Flapping Gills Help Please!

[OneOnion]

Help! My betta is opening and closing his mouth and gills really fast and making a weird clicking noise and small bubbles are coming out of his gills! He's did it twice in 5 minutes and the gill flapping lasts for about 5 seconds. It's like flapping in and out really fast, not flaring. Before this, I fed him a pellet and put a mirror on his tank. Maybe it stressed him out? Also, he has two half-centimeter rips in his fins that he just got now?? What's going on? Will he be ok? Oh yeah also he's flaring at me sometimes now!!! He doesn't do that usually, he only flared at his reflection before?

 

[Haych]

is he in a community tank or his own?

and what plants does he have? in my community mine has some hard plastic plants that shred his fins (am currently working on changing this)

 

[loraxchick]

he is probably just "catching his breath" from his flaring. i wouldnt worry about the "gills flapping" if it hasnt happened before and it settles within a few minutes time. as for the fin rips, he could have snagged them on somethng in the tank as mentioned above, or sometimes, intense flaring (especially if he's not used to it) might cause slight tears in the "weak spots" of the fins (esp tail fins). clean water is the best cure for the rips.
cheers

 

[jasminekiddell]

Dont worry, Alphie did this one day it didnt last long! I thought he may of just been catching his breath

 

[OneOnion]

Thanks, people. He calmed down after a few minutes, so I guess he was just catching his breath. And I bet the rips were from the flaring, because I didn't notice them before I put the mirror up. He's had some rips before, and they healed in a day. These are the biggest ones I've seen on him, though. Hopefully they'll disappear in a few days.

 

[loraxchick]

so long as your water is good, flare him more often. will help strengthen his fins and give him some exercise. and done medicate for the ripped fins if you have goood water quality.
cheers

 

[OneOnion]

Update!
He has a big rip in his anal fin now! It's like 3/4 inch long! But the thing is, it's like straight down in a straight line, not all ragged like you'd expect a rip to be. The rip's so thin and unnoticeable that I might not have noticed it. What could've caused this? His only tank mates are the shrimp, and they don't mind each other at all.

 

[Haych]

you sure theyre not "picking" at him when he goes to sleep?

i had a cory do this before. then it got braver and chased the betta to get his fins

 

[loraxchick]

check the decor in the tank. a straight tear is not nipping. or finrot. its injury. he either snagged it on something in the tank, or he went on a flare-happy binge. bettas who dont use their fins a lot can sometimes tear them if they suddenly start flaring excessively. but my money is on the decor. clean water and it should heal up in no time.
cheers