Feeding my betta

[DN530]

I've had my betta for about 2 months and the way he eats frustrates me a bit. I feed him a variety of food... bloodworms, waterfleas, or betta bits. no matter what i feed him he eats it in a way that pollutes the bowl. so i have to change some of the water and clean the gravel 2-3 times a week. what he does is takes a bite of food, chews it up for a second then spits it out. then what he spits out falls to the bottom of the bowl. is this normal or is he just a picky eater? i'd a cory to clean up his mess, but it's a 1 gallon bowl with no heater or filter. picky eater or normal?

 

[jenn22]

one of mine is like that too it makes me so mad when i see them chew it than spit it back out I tired frozen bloodworms,brine shrimp,betta bites,bio gold and freeze driend bloodworms they seemed to like the bio gold and the freeze dried bloodworms the best

 

[HeatherSweetness]

I have a few bettas like that. Picky little snobs. I just feed them tiny bits a few times a day,like a bite in the morning and at night. Seems to help cut down on the funky water they love to make me.

 

[Nina7777]

my bettas are picky too. I feed them gel bloodworms. Its blood worms that are packaged suspended in vitamin enriched gel. They love it and eat every last bite

 

[Samage]

my betta seems to have taken a real shine to algae....!

 

[Auratus]

maybe a ghost shrimp or two can help clean up the mess without adding too much tot the bowl.

 

[froggy7897]

I have had my betta for about a week, and he is doing the same thing. Is it normal for him to spit his food up like that? Does that mean he does like it and then he doesn't eat?

 

[1152 Flying Fish]

I feed mine small cichlid food and the male and females eat them right up. I have to feed them three pieces twice a day! try that.

 

[LiquidLife]

Hmm, our bettas will eat anything and everything--bunch of pigs. They even kill and eat ghost shrimp and snails (so far, the corys have been left alone).

A new fish sometimes won't readily accept food--suspicious that it might be something awful I guess. And if a fish is used to a certain type of food only, he will be leery about anything new. Live food will usually spark their hunting and eating instinct although if they've never seen live food before, it'll take them awhile to figure out it's food. You can also try little bits of plain cooked chicken--not often but it seems to stimulate their accepting new foods.

Make sure the water is warm enough (should be close to 80F degrees) of else they do stop eating. And maybe cleaning the bowl several times a week is a good idea anyway (this is your fish's way of getting his room cleaned more frequently).