Feeding! :0)

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Just a quick question - what shall I feed my bettas? They won't eat their flakes. I've had my three females for about a month and my male CT for about 2 weeks, and I've just realised over the past few days that they aren't eating the flakes or the algae wafer that I give them. Are they any such things as 'betta pellets'? Or what shall I give them? I know I should have checked what they ate before I bought them, ) I'm kicking myself!

 

[sweetgurlsparkle]

yep. There is a food called betta bites made by HBH Bettas love it.

 

[WILDER]

Check your water quality to make sure that's ok if they are not eating.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Does anyone know what lancefish is and will bettas eat it. Also will they eat waxworms?

 

[newfishies]

betta bio gold by hikari is great. it floats for a long time so if the bettas don't eat it, it's easy to pull out of the tank (mine scarf it right down!!!!!)

 

[RandomWiktor]

They're probably not eating the algae wafers because they're carnivores

Betta bites or Hikari betta pellets are both great foods. You can also give frozen foods like blood worms, mosquito larvae, etc. and even live food, if you trust it to be sterile. I gave my biggest betta this little pinhead cricket last week and he went wild over it.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

how do you get crickets to stay in the tank? dont they jump out?

 

[RandomWiktor]

They have trouble jumping when they're busy being eaten, heh. Its those iiiity bitty pinhead crickets too, they're not very strong jumpers yet.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

how do you catch them? i want to try this out with my fish too

 

[Joel]

Do they sell them at petsmart or petco? I saw some crickets there, but they where normal sized.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

they sell them at my petsmart. i guess it depends on which petsmart you go to

 

[RandomWiktor]

Just as a warning on the pinheads guys, it is a big, hefty lot of food, so I don't suggest doing it very often. That, and they're of course not as sterile as pellets or frozen food, so there is always the risk of bacteria. The betta I give pinheads to on occasion is massive so he handles it pretty well, but I usually won't feed him for a day or two afterwords so he doesn't get fat or constipated. However, if you want them, you could try petco, petsmart, pet supplies plus, or a small local place. Only feed really tiny ones; if they're too big, you could chop them up pretty easily. If they manage to jump out of the water, pinching the back legs solves this, though I've never had that problem.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Thanks guys! I have 4 bearded dragons and 2 geckos so I have plenty of crickets, waxworms, mealworms ect ect. I'll try chopping up a cricket for him!

 

[RandomWiktor]

::smacks self on forehead::
Ok, I regret bringing up the pinheads now. What I had wanted you to get out of this post was not the part about treats, but rather this:

Betta bites or Hikari betta pellets are both great foods. You can also give frozen foods like blood worms, mosquito larvae, etc. and even live food, if you trust it to be sterile.

The "staple diet" should be a mix of pellets, as well as frozen or live foods. I gave crickets as an example of an occasional treat as they're quite large for a betta to handle and aren't as nutritionally complete or sterile as pellets or other foods made specially for bettas. The best thing you can do is give a mixed diet of the three main types (pellet, frozen, live) as variety carries a greater chance of complete nutrition.