new betta spitting out food

[plantastic]

hi! i recently bought a half-moon dumbo (from petsmart), and he's been spitting out his food. i drop a pellet in, he goes for it and tries to eat it, but spits it right back out! he seems pretty healthy, and i'm keeping him in (i think) good conditions (2.5 gallon tank with a sponge filter and heater). i'm a new betta owner, so i'm not sure if this is a normal betta thing or not. can anyone help?

 

[MasterPaul]

I think this is normal because I have a leopard gourami who did the same when he was put inside a new tank.He did this only for 3 days then he started eating although I am not a Betta owner but I think this is normal.

 

[MasterPaul]

I suggest you try bloodworms Bettas crave for it,well that was the case with my last Betta.

 

[NickAu]

First what type of pellets and how big are they?

 

[Essjay]

Some pellets are too big for young bettas, one reason they spit them out. But bettas are notorious for refusing to eat anything but the food the shop used. But they will not starve, eventually they'll get hungry enough to eat your food. Bettas will always eat bloodworm but these are not a nutritious food and should only be fed once a week at most. The danger is that if you tempt him to eat by feeding bloodworm, he will still refuse to eat the pellets.

I have had bettas which would not eat hard pellets. With these fish I had to soak the pellets in a bit of tank water to soften them before putting them in the tank.
I have also had bettas that would not eat soggy pellets, including my current betta, so I have to drop them in one by one in case he misses one and then won't eat it when he finds it.

 

[plantastic]

First what type of pellets and how big are they?

they're betta food pellets, aqueon brand. they aren't very large, and i try to give him the smaller pieces because he's a pretty small fish.

I suggest you try bloodworms Bettas crave for it,well that was the case with my last Betta.

bloodworms sound like a good idea! i'll pick some up.

 

[plantastic]

Some pellets are too big for young bettas, one reason they spit them out. But bettas are notorious for refusing to eat anything but the food the shop used. But they will not starve, eventually they'll get hungry enough to eat your food. Bettas will always eat bloodworm but these are not a nutritious food and should only be fed once a week at most. The danger is that if you tempt him to eat by feeding bloodworm, he will still refuse to eat the pellets.

I have had bettas which would not eat hard pellets. With these fish I had to soak the pellets in a bit of tank water to soften them before putting them in the tank.
I have also had bettas that would not eat soggy pellets, including my current betta, so I have to drop them in one by one in case he misses one and then won't eat it when he finds it.

hm. i'll try soaking them, maybe? he does seem to go along and pick the food off the bottom later, but i can't tell if it actually gets eaten or not.