How smart are your bettas?

[SusieJG]

I know this sounds crazy but I am *convinced* that my two female bettas have long term memories and emotions. Is that even possible?

For example, last night I was doing a major overhaul of my large tank (where one of my bettas lives) and to do it I kept having to walk past the other female betta, who hates company and lives in her own 2 gallon paradise. She is in a well trafficked area of the house so she is used to people always going by, but I SWEAR she somehow recognized what I was doing and got jealous. About the third time I walked by I saw her in her "tricks" pose (we've trained her to do tricks like jumping up to hit a bell and jumping through a little hoop...but we started doing this when she was really small, so she still has the habit of curling up her body to get extra force before jumping like she used to need to do to get out of the water). I ignored her and next time I walked by she immediately went back up to her "tricks" pose...this time I dropped some food in thinking maybe she was hungry (we reward her with food for her tricks), not only did she not touch the food, but she refused to leave her pose. The next time I went by I start hearing "click, click"-I look over and there she is jumping and trying to push the top of her tank off with her nose (its thin plastic so she can actually move it a bit). I looked at her and she did a little circle then went back into her tricks pose. I started to walk away and then "click click". I of course gave in and played with her for about 10 minutes...but after that she seemed satisfied, ate her "treat" and went to play with her mirror-and totally ignored the world like usual. Now I can be interpreting things here-but doesn't it seem like she was jealous or at least wanted human attention (as opposed to just food?).

My other betta does similar odd things that really make me wonder sometimes...like waiting for her special food or recognizing her food bottle as opposed to similar bottles for other types of fish food), but this was just beyond belief.

 

[Alix]

i got my betta to flare when i put 2 fingers up to the glass. only thing else he flares at is his mirror. an he also swims to the front of his tank when i pick up his food. an goes nuts when i pick up the bloodworms

 

[John_Nicholson]

Some people will disagree but I think that bettas can be conditioned but they are not really intelligent. Their instincts make them attractive to us but that is about as far as it goes.

-john

 

[wuvmybetta]

I think they're smarter than your average,oh let's say tetra, for example.
I wish mine were smart enough to clean up after themselves

 

[tttnjfttt]

I think they're smarter than your average,oh let's say tetra, for example.
I wish mine were smart enough to clean up after themselves

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How do they clean up after themselves?

Back to the post topic, I do think they are smarter than the average fish. Mine all recognize me and actively greet me when I walk in the room, one tries to catch my hand durring water changes, and they are all social, fun fish, who definately have different moods.

Bettas can recognize their owners. My mom was watching me give hers some blood worms (she absolutely is grossed out by them, and refuses to touch them, even with a tooth pick). Her guy swam over to her and completely ignored me or any of my attempts to get his attention to show him the worms.

 

[wuvmybetta]

How do they clean up after themselves?

They don't I was kidding.


I do believe they recognize their 'people'. A couple of weeks ago I was eyeballing one of my little guys, he's the first betta I see in the morning and the last before lights out (since he's right by the light switch).
Anyway, I was watching him and he was staring back at me, while a friend of mine peered over my shoulder. I stepped out of the way and she stepped up to look at him. He backed away, completely freaked out, gave her a flare and then turned to the left where I was now standing and he commenced the staring contest.
He clearly was thrown off about where she came from so quickly. And he knew one thing...that she wasn't me. It was so,so,so cute

 

[Saucy]

Yes, bettas are smarter than the average fish.

Fish Can Speak, Make Tools, and Think
Fish have cognitive abilities that equal and sometimes surpass those of nonhuman primates. They can recognize individuals, use tools, and maintain complex social relationships.(9) Biologists wrote in Fish and Fisheries that fish are “steeped in social intelligence, pursuing Machiavellian strategies of manipulation, punishment and reconciliation, exhibiting stable cultural traditions, and co-operating to inspect predators and catch food.”(10)

Fish communicate with one another through a range of low-frequency sounds—from buzzes and clicks to yelps and sobs. These sounds, which are audible to humans only with the use of special instruments, communicate emotional states such as alarm or delight and help with courtship.(11) The pumps and filters necessary in many home aquariums can interfere with this communication. “[A]t the least, we’re disrupting their communication; at worst, we’re driving them bonkers,” says ichthyologist Phillip Lobel.(12)

Got that from helpinganimals.com.

 

[tttnjfttt]

How do they clean up after themselves?

They don't I was kidding.

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Anyone wanna guess how long I believed gullible wasn't in the dictionary for? )

 

[Alix]

most of your life?
my betta was bored with that kinda brain power
if my fish were a human hed be smarter then me

 

[Synirr]

That's a really cute story, Susie! My bettas definitely recognise me and at least some can differentiate between me and other people. Yura comes up and flares at my finger if I hold it up to his tank, but when one of my friends comes over and is looking at him, he just backs away slowly like "omg wtf who are you?!"

 

[JackDemp528]

Mine do the same, my green boy does the hungry dance for me all the time, but if someone else is there he won't. They're so smart.

 

[John_Nicholson]

Did it state the setup of his experiments? Phillip Lobel may be correct but without a though examination of how he reached his opinions then they are just that opinions.

Thanks -john

 

[SRC]

Mine stay in my office here at work...they are used to people walking around and peering in at them. But, they don't respond to anyone else the way they respond to me.

I can't see how they are conditioned..when everytime I go over I do not give them food or anything else except a quick glance..they get fedd once daily..at whatever time I get ready to feed them (never the same time).

They clearly recognize my face. They have to. I wear my hair down sometimes, I wear it in a pony tail sometimes, I wear it in a bun (looks like i have no hair) sometimes, and sometimes I wear my glasses...most times I don't though.


They get excited when I bring out the silver bag with FD BW's in it, but they go bonkers when I go over to the table where I keep my cups and stuff...and turn around holding the cup i thaw their Frozen Bloodworms in.

If I walk over to their tank...they all stop whatever they were doing and swim up to the front of the glass. If I have no food containers they don't swim to the surface..only to the front where they can see me, if I have a food container they act differently depending on which container it is. If someone else walks over they don't even act like they know they are there..and if they stick their face up close they will retreat to the back of their stall, like "ok buddy..move along wouldja". If I stick my face down there..they swim up close.

Sorry John....you can believe your betta's are dumb, stupid, conditioned, or whatever....I do believe mine recognize me and situations going on around them. maybe you should spend some 1 on 1 time with your fish...not feeding them..just entertaining them with your presence..you'd see a difference.

If you treat them like "just fish" they will act like "just fish"...even dogs and cats are that way. You have to help them cultivate a personality....just like children. I don't think they have the cognitive skills to behave the same way a dog would...but they aren't just dumb little lumps of flesh floating in teh water either.

 

[Alix]

i agree with SRC my betta is like a mini of my oscar. like my oscar doesnt react when i get out the betta food an my betta doesnt react with i get out the oscar food. i think they are smarter then your normal run of the mill fish. definatly smarter then my tigerbarbs.

 

[Naughtygirlrlw]

My fish definatly know the difference between me and my husband or my kids. I do most of the care, feedings, etc., I am the one who sits and looks at them and says "how's my widdle fishies?" and gives them their treats. They react differently to me than my family. The one time my husband tried to help me with their water changes, Shazaam jumped right out of the net and into the sink! (Never happened to me before before )