Lucky, the Tail-less Wonder

[BettaMomma]

No tail whatsoever.
Looks like someone snipped it off with a scissors.

I do have a small issue with him, though.
I got one of those corner tanks - an AquaClear 1G tank.
So, therefore there are several corners and odd-facing sides on this tank.
So, he sees his reflection EVERYwhere in it, and he's going nuts.

Will he get over it or do I need to do something different? He's been flaring almost non-stop since he went in. uugh

Oh my god - he's trying to wag his tail at his reflection... it's sadly hilarious... lol

 

[Jen21]

I can just imagine how happy he is to be rescued! I can't wait to see his progress

 

[Raechal]

Would a background help at all? Maybe you could tape a piece of paper to the back of his tank or something?

 

[BettaMomma]

There's just one section of his tank that really bothers him. He seems to be losing interesting in flaring at that "other tailless guy" over there so he's checking out other stuff. I'm going to try changing the lighting around here, and putting up some paper or something, see if anything works.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Ahhh...what a cutie pie. Its sad though- it almost looks as if it has been photo edited off! Not that I think you have, but theres not even any ragedy bits...

 

[BettaMomma]

LOL
you know, it somewhat does look like that, doesn't it?
It just looks completely unnatural.

I'll get more photos of him a bit later in his tank.

 

[Haiku]

OMG poor little guy!

Bless your heart for rescuing the sweet little fellow. Yay for Lucky!

 

[BettaMomma]

I have to say - despite his life situation, he is by far my most active and happy little betta. (Maybe cuz he doesn't have that heavy, heavy tail to lug around behind him!)

I've been looking closer at where his tail was severed and you can still see some scales that overlap where the tail is gone. You'd think that if it had been taken off more than very recently those scales would have fallen away.

I just keep having this horrific vision in my head of some dumba$$ kids working on a loading dock somewhere that these guys went through and the kids decided to see what would happen if they sliced off one of the fish's tails. I know that's probably completely ridiculous, but I just can't begin to figure out what happened to him. It doesn't seem to bother him in the least, though, which makes me extremely happy.

Everyone at work has heard about him and they've come by to welcome him.
I welcome them to the circus show when they stop by.

 

[Raechal]

Probably some stupid kids said, "hey let's see what happens when we put two males together."

-puts two random males together-

"WOAH! COOL!"

-continues to watch until one's tail is completely gone. They hear their boss coming so they quickly take one betta out of the cup and stick it back into it's original cup to be put on the shelf-

That is how I think they get stubby tails like that at stores. But who knows, could there be a possibility he was born without a tail? Probably not as they probably would have euthanized it when it was young, but who knows.

It kind of does look photo-edited to anyone who hasn't seen a fish like that IRL. My paradise fish's tail looked EXACTLY like that, so I know it is real.

Even if he doesn't grow his tail back, he'll still be the cutest betta.

 

[BettaMomma]

It looks photoshopped in REAL LIFE, too!
It's so weird to see.
it's as if half of him is just gone.
I'm going to take several closeups - but I am um... going to wait til some of my coworkers go home or they'll harrass me even more than they already do for my fishkeeping here at the office. lol

I keep looking over there and it looks like there's only half a fish there. It's so odd.
More pics to come within the next couple of hours - i promise!

 

[Raechal]

It looks photoshopped in REAL LIFE, too!
It's so weird to see.
it's as if half of him is just gone.
I'm going to take several closeups - but I am um... going to wait til some of my coworkers go home or they'll harrass me even more than they already do for my fishkeeping here at the office. lol

I keep looking over there and it looks like there's only half a fish there. It's so odd.
More pics to come within the next couple of hours - i promise!

Hopefully after school in a few hours, I will have the digital camera to take some pics of my new boys. Who are still constanly going to the spot where they can see a glimpse of each other to flare. Will this stress them out too much?

 

[FishyLoveBug]

Do you think it possible he was born without one?

 

[BettaMomma]

Hmm.
I don't really know.
In looking at it, it really looks like it was ripped or cut off.
Probably moreso cut off.

BUT, I suppose it is possible?

I was just looking at him a little bit closer and the area right next to his tail (or where his tail WOULD be if he had one) has some little pieces that hang off just a tad bit more - it almost looks like if someone were to take a woman's long hair and pull it all back into a ponytail and cut it cleanly off - the stuff around the very outsides would be a tad longer.

I'm perplexed. It does look a tad like his skin and scales have grown a little differently right where his tail would hook on - they're slightly diff colored than his other scales and skin. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if any new growth starts to show..

?

 

[Shaydensmom]

I personally think, too that he was born that way! I don't think that even the toughest Betta could survive a severe injury like that! Plus, it doesn't really look cut of, a cut would have gone straight down. Wenn you look at his rear end you can see that the spine is a little longer on top and the Belly starts a little further in. For some reason his spine must have stopped growing in lenght to early and so did the Belly-Part too then.

either way, I would have bought him too- you are a good Mommy, your Fish are very lucky to have you!

 

[BettaMomma]

I wonder if there is such a thing as a betta tail transplant.

lol