Canavorious Betta

[Scott MacAdam]

well he won't eat anything but chunks of frozen jumbo shrimp that i found in the back of my freezer! lol! i fear when i run out i'll have a problem..... so what else can i feed my picky little betta ?? i'm thinking little bits of chicken or something.... but i'm not sure what's good or bad and i'd like to get a bit of variety in there to keep him healthy since he rejects everything else...... what should i try

 

[riogal_11]

Definitely don't give him chicken. It is said that meat is not good for fish. Is he new? If so he may just be adjusting, sometimes it will take them several days to start eating normally.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Maybe try live mosquito larvae. They wriggle, if he doesn't eat them you can feed them to your other fish.

 

[nino]

i believe others on this forum have mentioned feeding tuna to their bettas (in water, not oil). i don't know anything about it but maybe ask around or do a search on it.

 

[tekknocolor]

What else have you tried feeding your betta? I'd rather not say what to feed unless I know what you've already tried.

 

[Synirr]

You could pick up some frozen bloodworm or brine shrimp if your LFS carries it... never fails to please

 

[jollysue]

Black worms, chopped if needed, but really, I agree with Synirr. A nice variety of frozen Hikari foods is good to have: blood worms, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, daphnia.

Sometimes newbies like a piece of pea.

 

[Flashfire]

Yes give him some pea or a piece of Tabimin

 

[Yarra]

Yes give him some pea or a piece of Tabimin

I have never given fresh veggies to fish before. I would like to try it. Would I need to remove the outer portion of the pea? Or just plop the whole thing in. I have frozen, just let them thaw?

How do you do a cucumber, i have hear different ways. One says to slice it in quarters remove the seed portion and plop it in. The other says nothing about removing seeds, but says to blanch it. For how long? Why blanch?

 

[CatLover]

When you feed him peas, let them thaw and then peel the skin off. Instead of plopping the whole thing in, I would break off little bits and feed it to him slowly.

I have never fed cucumber to my bettas, so I can't help you there.

Have you tried betta pellets? That's what I feed my bettas. I think they also make flake food made especially for bettas, but flakes hold the least nutrients. There are many betta foods out there, and I'm sure your boy would like most of them.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Scott MacAdam

I suggest that you try live tubifex or blackworms if your lfs carries them.

 

[jollysue]

Yes, Ms. Inchworm does pamper her babies with blackworms. She has wonderful success, too. How many grow out tanks of how many cories do you have now?

As I understand it she just puts them all together in a tank, feeds tham blackworms, they get happy and make babies. You can't argue with success. I feed almost exclusively blackworms now.

I don't know what is the right way, but I do blanch my peas in the microwave first, then I shell them. I give each betta about 1/4 of a blanched pea, mashed between my fingers. That makes it easier for them to get a bite, and I think they are also attracted by the odor. If they eat the 1/4 I give more. I don't have to fish out pieces of pea.

BN love cucumber. I can't remember now how my Betta did with cucumber, but I think, if they loved it like they love peas, I would get it for them. If you give any of your fish cucumber, blanch it too. It is easier for them to eat, I think. I always left the seeds. They seem to like the soft part. But I don't know about seeds. (This is other fish I'm speaking of.)

I would cut the cucumber into smaller sizes too. Again, it's easier to add to the tank than get out of the tank.

My BN (bushy/bristle nose plecs) died in a medication and culumnaris scourge recently, so I just give everyone a pea and some algae tab occacionally. The goldies get pea and orange (which makes a mess.)