Very Badly cut Betta

[DrOizo]

I've just got home to find that my Betta lady has got herself jammed in the holes in her plant pot and has nearly cut herself in half trying to escape. I've removed her and I have melafixed the tank. The cut is very bad and shes resting on the top of a leaf. Her boyfriend is very distressed and he's coming up to her and curling and shaking. Should I put her in my maing tank in a breeding net so that she can rest or will the shock kill her. She's in a very bad way and is panting heavily. Cheers

 

[wuvmybetta]

I'm assuming this is the female who housed with the male, she was probably trying to get away

Do you have a bowl handy? If so...take a scoop of gravel and fill it half way with tank water,half with clean water and move her into it.
I'd move her out of view of the male, to help her become less stressed if the pushy male is the one who freaked her out in the first place. Give her a shot of melafix, bettamax woud be even better if you have some handy. Keep her water clean ,feed her well and cross your fingers. Best of luck to both of ya

 

[DrOizo]

Well she's in the big tank now and swimming slowly around her breeding tank. I really don't know whether she's going to survive or not. My male is completley distraught

 

[DrOizo]

They were getting on well recently and he had built a massive bubble nest. They often chase eachother around but recently she had taken to standing her ground in her plant pot

 

[DrOizo]

This morning she's still alive and swimming about a bit. she looks as happy as you can look when you've been sawn in half though . The wound has no gone furry. i've melafixed the tank, so is this fur part of the healing process?
Cheers

 

[wuvmybetta]

Fur sounds like an infection,get her some meds. I suppose an antibacterial like methylene blue.

 

[DrOizo]

I'll do a water change today and I'll luiquisil the tank aswell. the fur is pretty worrying though

 

[wuvmybetta]

It could also be a fungus, but since it's a deep puncture wound I'm assuming it's infection. If luiquisil is anything like methylene blue it should help a lot for either scenario. Water changes are good, be sure and keep on top of them. Is she in a community tank? Are you treating the whole tank? Be careful with the meds and make sure they don't crash your tank. You may want to treat her seperately.

 

[DrOizo]

Could I move her into an unheated bowl and treat her in there seperatley? Will the fact he's always been in heated tanks and then going into an unheated bad? If I put her in on eI'll use water form the other tank and gravel form it Aswell

 

[bettalove]

Yes, you can move her to an unheated bowl. Bettas don't actually *need* heated water, but in my experience, seem to be more active when their water is warm. If you're worried about the water becoming too cold for her, you can wrap a towel around the bowl to insulate it or put the bowl on top of a heating pad set at the desired temperature.

Anytime I have a sick or injured betta, I use bettafix, coupled with medicated flakes (if the betta will eat them). I also add a little aquarium salt and black water extract to the water. It's just another idea if the luiqusil or meth blue don't work for you.

 

[Bettaman]

Not sure where you from bettalove but its a bit cold here in the UK at the moment Droizo i would leave her in the tank she is in but can you partition it off so the male cant get her, and get some myaxin in the tank so any secondary infections don't set in most lfs sell a tank divider it just attached to the inside of the tank with rubber suction caps cost about £6.00, hope she gets better keep us up to date....