First rescue betta - any advice welcome!

[GaryE]

He was starved - something must have gone wrong in shipping to the store. Just be careful and keep a rigid QT on him - no shared tools or equipment with the other fish til he's made at least 3 weeks looking good. 6 weeks would be safer.

Rescuing Bettas can be a dangerous game, as I've seen a few in stores with untreatable diseases. He looks good though, and those employees were kind. Don't give their location away - the manager would probably fire them.

 

[hazyvonne]

Sad Sam update: he didn't make it He'd been doing so well. He gained weight, his fins seemed to be healing and he was coloring up so beautifully. Over the course of the week, I had bought some silk plants to make his tank more interesting for him and he loved swimming around them and the Indian almond leaves. Yesterday at noon I fed him a couple of blood worms then went to do other things. A couple of hours later the floating betta log I had ordered him arrived and I went to show him his new toy - only to find him belly up in the tank. I've only had him for such a short time but my heart broke. I have no clue what happened to him or what I might have done wrong. But I wanted to thank you all for your support and advice - it was greatly appreciated. SIP, Sam

 

[gwand]

Sad Sam update: he didn't make it He'd been doing so well. He gained weight, his fins seemed to be healing and he was coloring up so beautifully. Over the course of the week, I had bought some silk plants to make his tank more interesting for him and he loved swimming around them and the Indian almond leaves. Yesterday at noon I fed him a couple of blood worms then went to do other things. A couple of hours later the floating betta log I had ordered him arrived and I went to show him his new toy - only to find him belly up in the tank. I've only had him for such a short time but my heart broke. I have no clue what happened to him or what I might have done wrong. But I wanted to thank you all for your support and advice - it was greatly appreciated. SIP, Sam

So sad but I’m sure you did your best.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Don't feel too bad, he really was in a bad way. Most of us would have euthanised him but kudos to you for trying to bring him back to health, honestly, I don't think there was anything else you could have done

 

[Endlersendlers]

I don’t think you did anything wrong at all! He got some personal attention from someone caring for him the first time in his entire life and hung out as long as he could with you! I think you gave him a reason to live and he tried but was too far gone.

 

[hazyvonne]

Kinda update-ish: After staring at Sam’s empty tank for a while, I went back to the big box store. The manager remembered me (or more accurately, remembered my dogs) and asked after Sam. I told him what happened. Just like you guys/gals, he said that while it certainly wasn’t the outcome we wished for at least Sam had a week of being cared for properly. And then he immediately told me about this guy in the back who was in really rough shape and could use the same kindness as Sam. Of course, I agreed to take him (again, for free). I had told myself I went to the store to pick some stuff up for the dogs, but I think part of me was hoping for exactly that. So I went home with a white opal male, with pretty bad fin rot who was floating on top of the cup on his side.

I’ll make a separate post about him if any of you are interested to see how this goes - Albus and I would certainly appreciate your support and kindness again

 

[Endlersendlers]

Kinda update-ish: After staring at Sam’s empty tank for a while, I went back to the big box store. The manager remembered me (or more accurately, remembered my dogs) and asked after Sam. I told him what happened. Just like you guys/gals, he said that while it certainly wasn’t the outcome we wished for at least Sam had a week of being cared for properly. And then he immediately told me about this guy in the back who was in really rough shape and could use the same kindness as Sam. Of course, I agreed to take him (again, for free). I had told myself I went to the store to pick some stuff up for the dogs, but I think part of me was hoping for exactly that. So I went home with a white opal male, with pretty bad fin rot who was floating on top of the cup on his side.

I’ll make a separate post about him if any of you are interested to see how this goes - Albus and I would certainly appreciate your support and kindness again

Hi, yes I (I think we all) would love to hear about Albus.

You may not save the world but you can change the world of that fish.

It is so nice of you, doing this, and this fish will know compassion that it is likely never to have experienced in its life. Who knows how much time it has but, long or short, it will be greatly improved for you having adopted it. Bettas are wired to bond to people.

I hope you won’t be upset with me for saying it, but it sounds like this one floating in its side may be even more of a challenge than the last one. It may be a hospice fish so please don’t be upset if you can’t turn it around, but just maybe you can. Either way you will give it excellent care for the rest of its life and Kudos to you!

 

[hazyvonne]

Hi, yes I (I think we all) would love to hear about Albus.

You may not save the world but you can change the world of that fish.

It is so nice of you, doing this, and this fish will know compassion that it is likely never to have experienced in its life. Who knows how much time it has but, long or short, it will be greatly improved for you having adopted it. Bettas are wired to bond to people.

I hope you won’t be upset with me for saying it, but it sounds like this one floating in its side may be even more of a challenge than the last one. It may be a hospice fish so please don’t be upset if you can’t turn it around, but just maybe you can. Either way you will give it excellent care for the rest of its life and Kudos to you!

Thank you for saying this! I was torn between thinking the best way to honor Sam was to use my new-found knowledge (and newly set up betta rescue tank) to help another fish and fighting the guilty feeling of having "replaced" him. And yes, I'm absolutely more prepared for this not ending in a miracle than last time. My husband won't even look at Albus - he said he got too attached to Sam and it was too hard. He'll get involved if things turn around. I can't blame him. It's not that easy though - Albus has already wormed himself into my heart. Thank you again for your kind words!

My post about Albus can be found here.