Female Betta

[adcs]

I accept the hassle with males, but I never expected females to be twice as bad.

Last week, I decided to move one of my female Green Tiger Barbs from my Barb tank into my community tank (Tetras, Angel Fish, Corrys and Bettas) to give her a chance to recover after having her tail chewed off by her friends. It doesn't sound like the best idea I could have come up with but she was really depressed and didn't have the energy to harass anybody. She had no tail when I bought her a month ago but her friends keep on nipping at it preventing it from growing back. So, to give her a break I put he in with 'the nice fish' . The Barb was being really well behaved and didn't nip anybody and instead chose to pretend she was a Neon and shoaled with them. For a Tiger Barb, she's really sweet.

Yesterday, I come home and the Barb's fins were split and she was hiding because Miss Bossy Betta decided to kick her ass.

The female Betta used to be quite placid but she's started being a little madam. She's about 5 months old, is she going to continue to get more and more aggressive as she gets older (like my male bettas have)?

 

[White Whale]

Do you have a picture of your female betta?

 

[adcs]

I don't have a digital camera, but I found this picture on the net and she looks virtually identical to this one:

 

[White Whale]

Would you like to breed her to one of my fighters?

 

[buggyboutbettas]

Would you like to breed her to one of my fighters?

Itty Bitty, you don't actually fight your bettas do you?

 

[White Whale]

I spar them against my friends' so-called 'champion lines' so his guys can get a workout. But my guys can hold their own since it's only for 2 minutes.

 

[buggyboutbettas]

I'm sorry, but don't you think that's animal cruelty? cock fight are illigal due to cruelty, dog fights are illegal due to cruelty, so shouldn't betta fights be illegal?
I just don't think it's very ethical.

sorry to get off the subject...

 

[steppy104]

but it's natural. lol. if they didn't look so cool....like if it was just a gold fish that faught or somethin, i'd probably do it to...just not till death.

 

[White Whale]

No problem. And I said sparring, not fighting. They get 2 minutes max in the tank before any real damage is done. It's to hone their natural abilities without causing any real harm. And whatever they learn in 'fighting style' is passed down - genetically.

 

[wuvmybetta]

To answer your question,adcs, yes she will remain as aggressive as she is (she won't reconsider ) you may have to just seperate her.

IBB~I've heard the best workout for fighter's is a small tank with powerheads. Usually they'll flip on the powerheads for a couple of hours and the strong water flow buffs up the bettas

 

[buggyboutbettas]

but it's natural. lol. if they didn't look so cool....like if it was just a gold fish that faught or somethin, i'd probably do it to...just not till death.

In nature the betta always has an exit an all sides. a bowl or a tank can't simulate the way bettas truly fight in the wild. Bettas fight over territory. Nature can provide enough territory for bettas. But when you place two bettas in a tank, it can never supply the amount of territory that they would have in the wild.

I dunno, maybe if you had a really long 150 or 250 gallon tank, you could put 2 bettas in and see what happens. But when somebody puts 2 bettas in a tiny "territory" compared to what they would have in nature, it's just plain mean. It’s like putting two alpha wolves together in a zoo pen just to see what will happen.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Size has nothing to do with it. Animal Planet did an experiment via putting two males in a huge,huge,huuuuge pond...they found each other and fought

I can't condone betta 'fighting' but I understand that it's their thing Watching betta fry grow up is amazing, such big attitudes from such a little fish at such an early age

 

[buggyboutbettas]

It's to hone their natural abilities without causing any real harm.

can you explain to me the purpose of "honing their natual abilities" A.K.A. fighting (or sparing)?

 

[wuvmybetta]

I can't answer for IBB, but I'll throw in the wee bit of knowledge that I have on the subject. My guess would be that it is almost like a boxer punching on a punching bag, just warming up,so to speak.

I know that some breeders fight their males to induce spawning. For example a male shows no interest in breeding,but after a quick knock down,drag out with another male, they'll usually get right to work.

Sheeesh, poor adcs' thread has been hijacked!!

 

[buggyboutbettas]

Size has nothing to do with it. Animal Planet did an experiment via putting two males in a huge,huge,huuuuge pond...they found each other and fought

That's kinda interesting. I did not know that.
BTW - I wasn't saying that I'd try it, I was just using it as a point (however, now I see it was a pretty dumb point . ) )