Bulging Belly After Feeding

[danica1976]

I was wondering if it is normal for my Spike's belly to get bulge-y and round after he is fed? I feed him 2 Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets twice a day & feed him freeze dried blood worms once a week (but only about 4-5 of them, as I know these are constipating). He always acts ravenous when I take the top of the tank off to feed him (I have an eclipse system), but I really take care not to over feed, as I know this is very dangerous to his health.

So, after he eats, I put the top back on & spend a little time with him. I always notice that his belly is noticably bulge-y (sp?) & very round after he eats. Is this normal or do you guys think he is constipated? It does go down some after a few hours & after he digests, but then when I feed him again it comes back. It goes down almost completely, but I do still see a bit of roundness. Do betta's naturally have a bit of roundness to their bellys or is this abnormal? Should their bellys get noticeably big after they eat? Now that I think about it, after last nights feeding, his belly got huge & looked like the pics I have seen of constipated bettas. But this morning, it was back to its slightly rounded shape.

I am thinking, to be safe, that I should do the pea treatment. I will fast him for 24 hours, then feed him a cooked, frozen, de-shelled pea cooled after being cooked in tank water. I then break it up into tiny little betta sized bites. How much of the pea do I feed him though? Half or whole? After he eats the pea, how long should I wait before I feed him again? 24 hours? I have done this once before but never knew how much pea to feed him.

I will totally appreciate any responses & feedback, so TIA!

 

[wilsonnw8]

Its totally normal but a little pea never hurt anyone! mine get it as a treat as much as a medication now and then!

 

[danica1976]

Its totally normal but a little pea never hurt anyone! mine get it as a treat as much as a medication now and then!

Oh good! I am so glad it's normal - Thanks for answering

I think he will be getting a bit o' pea tomorrow for breakfast....He LOVES them - well, he actually loves anything that resembles food LOL You would think the poor thing is starving the way he goes after it!

 

[WILDER]

Freeze dried foods lead to constipation and swim bladder problems, I stopped buying freeze dried foods.
Don't feed for aday and try some peas.

[URL="http/www.flippersandfins.net/SwimbladderDisease.htm"]http/www.flippersandfins.net/SwimbladderDisease.htm[/URL]

Taken from the link.
Freeze-dried foods are notorious for causing constipation and swimbladder problems in fish.

 

[wilsonnw8]

Freeze dried foods lead to constipation and swim bladder problems, I stopped buying freeze dried foods.
Don't feed for aday and try some peas.

<a href="http/www.flippersandfins.net/SwimbladderDisease.htm" target="_blank">http/www.flippersandfins.net/SwimbladderDisease.htm</a>

Taken from the link.
Freeze-dried foods are notorious for causing constipation and swimbladder problems in fish.

Personally I have had no problems with freeze dried worms if fed sparingly, of course fresh is best but freeze dried doesnt always cause disease, it is like any treat food, as long as you are offering pea now and then to keep digestion healthy you should be fine

 

[WILDER]

Personally I have had no problems with freeze dried worms if fed sparingly, of course fresh is best but freeze dried doesnt always cause disease, it is like any treat food, as long as you are offering pea now and then to keep digestion healthy you should be fine

I agree.
It's fine if you don't feed them to often and only sparingly, but some members over feed fish and it causes problems.
I think freeze dried bloodworms are the worst for bloating fish up.