Young Betta Not Eating

[rezicca]

So, I just had a young betta shipped to me. He's doing great now, but he doesn't want to eat. He was shipped on Tuesday, and I'm assuming the last time he ate before then was Sunday. Got him yesterday (Friday) and he ate one pellet, but every other time I try to feed him he'll spit it out or just ignore it completely.

Regular pellets, smaller pellets, blood worms, nothing.

He's very, very active (although right now he's in a gallon tank until my roommate gets back), but just doesn't want to eat.

Is there anything I can do to get him to eat? Or is this one of those "He'll eat when he's hungry" things? And if the latter, how long should I expect this to go on?

Thanks~

[shellieca]

Try soaking the pellets for about 5 minutes & see if that helps. You can also crush them, they'll sink but sometimes they like to scavenge so to speak. I know all of mine will eat where ever they can find food. What kind of pellets are you feeding? It could be the brand. Is the container he's currently in heated? What's the temp? That can effect their eating. I'd not offer food for a day or 2 & then try 1 pellet in the morning then 1 in the evening. When I get new ones that's how I feed them until they settle in & it doesn't take long until they act like little piggies & i increase them to 2 pellets. I feed Top Fin Betta Bits & no one ever turns them down, they also get frozen Brine shrimp & blood worms, fasting 1 day a week.

[Perry the platypus]

Maybe he's just getting settled in.

[JAGalletta]

My betta is doing the same thing - ate once since he's been here (I got him shipped here from Thailand on Thursday; named him Thai).

For now, I'll be giving him one pre-soaked pellet in the morning to see if he'll eat it. I change his water daily, since he's in a 1.5gal bowl until his tank has cycled. I think it's one of those "he'll eat when he's hungry" deals, but if he starts to get lethargic I would start to worry. I think (my) Thai isn't eating consistanly for a few reasons, and perhaps the same for you.

1. Stressed from shipping and only ate that once because he was absolutely starving.

2. Not used to daily water changes, and is acclimating to this?

3. New surroundings causing stress.

I've read of some fish not acting right for up to 2 weeks after being in their new homes. Just make sure to monitor him and perform daily water changes since you are keeping him in a bowl (even if for a short period of time). Ammonia builds quickly in a confined space like that and will easily kill him if the water is not changed out.

[rezicca]

Originally Posted by shellieca

Try soaking the pellets for about 5 minutes & see if that helps. You can also crush them, they'll sink but sometimes they like to scavenge so to speak. I know all of mine will eat where ever they can find food. What kind of pellets are you feeding? It could be the brand. Is the container he's currently in heated? What's the temp? That can effect their eating. I'd not offer food for a day or 2 & then try 1 pellet in the morning then 1 in the evening. When I get new ones that's how I feed them until they settle in & it doesn't take long until they act like little piggies & i increase them to 2 pellets. I feed Top Fin Betta Bits & no one ever turns them down, they also get frozen Brine shrimp & blood worms, fasting 1 day a week.

I'll give the crushing and the soaking a try. It's weird. Mizuchi, my first boy, was shipped in too, and he ate immediately. He always wants food. Chouko's just a weird one.

His tank isn't technically heated; I have it close to the heater in the room, and the thermometer has the water at 78. Not the best, but my roommate's off acquiring a larger tank and a heater and she won't be back for a few days. I swear, it's like we sent her off to hunt a moose or something.

The large pellets are Aqueon Betta Food, the smaller pellets are API Premium Betta food, the shrimp is SanFran Bay Brand, and the blood worms are Tetra Blood Worms. The latter are freeze dried, because I don't have a fridge or a freezer at the moment.

Thanks. ^^ I'll see if that works then.. Hopefully he does start eating soon. I'm leaving for the weekend in a few weeks.

Also, just kind of an off-topic question, what's a good aquarium-safe adhesive? Or, how do you get silk plants to stick to the bottom of the tank?

[JAGalletta]

Superglue (cyanoacrylate) is tank safe once it's set.