How do you trim a betta's tail?

[pnyklr3]

My question is exactly that!

 

[wuvmybetta]

Sometimes with severe cases of fin rot or severe cases of droopy tail,it's just necessary.

You'd need a towel,a cup of water,rubbing alcohol and a brand new straight razor.

Fold the towel and pour water on it,open the razor and clean it wth alcohol. Lay the betta on the wet towel,cover his head and spread out his finnage then press down with the razor...don't drag! You can cut as much as half for severe finrot. A trim is usually around a third of the tail.

 

[Sandusky]

No clue as to one would go about doing that, but, in regards as in why...sometimes the betta's tail is so badly blown the nerves at the end are corrupted so in order for re-growth you need to get rid of those dead nerves. Hence why some breeders trim their tails. Some people have problems with this others don't, it's a very contrevertial subject.

EDIT: Wuv beat me too it.

 

[WILDER]

Poor thing that sounds awful, good luck.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Poor thing that sounds awful, good luck.

No worse than not being able to swim or having your 'hind end' itch and burn so bad that it drives you crazy to the point that you try to chew it off yourself.

 

[WILDER]

Just sounded awful.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Seems quick and reasonable to me. I suppose this is the controversy that San mentioned

 

[Sandusky]

Seems quick and reasonable to me. I suppose this is the controversy that San mentioned

Haha, yup, i agree with you though Wuv, it's better then being misserable. Seychelles has had his tail trimmed. He's got his top tail bent, so i'm guessing this is why he was trimmed.

 

[WILDER]

You learn something everyday, great that you do in this hobby, don't keep betta's though.

 

[pnyklr3]

My betta has has opaque edges on his fins for some time now, and I just noticed that they are beginning to look a little ragged. Treating with melafix at the moment. I just read a thread, though, about this and I didn't want to hijack it to ask the question. Thanks for all of the responses!

 

[yeeviabetta]

HI, I am the one trim-off his tail. Oops. LOL When i got him as a freebie from a usa seller, his tail is even worst. The part I draw red is been trim-off by me before he growth back. Originally the tail is not that long. He got bad fin rot too with red stuff in the end and a bad bend tail on the top. So I trimmed by using small sharp hair scissor. He growth back a beautiful tail. Somehow the top tail bend is still there.
So far all of my bettas been trim are doing great and have beautiful tail back. I have two red halfmoon male that been torn so badly by a female and now they are back to halfmoon and pretty. I just trimmed Tsunami's father tail again two days ago and this is the third time on him. (He is pretty old actually but still good in breeding) After trimming, he just feels young and active again rather than dragging his long tail and lazy to swim.

 

[ral]

Trimmed that tail of a VT who had a severe case of fin rot. Bleeding in his caual and a blood clot in his dorsal. This was 3 weeks ago. His is now fine and healty and his tail has regenerated almost fully... just waiting for the last opaque portions to turn pastel blue.

 

[pnyklr3]

Mine's a VT as well; you're standard lps betta that my daughter picked out for her room. How much should I expect the betta to move/wriggle while out of the water and on the towel?

Wuv- quick question that probably has a simple and obvious answer: Why not drag?

 

[wuvmybetta]

Most bettas are pretty still and eerily calm when out of water,so he should be quite still. But cover his face and torso anyway (be careful to do it quick so you don't smother him!)

Just like cutting anything, you'll get a smoother,cleaner cut if you don't drag. Plus you could cause it to rip if you drag and you'd have even more problems.

 

[Sorrell]

It's true that they will sit still. People like myself who are pulling tons of them out of water on a daily basis can sdmit that we drop one now and then. They struggle in your hand or a net, but when they're flat on the ground or a towel they just lay there