I gotta Betta and guess what happens

[Fireyicefly]

OKay so i got my Betta on Thursday, he seemed to be doing okay, he wouldnt eat the tropical fish flakes, so i bought him some of those pellets, and he wont eat those either, so now i bought him some blood worms, and when he sees those he will just eat them up. I know that to many of them wil lbe bad for him because they are so high in fat but what to do.

This is what i did i put him in my baby breather, and tried to feed him some and he still wouldn eat them so I dont know what to do, any suggestions and all suggesestions welcome!!!!

But listen to this crazy story, this morning when i woke up I looked in my tank and I couldnt find him, so I looked behind all the plants, because thats where he likes to hide, and i couldnt find him, so i got desperate and looked on top of the lid and behind the tank and he wasnt there either. So I looked down at a piece of paper by my foot and he was laying on it. So I was like omg and i picked the paper up and he looked so dry. So i poked him and he started flipping around but his tail was stuck to the paper. So i just dipped the paper down in the fish tank and after a while he loosend up and swam away. afterwards he was kinda weak and just sank to the bottom, but when i got home he seemed okay.

Now the weird think is that my betta jumped through a hole the is about 1 inch my 3 inches, flipped himself across the lid of my tank which is about 1.5 feet. then he flipped of of that and fell like 4 feet, and then he flipped about 1 foot across the carpet, and then stopped on the paper. Now thats so weired.


Please someone help me with the food problem I will be very greatful!

 

[-=DG=-]

From what i've been told, these fighter feed solely on bloodworm bacause thats what they eat in the wild.

 

[bluepacific]

I've had problems with bettas and bloodworms too - and gotten nothing but mixed info on all of it!
I know people who have had bettas who feed them only bloodworms, and those who say you shouldn't because it can actually cause constipation.
I had one betta I couldn't get to eat pellets either...
The second one wouldn't eat them at first, so I let him go a day or two without food, and by the 3rd day he was eating it.

As for him jumping out of the tank, is he still alive? Keep tabs on him, because he might slowly form a tumour. That happened when one of my bettas jumped in the past too and sadly, no medication seems to cure it.
Good luck!

 

[-=DG=-]

well the guy told me they have upturned mouths which are designed for picking up flies and bugs off the water surface.

 

[Jamnog]

I think he must have stopped on the paper because its so absorbant he would have flipped and flipped till he died. much like of some one put you under water with no air. kinda makes for a panic moment what happens sometimes is that fish will try to jump clear of the water to clear thir gills of some kind of buildup this happens especially when they are new to a tank. a thaught for us all when adding new fish KEEP THE HOOD CLOSED well on thir first night. i understand that this guy made it thru a gap hope nothing seriouse must be a verry healthy fish to make it so far in air not shure i could do the equivilent in water.

 

[Mollymomma]

Bloodworms alone will cause digestive problems down the road..in my experience most betta's don't like the flakes..Pellets are best as the main dietary needs...Remember that yes in the Natural setting these fish eat bugs & flies off the water..But most betta's you purchase in pet stores are not wild & never have been. they are bred for sale and start their life on man made products.

bluepacific is right the best way to get them to eat the pellets is to only offer the pellets..after a few days they will eat them...the survival instinct kicks in & they will eat what is available.. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

 

[LiquidLife]

Your fish may be just getting used to his new home and they often won't eat for up to a week, especially if they find the new parameters are not up to snuff (water too cold, water has too much motion, PH isn't correct, etc), which may be a reason why he jumped out too. Check your tank chemistry. And if your tank hood has a hole he can jump through, you may want to consider cover the tank with plastic food wrap (Saran wrap or similar) and just poke some holes around it so he can't get through again.

The problem with bloodworms is that they thrive in water laden with heavy metals such as mercury and lead. So the worms contain a lot of heavy metals. You can feed them maybe once a week so your fish gets only a very limited amount of those heavy metals. People and fish can develop an allergy to the worms/metals so make sure you wash your hands after handling the product and if your fish develops bumps or anything, stop the worms altogether.

Hikari makes a good pellet (Bio Gold). But sometimes the pellets are a bit too big for a betta's mouth so you may need to crush it just a little--don't make it into a powder, just crack that pellet into smaller bits. You can try mixing the pellets with the bloodworms while you wean him off the worms.