i promised i'd ask...

[pandora's lily]

well its been almost two weeks and my little brother's betta still hasn't eaten anything, he's kind of upset...understandable...and i told him that i would ask you guys for advice...again
he's been offered HBH betta bites, wardley betta bites, hikari betta bio-gold, freeze dried bloodworms and brine shrimp. unfortunately my lfs doesn't sell frozen food...
he's been building bubble nests already and he seems fine otherwise, he just won't eat...any suggestions? i'm thinking that there's not much that can be done and probably just wait cuz i didn't think it was possible to force feed fish...
if anyone has any suggestions please let me know, my bro is getting really worried......

 

[Sea_Monster87]

Have you tried Daphnia? That's the only thing my male bettas will eat, so I'd try that.

 

[Synirr]

You could try offering him the same kind of food for longer periods of time... too much change can be confusing for a new fish, and if they're hungry enough they'll eventually eat whatever they're being offered...

Or maybe he's one of the weirdos who eats off the bottom? One of my bettas is like that. I was afraid he wasn't eating since I always see his betta bio-gold pellets floating around the top of his tank... but one day I noticed that he hunts around on the bottom and eats them after they sink

 

[LiquidLife]

Ok, a few things. You didn't mention how long your bro has had the fish nor what are the tank perimeters. If he's a new fish acquired 2 weeks ago, he may still be settling in. If he was gotten from a pet store, he may have a mouth fungus (use a fungicide) and/or mouth or gut infection (use an antibiotic). However, if the water is too cold, bettas will stop eating (water should be up near 80F degrees). Sometimes if a fish has only eaten live food, or only a specific food, he will not be willing to try anything new. Sometimes the pellets are just too big for the fish to get in his mouth and you'll have to crush up the pellets a bit. And sometimes the pellets are too hard for your fish, in which case you'll need to soak them first to soften them up.

You can try feeding him a little bit of boiled egg yolk crushed up to see if he can be enticed (but not too much or your water will go foul fast--suck out any food he doesn't eat). Sometimes a little bit of plain cooked chicken (NO spices, herbs, oils, sauces) in wee bits will work.