What To Feed My Betta

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

No Tubifex worms are different , however you could try him with them to see if he eats it as a temporary measure?

 

[BettaBoysGirl]

Ohh Ive never heard about the garlic juice, I may try that! My bettas usually get betta pellets, but on the weekends, they get a mixed treat. Its a mix i made up of tubifix worms, blood worms, daphnia, mysis shrimp and brine shrimp. Out of my 4 bettas, each has their own favorites, as they seem to always go for those first. Every month though on the first, just to help their digestion, i cook up a pea for them, let it cool and cut it up into very teeny tiny bits. They go nuts for it!

 

[scampi]

Great replies thanks everyone ....I bought some frozen Bloodworm & brine shrimp. I've just tried him on the bloodworm - loves it. I can understand how easily you could overfeed them. I'm going to do the cooked pea thing tomorrow

 

[Aqua Dungeon]

Tell me about it!!!!!!!! Good luck and keep up the good work

*AD*

 

[scampi]

Tell me about it!!!!!!!! Good luck and keep up the good work

*AD*

Sorry for delay. He didn't touch the tiny bit of pea but I will try again, he turned his nose up at the Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets but apparently Bettas can take a long to to get used to new food. I will keep offering 2 pellets a day til he does get used to them, but supplement with brine shrimp / bloodworm as I don't want him to starve. Is this the right thing to do? I'm still waiting for the Attisons Betta Pellets

 

[loraxchick]

Do you have any chopsticks? (or something similar?)
I have a betta that absolutely REFUSED to eat anything other than bloodworms for weeks when i first got him. Well i didnt want him eating ONLY bloodworms so I tried something. I would defrost the boodworms and dip a chopstick in the container and get ONE kinda hanging on it. Put the end of the chopstick in the tank with the bloodworm on it. Hed come over and snap the worm off the stick. Feed several per feeeding the same way. After about a week or so, I switched to trying flakes with him (instead of pellets-they are harder and Ive found picky bettas tend to just spit them out...and never really see them as food no matter how many times you offer) ANYWAY...
After "training" the fish to eat bloodworms from the chopstick, id put a flake in and poke it with the chopstick under the surface...since it was being offered by the "training tool" he ate it! Eventually he realized it was food and would take them from the surface and i could cut back on the bloodworms. Once he was eating flake on his own, i tried pre-softened pellets (again with the chopstick) until he got the idea. Eventually, he would eat the pellets from the surface and i could just put them in the tank and not soften them.
Keep in mind this was the PICKIEST fish I've ever kept.
Just a suggestion. It helped me wean my guy onto pellets (if that is what you chose to feed them. I dont feed my bettas pellets anymore as ive found it leads to constipation/swimbladder issues much more so than flake. Also stay away from freezedried food). Just dont overfeed. 2-3 pellets a day is more than enough food for one betta (even skip days between feedings if youd like...its plenty of food).
Best of luck...It can make you want to pull your hair out when they spoil themselves by refusing staple food.
CHEERS!

 

[scampi]

Do you have any chopsticks? (or something similar?)
I have a betta that absolutely REFUSED to eat anything other than bloodworms for weeks when i first got him. Well i didnt want him eating ONLY bloodworms so I tried something. I would defrost the boodworms and dip a chopstick in the container and get ONE kinda hanging on it. Put the end of the chopstick in the tank with the bloodworm on it. Hed come over and snap the worm off the stick. Feed several per feeeding the same way. After about a week or so, I switched to trying flakes with him (instead of pellets-they are harder and Ive found picky bettas tend to just spit them out...and never really see them as food no matter how many times you offer) ANYWAY...
After "training" the fish to eat bloodworms from the chopstick, id put a flake in and poke it with the chopstick under the surface...since it was being offered by the "training tool" he ate it! Eventually he realized it was food and would take them from the surface and i could cut back on the bloodworms. Once he was eating flake on his own, i tried pre-softened pellets (again with the chopstick) until he got the idea. Eventually, he would eat the pellets from the surface and i could just put them in the tank and not soften them.
Keep in mind this was the PICKIEST fish I've ever kept.
Just a suggestion. It helped me wean my guy onto pellets (if that is what you chose to feed them. I dont feed my bettas pellets anymore as ive found it leads to constipation/swimbladder issues much more so than flake. Also stay away from freezedried food). Just dont overfeed. 2-3 pellets a day is more than enough food for one betta (even skip days between feedings if youd like...its plenty of food).
Best of luck...It can make you want to pull your hair out when they spoil themselves by refusing staple food.
CHEERS!

Wow thx for that loraxchick - you know you read so many different opinions on the net about how flakes give them constipation and pellets are best, then like yourself different opinion again. To be honest I don't really see the pellets as appetising but then I'm not a fish lol. I do wet the flake with my little finger & he eats it, he loves the frozen bloodworm & brine shrimp & I don't give him freezedried stuff.

 

[loraxchick]

Well i do have my opinions on pellets for bettas based solely on experience. I suppose that flake is looked down on as ive read that the vitamins that are in them get "washed away" when they are put in the water faster than pellets (i suppose because it takes pellets longer to soften, which is why they lead to constipation problems in the bettas...tangent for another day as im running a bit late for work...)
But as for the vitamin thing, as long as you feed a varied diet to the betta, they should be getting what they need regardless. Lets just say that since ive switched to all flake staple (Dont even have pellets around anymore) NEVER had a problem with constipation or other issues (like SB disorders which bettas are quite prone to getting from overfeeding-let's face it, they are piggies),
Just my two cents. Surely there will be disagreement but its the advice i feel most comfortable giving about staple food for bettas solely on experience and not what he said/she said...marketing is a powerful gimmick.
all the best! *runs to get ready for work*
CHEERS!