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[riogal_11]

I got a new boy about 3 weeks ago who was chewing his tail. I thought he was getting better, but I just went and checked on the boys and his tail is even worse. It definitely looks like chewing and not finrot, what should I do, I have just done a water change and added salt. Should that be ok? he's in a 1 gallon with a plant and several feet away from any other betta, I can't figure out why he's chewing. He flares at everything, but I've never actually seen him chewing.

 

[splashluff]

ack, I'm sorry. It must be so frustrating and sad for you.

I've never dealth with chewing, at all, so I don't have a lot of experience or advice. Just water changes, maybe block his view of other Bettas (with a piece of paper or whatnot) so he isn't frustrated, and possibly add a piece of Indian Almond Leaf.. maybe Blackwater or StressCoat? I dunno.. you might also try adding in new and exciting things (live/frozen foods, new cave, shiney marbles, new plant, etc) to keep him occupied.

 

[Seahorse]

I'll leave this one for the most part, to the board experts P) but does he have any stimulation?

A bored, unhappy betta, will do anything to occupy himself Give him a mirror to keep his attention, or put him next to another betta maybe?

Edit: Or if he is next to one already, do what splashluff said. Either or!

 

[newfishies]

what does the tail look like? i had boys who would wreck their tails when they could see each other all day. it looked like they might have been biting, but i think it was from overflaring! they are fine now that they can't see each other. maybe if your boy is flaring a lot, that's where the damage is coming from?

 

[riogal_11]

He's within about 2 feet of my 10 gallon divided, so he can probably see my little boy blacky at times, but since blacky mostly stays in the back of his tank I really doubt he can see him enough to be flaring all the time. He had a bubblenest tonight when I cleaned his tank. Maybe it is from flaring all the time. I will try moving his position and see if it gets any better. Thanks for all your help.

 

[splashluff]

Oo.. Newfishies is right. Over-flairing *can* cause tail tears, especially in boys with large, flowy tails, like HM's and Super Deltas.

 

[bugsy66]

If you have plastic plants remove them and replace them with either real ones or silk. The plastic ones will tear a bettas tail real bad.

My new red male was doing the chewing thing on his tail when I brought him home. He was beside other males in the store and his tail was beautiful. I have actually seen him chew his tail and changed his food immediately. Both my males will not eat pellets so i feed fozen blood worms and they just love it. I have also added one drop when i do a water change into both their water for ick treatment. It has made a huge difference in his fins. The other one was fine.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

I have also added one drop when i do a water change into both their water for ick treatment. It has made a huge difference in his fins. The other one was fine.

May I ask why you were treating with ich meds? That just doesn't make any sense to me.

IME tail biters do so because they are bored. Mine stopped biting as soon as I gave him something else to do. Now all my boys are side by side, they can see eachother all day, but they don't spend the day flaring, most of the time they are happily swimming about investigating all the different things around them.

 

[riogal_11]

That's the thing, he gets plenty of activity, he constantly swims around and flares at anything and everything, that's why I'm thinking maybe being overactive is causing it. He does have a plastic plant, so I will replace that asap.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

One time I saw Bob freaking out at his reflection. He caught his tail out of the corner of his eye and tried to bite it off. I think he thought it was another betta. Maybe that is what is happening with yours. Or he could be tearing it on plastic plants, but I have never had that problem, so I can comment on it.

 

[Synirr]

Tailbiters usually bite when overstimulated or understimulated; the trick is finding out which it is
Tailbiting is genetic (like obsessive-compulsive disorder in humans,) so there's no real way to "cure" it, per se... just minimize it. My boy Yura is a tailbiter, but his bowl is on my computer desk right next to me, so he gets his entertainment from watching me most of the time. Sometimes I see him making very slow circles just staring at his tail like he's going to bite it any second (definitely a fixation,) but when I lightly tap on his bowl he usually snaps out of it