I Am WAY Too Softhearted

[Kiarra]

Went into Walmart to get my hair dyed (weird place, I know), and found out that I had a thirty minute wait ahead of me. So what do I do? I go see the Bettas.

After personally "interviewing" each cute little face, I find one little guy who had virtually no anal fin left due to finrot. So I tuck him away in the very back where no one will take him before I can come back after my hair gets done, and I go back and get my hair dyed.

SEVEN EXCRUCIATING HOURS LATER....

I wander back, my hair finally done and still damp, and they've just unloaded their new shipment. Everyone looks surprisingly good. And YAY! My little tattered Cambodian is sitting there, not where I left him, but he's still there. So I pick him up, and somebody else catches my eye....

There was this poor little red guy laying on his side on the bottom of his large cup in his clean water, his nose extended toward the surface. He's making a vain attempt to reach the surface.

So what do I do? Well, first I pick up the little guy and poor a little bit of his water out, so he can reach the top to breathe. Then they both come to the checkstand with me.

I am such a sucker for a pretty Betta face, let me tell you. That makes THREE rescues in one week.

 

[Chino]

Who else would do what you do ? Good job

 

[Allie]

I was at Walmart today and decided to look at the bettas. There were none! I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing?

 

[Joby]

Good for you on the rescues

7 hours for a hair do

My cut, colour and highlights takes an hour and a half at most, you must have some patience to have endured 7 hours.

 

[BettaMomma]

It's very hard to leave them behind, isn't it?
Can't wait to see pics!

 

[Kiarra]

Cambodian boy died overnight. I don't really know why. I guess there was something going on with him that I couldn't see.

My little red boy is no better, no worse. Looks like some serious swim bladder problem. But that's okay. If it's possible to get him through it, then I'll get him through it.

7 hours is a bit obscene, I know. Had to bleach back to my natural blond. I am NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN!

 

[BettaMomma]

Aww.. I'm sorry to hear.
You're having some tough luck with these little sick guys.
It makes me angry when fish are discovered in such horrible shape.
Not only do they suffer, but so do the folks who try to help them and end up losing them. You're doing a very good thing, though, in giving them some comfort, even if it's only for a while before they go on.

Keep us posted on the red boy.

 

[Kiarra]

I'm going to take the dead Cambodian back and get another injured soul. May as well. I have the space, and it won't cost me anything more.

Little red boy can't seem to get his butt up off the bottom. I have him in a very shallow dish because he can't swim around much unless you scare the crap out of him (he and I both learned this one the hard way). But he can reach air because the water's so shallow, and, evertime I come over, he kind of wiggles his way over to where I am, so he can look at me, even though he's always sitting kind of perpendicular to the bottom. Poor kid. Wonder what happened to him in shipping that did this. But I don't see any leftover bloodworms, brine shrimp, or pea particles from last night, so I suppose he ate like a good little boy.

 

[Joby]

Sorry the cambodian didn't make it

Fingers crossed for the little red guy, sounds like you're doing all you can to make him comfortable.

 

[BettaMomma]

Do you remember the post about the little guy that Grulla went and got?
Your red boy sounds like he's got something very similar to what he had. (HAD - yep, he's made a full recovery)...

he couldn't get up off the bottom - it was like he had a weight tied to his butt.
He looked fine other than that. Is that what your boy has?

 

[Kiarra]

Yep.

He reminds me a lot of Eeyore in exact positioning, too.

 

[BettaMomma]

Well - he was treated with just one round of Maracyn Two. The best thing we can figure is that he had some sort of internal infection that was messing w/his swim bladder. He's perfectly happy, healthy and normal now!

You might want to consider trying that? I wasn't sure if we should, just because he didn't show ANY signs of anything on the outside as far as illness - and he was very friendly. And I really didn't want to medicate if it wasn't necessary but we decided to anyway and it worked.

 

[Kiarra]

Maracyn Two? Okay, noted. If I don't notice any improvement after a couple days with Methylene Blue, clean water, aquarium salt, peas & other good foods, and my constant adoration, then I'll probably have to go pick some up.

I'm just surprised it was this red boy and not the Cambodian that made it through the night. The Cambodian seemed to be in better shape. Guess you can't always tell, huh?

Ah, well, I'm just glad one of them is living. It would have been a little disheartening to lose them both overnight.

 

[BettaMomma]

Yeah - I really really thought Eeyore wouldn't make it very long either. The thing is that while they look completely helpless and absolutely out of control of their movements, if he's got what Eeyore had he should make a full recovery. They really look like they're dying and look horribly pitiful because they have such a hard time getting around. It was really hard to see him - laying on his side and dragging his butt all over. We did toss in a plant - it was something similar to hornwort but softer - he loved it. He perched up in that near the surface so it wasn't so hard for him to get up there.

Do give the maracyn two a try if he doesn't start to improve.
I can't wait to hear how he progresses!

 

[Styx]

XD I did that with Hornet. He'd been in Wal-Mart for nearly a month. Saw him every time I went.