I don't want my betta to explode...

[NinjaSmurf]

My female betta is getting hugely distorted looking, her stomach is all bloated looking and she looks like she'd going to explode or something. I don't know what's causing this, she eats fine, and I give her the occasional frozen brine shrimp stuff, but this looks really wierd. Other than looking like this she's pretty much the same as she always was, except now she'd not quite as active. Is there anything I can do for her?

 

[ManyFISH4Me]

Hi,
You may be feeding her too much. don't give her any food for a day or 2, and see how she is. Can you post a picture?

 

[BettaMomma]

Most female bettas look like they're going to explode when they're full of eggs. I found that out by panicking because one of mine looked like she'd explode any day, too.

If youl could post a pic that'd be best.
How long has she been that way?

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I wish I could post a pic, but I don't have a camera, period . She's been pudging out for a few weeks now, but I just thought she was getting chunky... I looked at her today though and she does not look right at all...


Normally she'd be about this wide ----- or so, but now she's like this big ------ and kinda lumpy and all bulgy near the bottom. And she does fast, because sometimes we forget to feed her. If it is eggs is there any way to get her to get rid of them or something? Or is she gonna die?

 

[BettaMomma]

Well, it's very possible that she could be eggbound.
Do you ever find a little carpet of eggs laying on the bottom of her tank?

Or, she could have the beginning stages of dropsy, too...
What kind of tank is she in, and who's in it with her?

My girls all look horribly fat. I'm pretty sure it's because they eat a LOT. They do get fatter after they eat, though and then slim back down a bit when they have had time to digest their food. I've already noticed that 2 of my girls have gone through egg releases - I haven't seen the eggs, but they got REALLy puffy for a few days, got really snippy and snotty, and sort of hung around the back of the tank.

Is she doing anything else odd? Like swimming funny or hiding abnormally?

 

[Kiarra]

If the area at her "belly" is getting fat, then it's eggs or constipation. Her belly is essentially where her ventrals are, where her ovipositor is, right behind her head and underneath her chin, and in front of her anal fin. If it's constipation, then getting her to eat a pea should take care of that. Peas are fiber...Betta laxatives. If it's eggs, then she'll probably release them or reabsorb them on her own. There's a small possibility that she'll become eggbound, which, unfortunately, can be a fatal condition (I lost a dear girl to that), but it is a small possibility, and most girls either drop the eggs just fine, or reabsorb them. Rarely do you see the eggs after they've been dropped, unless you arrive during or after, as the girls and their tankmates find Betta eggs to be a very nutritious snack.

If the whole of her body is enlarging, then it is probably dropsy, which is usually a fatal condition. I have no advice on dropsy. Only fish I've lost to dropsy was a pregnant Guppy near to her term and her fry, which was why I didn't diagnose and treat in time. Dropsy is characterized by a "pineconing" of the scales...if viewed from above, the scales would be puffed out at angles, giving the fish the appearance of a pinecone.

 

[Synirr]

While there's a possibility she's eggbound or constipated, I've found that it's relatively normal for well cared for females to be a bit pudgy... Whenever I buy new girls they're always slim, but within a week or two of being with me and being well fed, they start filling with eggs, so it may be as simple as that
I have a girl that's half the size of my normal females, but she's ALWAYS fat with eggs. Sometimes she gets so big and lumpy that I fear she'll bust, but she always drops the eggs eventually... and eats them, too, the little piggy!

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I never saw any eggs, but her gravel is whitish in coloring, so I might not have been able to see it. She's in a one gallon tank all by herself, the only thing I can think of is that the tank might be a little cloder than it was because my bulb blew, so it doesn't have a light to heat it up with, but I can switch bulbs on my other tanks....

She just sort of hides at the back of the tank if she isn't at the front wiggling around demanding I feed her.

 

[Kiarra]

Well, that food begging sounds like healthy behavior to me. I really doubt it's dropsy or being eggbound. She's probably just full of eggs. Don't worry about her. It'll run it's course.

 

[BettaMomma]

Yep, and if she's hiding at the back of her tank that could be a sign of being full of eggs, too.
That's what my girls do when they're severly puffed up.
When the puffiness goes away, they're back to front and center begging for food again!