Feed Them Live Blood Worm

[iankhu]

i just feed my Betta live blood worm and the blood worm is coming out on there gills pls help is that normal?

 

[betta one]

NEVER ever do that make sure they are dead

 

[afishdude]

next time, measure out what you want to feed. then stick them in the freezer for 10 min. they will die, then you can feed safely.

 

[dmarie04]

Why would you "never ever" feed live bloodworm? Feeding live foods is very good for your fish. You do have to be careful about parasites and other stuff like that, though. I've never heard of live foods coming out of a fish's gills before. Hopefully someone else comes along that has some experience with this particular situation.

 

[betta one]

that's exacly why!!!!

 

[afishdude]

that's exacly why!!!!

whats the difference if you kill the bloodworm before feeding? how is that worse for the fish than feeding it to them live? its just less problems for the fish, catching the food and eating it.

 

[betta one]

u are right!!!

 

[dmarie04]

Feeding the food live triggers their hunting reflex. Something about them swimming after the live food and catching it and killing/eating it is just very natural for them. Also, I'm not 100% sure on the exact science involved, but freezing the food loses some of the nutrients that are in the live food. Frozen food is good, too. I feed lots of frozen food, esp. when conditioning, but always feed the live over frozen, when it's available. Killing a live worm that has parasites, or other diseases, and feeding it to your fish, doesn't mean the fish won't get sick. That's why you just need to make sure the source of the live food is good (why I culture my own live foods).

 

[afishdude]

no. not frozen, just freeze it enought to kill them, but dont freeze them.

Killing a live worm that has parasites, or other diseases, and feeding it to your fish, doesn't mean the fish won't get sick.

nobody said it wouldnt get sick.

Feeding the food live triggers their hunting reflex. Something about them swimming after the live food and catching it and killing/eating it is just very natural for them.

captive breed bettas are nothing like wild bettas. so i dont see how this could trigger any reflexes.

 

[dmarie04]

no. not frozen, just freeze it enought to kill them, but dont freeze them.

Killing a live worm that has parasites, or other diseases, and feeding it to your fish, doesn't mean the fish won't get sick.

nobody said it wouldnt get sick.

Feeding the food live triggers their hunting reflex. Something about them swimming after the live food and catching it and killing/eating it is just very natural for them.

captive breed bettas are nothing like wild bettas. so i dont see how this could trigger any reflexes.

Betta one said to make sure the food is dead before you feed it and I mentioned that the only thing to be cautious about with live foods is they may have parasites. Betta one then said that's exactly why you shouldn't feed the food live. And so that is why I explained that if you make sure the food is dead before you feed it, it doesn't mean the fish still won't get sick if fed a food that had some sort of disease.

There's no reason to freeze OR kill live food to feed to your betta...unless you are just too squeamish to handle the live. Captive bred bettas have evolved and developed differently from their wild brethren...but that does not mean that they have abandoned their natural instincts. Humans are no longer cave people that must pack on pounds to keep warm in the winter just to survive...but their metabolisms still slow down in colder climates to help them survive the cold. Hard-wired instincts and natural responses don't die out that fast. Betta splendens were all wild at one point. Not really that long ago, either. One reason that feeding live foods to fry is such an important step is most fry won't even touch non-live food. Entire spawns have starved themselves rather than eat something not wiggling around in front of them. Why? Because their natural instincts for live food weren't met. Do bettas need live food to survive? Nope. Is it very healthy for them? Absolutely. The OP came here wanting to know why the live bloodworms are sticking out of the fish's gills...not to be told they shouldn't be feeding live foods.

iankhu-The only thing that has crossed my mind about why the worms might stick out of the gills is if you might have fed too much of them. Other than that I still haven't come up with an answer to your predicament. I vaguely remember hearing about his one other time, but I don't remember if it was on this forum or one of the betta forums...and I don't remember the exact situation or what the OP was told. Maybe I can find that for you.

 

[iankhu]

thx for the help my bettas are back to normal. i think i just feed them too much but the same happened to my BGK fish.
so what is your suggestion i must frezz my blood worm b4 i feed to my fish?

 

[dave1987]

i feed my fish live and frozen bloodworm they definately prefer the live stuff iv heard this story before about food coming out of gills and i think its normal not to sure though but a mate of mine fish done the exact same and was fine just a messy eater i think

 

[dirtydog]

my cories do this quite a lot

 

[betta one]

it thepends

 

[Dorkhedeos]

Its fine if it comes out of their gills, its not like its harming the fish or anything. If we had openings on the side of our cheeks, im pretty sure some food would come out of that too