First 3 picture is of the pair the tail and scale still a little busted up from fights in their habitat but they're being conditioned, The female is full of eggs and the male is currently in the process of making his bubble nest I'm expecting 80-150 fry per spawn from this pair as they're very well conditioned. I breed these fish mainly for enjoyment and re-release, almost all my fry are re-introduce to their natural springs, I keep perhaps 5-10 for next generation breeding or to sell.
When you breed wild bettas or any bettas you need to condition them as good as you can, I condition mine in small glass tanks just so it is easier to feed, clean and inspect my fish. I feed them water fleas, mosquito larvae and sometime dried pellets, Wild bettas will not eat in the first week they're caught. The water is stained yellow due to the almond leaves, I boil these to get their tannins out and keep it in a bottle, I will use 2-3 bottle caps and mix it into the water depending on the size of the tank. This stuff works 100% of the time without doing this all my wild caught bettas would not flare up for a good month but by implementing their natural water condition they flare and show within 1-2 days.
These are Wild smaragdina's 1 of the many species of wild bettas that are in Thailand, wild bettas in thailand will tend to live in mashy stagnant streams and ponds they love habitat that has Fern growing near them, when I hunt for bettas this is one of the first signs I look for, Stagnant Iron bacteria streams and fern bushes. I only take Grade A looking males and females any that do not look good I release them back, the best time to catch these bettas is mid october as this is when there is plenty of rain so rice fields will get flooded and they'll be plenty of places to spawn.
The thing I've found about wild betta males is that they're very good at caring for their fry and will generally not eat their fry even after free swimming, I have left my males with the fry and there were still a lot of fry left not saying he won't eat them but he did not eat many but feeding was also done often.
When you breed wild bettas or any bettas you need to condition them as good as you can, I condition mine in small glass tanks just so it is easier to feed, clean and inspect my fish. I feed them water fleas, mosquito larvae and sometime dried pellets, Wild bettas will not eat in the first week they're caught. The water is stained yellow due to the almond leaves, I boil these to get their tannins out and keep it in a bottle, I will use 2-3 bottle caps and mix it into the water depending on the size of the tank. This stuff works 100% of the time without doing this all my wild caught bettas would not flare up for a good month but by implementing their natural water condition they flare and show within 1-2 days.
These are Wild smaragdina's 1 of the many species of wild bettas that are in Thailand, wild bettas in thailand will tend to live in mashy stagnant streams and ponds they love habitat that has Fern growing near them, when I hunt for bettas this is one of the first signs I look for, Stagnant Iron bacteria streams and fern bushes. I only take Grade A looking males and females any that do not look good I release them back, the best time to catch these bettas is mid october as this is when there is plenty of rain so rice fields will get flooded and they'll be plenty of places to spawn.
The thing I've found about wild betta males is that they're very good at caring for their fry and will generally not eat their fry even after free swimming, I have left my males with the fry and there were still a lot of fry left not saying he won't eat them but he did not eat many but feeding was also done often.
PLEASE NOTE:
These are wild caught so missing scales, cut fins are normal but after 1 month in my tanks they will be restored to full health
Male around 2.5 inches long
*Very big for a wild Smaragdina*
Female 2 inches long
*Full of eggs and ready to spawn*
Another male 2 inches
*Still need a breeding female for this guy the symmetrical tail lines are really nice*
This picture below is where they were caught
