Tail-less Lucky's Progress Photos

[BettaMomma]

I just made my first attempt at finding out what happened to him.
I called WM and talked to a guy who was covering for the regular person in the fish department. He said they get the fish in already in their plastic cups, packed inside styrofoam coolers. So, it's most likely he came in to the store this way. But who knows.

I'm going to call back tomorrow and talk to the regular person who works there.
I'll get to the bottom of it.

 

[BettaMomma]

Hmmm - our CIO just stopped by my desk to check up on the boys.
When he was younger, he used to breed bettas, so he's very interested in the ones I'm keeping...
Today is the first time he's seen Lucky and he is CONVINCED that he got his tail ripped off from being in a container with another betta boy at one point. He said he's had it happen to a couple of the bettas he had go through his breeding facility back when he was into it. He said they just either jumped or somehow landed in somebody else's container somehow. WHICH, does not surprise me given how far I saw him jump yesterday...

He said the tail should grow back to a pretty decent size.
We shall see!

 

[nashnutny]

He's looking good !!!


After having one bounce around on the cabinet top, I carefully remove them from the tank and leave them in a special covered container across the room from the sink and then carry the tank over to the sink. Don't laugh, but I always check to make sure there's no one inside before dumping the water.

 

[BettaMomma]

I do the same thing.
I think we all do. heh

I'm going to take some more pics of him probably at the end of the day today, because it looks even better today!

 

[BettaMomma]

Oooh grr -
he just wigged out again and completely ripped his bottom fin in half.
And it looks like he's now chewing on the bottom fin also.
I suppose his tail hurts him so he's frustrated.

The tail coming in looks really good still, though.
I already have salt adn stress coat in the tank.
Not sure what else to do for him.

 

[RandomWiktor]

Wow BettaMomma! He looks great. I'm sure his tail will grow back; my betta Tiny Tim was in about the same shape when I got him as yours, but ALL of his fins were nubs. It was pitiful; he could barely move. Today, he has nice long fins, though they tend to have curly-looking ends as they grew back a little irregular.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[BettaMomma]

That's awesome!
do you have any pics of him I could see??

 

[SMSBrunetteGirl]

Aweome job!He`s really making progress,hopefully you do find out who did that

 

[FishyLoveBug]

Now that you have seen the process at which the tail grows you can get a basic idea of how long it has been that way. Add that information to any shipment dates you can get.
*puts on her detectives hat and gets out her bubble pipe* I deduce, my dear Watson, that BettaMomma will chew some behind.

 

[BettaMomma]

LOL

Just wanted to post to bump this.
I added Day 5 pics to the original post (see above)

 

[Kierana]

I have to admit that after the initial astonishment wore off, I believed that Lucky's lack was genetic. It was just too hard to believe that any poor little betta could have survived the shock of losing his entire tail! )

I'm glad that Lucky (and you) have proven me wrong.

 

[BettaMomma]

Ya know - I was pretty convinced of that too, and honestly, a little disappointed that i wasn't gonna have the challenge of helping him grow it back. I am so excited that it's coming back. With as fast as it's coming in I just can't wait for it to grow more more more!

 

[BettaMomma]

Now that you have seen the process at which the tail grows you can get a basic idea of how long it has been that way. Add that information to any shipment dates you can get.
*puts on her detectives hat and gets out her bubble pipe* I deduce, my dear Watson, that BettaMomma will chew some behind.

Whellll....
after doing some more digging, it has been confirmed that he was delivered to WM the same night I first spotted him. On the 22nd (Tuesday evening). It is now Monday afternoon of the following week, and you can see how quickly it has grown back in.
And it didn't start growing for a couple of days after I first had gotten him.

Now, I don't know exactly how long it takes for that sort of regrowth to start, but when Amos lost hunks of his fins, it was within a few days.

Sooooooo.... that makes me know that somewhere in the timeframe of the 19, 20 or 21 when it happened.
I'm going to get back w/the fish dept manager @ WM tomorrow and find out if she knows the route they take to get to the store. I WILL get to the bottom of it. Even if it was a freak accident where he wound up in a container with another fish who ripped it off, it still torks me off that it happened!

 

[RandomWiktor]

BettaMomma - no pics of him when he was "nubby" but here's a (blurry) shot of him today:

Its not really visibly in the pics, but the ends of his dorsal fin, and a few spots on his tail fin, are "curly." His pectorals have also stayed rather transparent, but that aside he looks like any other healthy betta. I was AMAZED to see how he recovered; he literally just had tattered nubs where all of his fins should have been. However, his was caused by finrot methinks, not fights.

 

[BettaMomma]

Wow, that's absolutely amazing that they came back.
He musta been waiting for someone to come along and smother him with TLC before he decided to grow em back!

Let's hope the same thing happens with Lucky. He's sure trying!