]

What a beautiful fish! A very good find in my opinion, even if he is deformed, and yes I agree he is a character

Would love to see pics of your tanks and DIY backgrounds too

 

[lisalombs]

HAAAAA. I finally caught him! It's just a still pic but you can see the pebble he's pushing off of with his "knee".
 

 
He mostly does it when I feed him because, when it's not a pellet at least, it sinks to the bottom and he has to get down there and find it.

 

[lisalombs]

For contrast here's a pic I just took of him swimming regularly near the bottom of the tank, with his fins tucked up because he's not using them.