I am SO about to flush him!!!

[splashluff]

I'm not serious, of course. But the thought has crossed my mind more than once...

Maui is such a b@st@rd! He attacked his tail again!! It was actually starting to look alright... it was actually getting even. Then, I was gone today, and even though he got a bunch of bloodworms for breakfast I guess he wanted a snack . I swear, he's a psycho. He has a huge tank, with a heater, and the best meds, and good food 2x a day, and 2 WC's a week, and lots of attention!

I don't think its just boredom, because I realized that part of the reason he does it is frustration with seeing other bettas, so he rarely sees his neighbors (the other part is he dislikes drastic changes, so I try not to change up his tank much). Faith also told me to keep him from seeing other Bettas until he heals.

I'm just really, really annoyed with him. I cannot bring myself to spawn a Betta that has such a jacked up tail, I wanted to wait until it healed, but it seems like by the time he heals he will be past his breeding age! Every time his tail starts looking good, he goes and mutilates it again. He hasn't done anything this bad since the initial time, in July.. he hasn't even chewed on it at all since then, just split it a little from getting excited. I think I'm going to OD him on Bettafix! I don't know what else to do... does anyone have any magical cures? here's a picture from tonight ~ LOOK AWAY if you have a weak stomache

 

[jollysue]

Have you tried one of the calming additives on the market? Does almond leaf extract help calm them? I think there is stuff they use to ship bettas that calms them so they don't get so stressed.

 

[Hanako]

How about indian almond leaves?? I've been reading up on them and apparently they work great...

 

[jollysue]

Yeah the ones I got from BetterBetta/BlueBetta were packed with it and those were the easiest fish to acclimate. I have since ordered from them a stable and standardized form of the Indian Almond leaf. Wuvmybetta also gets supplies from a group that offers Indian almond leaf extract. PM her and check it out. I don't think that it will totally solve the problem, but it might do alot to help. After all the people who developed the whole betta thing swear by it.

 

[splashluff]

How about indian almond leaves?? I've been reading up on them and apparently they work great...

[snapback]910928[/snapback]​

I have, like, 10 IAL's... but I'm freaked out about using them, because that's why he blew his tail in the first place I did mess it up, by adding too large of a piece, but I'm afraid he will just flip out even more if I try to add some. Maybe a small piece? I dunno. I'm not sure what works better ~ IAL extract or soaking a piece of IAL?

 

[Karah's_Mommy]

Have you tried just crystal clean water with maybe a pinch of salt? Maybe all the bettafix and medicines are an irritant to him ?

 

[jollysue]

Better betta sent a sample with my order. It was an extract. I would think a trustworthy product of extract would be easier to administer consistantly. Still Mardel and others have products. Mardel has Stress Therapy. Expensive. It has Valerian Root and other Western European homeopathy. But it limits it's use to 4 wks.

If some people need medical therapy for their nerves, why not fish? And I have lots of experience with people who do better with medical therapy. Sometimes it's really genetic or from the parents not being well or cared for. Some of our boys really can't cope without well monitered help.

I have worked with boys that are so volitile and they are totally unable to control their escalations. The correct medications help them stay even keeled. If they can learn to cope and learn new skills like conflict resolution skills, it's all good. But fish can't learn at that level. Maybe they often can find some calm and trust their environment but if it's biochemical, well the little guy needs all the help he can get. Behavior mod techniques are only good so far.

 

[SRC]

Maybe he needs a smaller tank. There have been lots of folks on this board who complained about their bettas blowing their tails from having too large a tank.

 

[Andie]

I'd heard that too, Jennie; something like the unexpected spaces make them confused or worried, or similar. Agoraphobic bettas- what next?!

 

[OohFeeshy]

Maybe you could cover the tank with a dark pice of cloth for a while, make it nice and dark and calm. Put him in a quiet place, don't feed him for a few days (I doubt he's eating his tail because he's hungry), all some IAL, collodial if you have it... just try and make it calm for him.

 

[RandomWiktor]

What kind of cover does he have in the tank? Hard to tell from the pic, but it looks a little barren. When my boy, Jeff, had started up with tail biting, I turned the lights down low, covered his tank, and planted the HELL out of. He stopped biting after a few days, whereupon on removed the cover. A few days later, I turned the lights back on, and found that - lo and behold - if he got stressed, he hid in his plants or cave instead of eating himself. He has gone months at a time without incident under this system, and I've found that keeping the water very clean, very warm, adding salt, and getting him on a regular feeding schedule all helped out as well. So did keeping him away from other bettas, contrary to much of what I've heard here; one of the main times he hurts himself is he sees another of my boys. It would also be advisable to put his tank in a quiet, low-traffic area of your house, as environmental stress OUT of the tank is as bad as stress in the tank.

I really didn't see a dif. in tail biting between the 2.5 tank and the 5 gallon tank. It was actually less in the five, because I could plant it much more heavily without taking up all of his swimming space; he now has plants near the bottom to hide in, but space above to swim in exersize in. However, all bettas are stressed by different things, and some do not like trying to defend a territory as large as 5 gal, esp. if they were in a small container most of thier life.

 

[splashluff]

THANK YOU for all of the awesome replies! You guys gave me a lot of good info to try out

I'm going to try keeping him in a calmer, quieter room and adding more plants to his tank ~ and maybe cutting back on the meds, for a change, heh. MAYBE a small piece of diluted IAL if I get the courage. All he has in there right now is a terracotta pot and a large silk plant. He does hang out in it quite bit... I have some plants in quarentine right now, and I will definitely try adding a few live plants to his tank. It's about 4gals... not too huge. He originally blew his tail in a 1g, and he seems to appreciate the space because he's been blowing bubblenests non-stop. ughh, he's just such a brat

 

[Bloo]

I feel your pain ! Luckily (fingers crossed it stays that way) my tail biter is now cured. He suddenly (after months of having neighbours in a divided tank) started to feast on his tail
He's now well on the road of recovery with non-betta neighbours (a couple of tiny guppies) on the other side of his divider. And he's a different fish all together.

Try adding loads of plants too. That might help him feel more "secure"
Good luck !

 

[jollysue]

I responded to wumybetta's post about the Atison betta stuff sale at her betta club. I got the 4 product package. I was less than $20w/shipping. It includes two Betta foods a betta fry food and n almond/yucca/? extract Spa.