Tail Biting

[Pugbrat]

I have two of my brother's crowntails. While observing the tanks this morning, I saw one of them grab hold of its own caudal fins and attacked it with fury.

I am now nursing it with methylene blue and salt and soon some IAL.
The good finnage on that CT now looks like a very bad DT with cancer. He ripped it horribly.

All seems fine with water's PH, temperature, etc.
What causes tail biting? Is it stress related? Something in the water? Boredom?
Is there anything I can do to prevent it from happening?

 

[Synirr]

It can be caused by stress, boredom, or simply genetics.... think of it like OCD in humans. I'd say try to eliminate stress from his environment first, then if that doesn't work maybe liven things up by moving his tank to a higher traffic area.

 

[splashluff]

I agree with Synirr... it could definitely be stressed, since they recently were moved. Keep his surroundings very comforting and secure since it is probably stress, you're treating him right so he should get better quickly. Good luck with him!

 

[RandomWiktor]

Agreed; I have a male betta who is a fin-biter, and it seems to be directly correlated with how much stress he is undergoing. Boredom also seems to play a role. I was able to curb the behavior by providing a larger tank, heavily planting the said tank, using a lower-intensity light, raising the tank temp, placing the tank in a low-traffic area of the house, and keeping all but one side of the tank covered to avoid stressful outside stimuli. He now only fin bites on rare occasions, most often after a water change that took extra time for whatever reason. The fin biting happens mostly when he is in his cup being cleaned, which leads me to think he is disliking the change in setting or confined surroundings.

 

[Pugbrat]

Thanks much! I hope it isn't caused by genetics.

He's also quite a frisky fellow. I have to watch this guy more closely.