Constipation/Bloat - Treatment & Questions

[LittleBlueFishlets]

I have questions about constipation and its treatment.

Background:
1) New betta bloated on Thursday. I put him into an Epsom salt bath (1.5 teaspoons Epsom salt per gallon of water.)
2) I did daily 100% water changes, keeping him at this same Epsom salt dosage. He has been in Epsom salt for 3 days now.
3) He is no longer bloated, and is more active today. But he still has not had a bowel movement.
4) I have not fed him since Wednesday. (I'm thinking that no food will continue to result in no poo!)

Questions:
1) How long do I continue the Epsom salt bath? At what dosages?
2) How long can a betta go without pooping?
3) When should I start feeding him again?
4) What should I feed him for that first meal? How much of it?
5) I've seen a lot of controversy about feeding a pea. Is this something I should do, or avoid?
6) How much patience do I need? (Versus at what point should I start to worry that he still hasn't pooped?)

Thank you!

[shellieca]

If he's behaving normally & the bloat is gone I'd stop the salt treatment, offer him 1 or 2 pellets & see how he does. He has no food in His system so there probably won't be any poo. See if he poos after the 1 or 2 pellets. Plus he may not have been constipated. Epsom salt is a laxative so a pea, IMO, isn't necessary.

[callistra]

He can stay in that for at least 2 weeks.. some people say indefinitely. I would leave him in it at least a week and until he's pooped as well.

I agree if the bloating is gone you can try feeding him. Give him a couple of pellets and wait another couple or three days. However, you're using low quality wheat based pellets. I'd try to fine some Omega One and feed 2 of those. Or if you find some NLS betta you can feed 3 of them.

Are you using an intank glass thermometer to monitor the temp or just assuming your heater is correct? I would make sure you're using the thermometer.

[LittleBlueFishlets]

Originally Posted by shellieca

If he's behaving normally & the bloat is gone I'd stop the salt treatment, offer him 1 or 2 pellets & see how he does. He has no food in His system so there probably won't be any poo. See if he poos after the 1 or 2 pellets. Plus he may not have been constipated. Epsom salt is a laxative so a pea, IMO, isn't necessary.

Shellieca - Thank you! I saw your advice this morning, so I fed him a pellet, and two hours later, he pooped! Yay! Once he did that, I reacclimated him back to regular water. He still doesn't seem 'perky' but he's FAR better than he was the last few days. I'll give him one pellet tonight, and see how he does.

Originally Posted by callistra

He can stay in that for at least 2 weeks.. some people say indefinitely. I would leave him in it at least a week and until he's pooped as well.

I agree if the bloating is gone you can try feeding him. Give him a couple of pellets and wait another couple or three days. However, you're using low quality wheat based pellets. I'd try to fine some Omega One and feed 2 of those. Or if you find some NLS betta you can feed 3 of them.

Are you using an intank glass thermometer to monitor the temp or just assuming your heater is correct? I would make sure you're using the thermometer.

Callistra - You'd posted after I'd checked the forum earlier, and I'm just seeing your reply now. I saw Shellieca's advice this morning, so I followed it and got excellent results! I am using Aqueon Color Enhancing Betta Pellets. Do you consider these wheat based? There is wheat in them, but not as the first ingredient. (I have been looking for Omega One or NLS, but have not been able to find them yet. I may have to order online.) Yes, I use intank glass "floating" thermometers in every tank, and I check them often. I never assume a heater is providing the correct temperature.

[callistra]

Yay! glad he's doing better :)

The first three ingredients should be a protein. Aqueon are better than some but still not the best. Petco carries NLS Betta if that helps. At my store it's with the betta food and not the other NLS food, but it may vary by store.

I would be prepared to drop him back in the epsoms and have some antibiotics on hand just in case. What did the poop look like?

[LittleBlueFishlets]

The poop was cinnamon-colored, and looked normal. Kind of large, but he hadn't gone in a few days.

I'm not convinced he's healthy yet though. He is still somewhat clamped, pale and lethargic. Or does it normally take some time to recover from this?

What antibiotics do you recommend having on hand?

There's no Petco here, but I can always order it online.

[callistra]

It sounds like it's regular constipation poop without any infection attached to it. It will still be the color of the pellet but it will be more like a ball.

I'd put him back in epsoms at least a week if he doesn't seem alright. He may still be a little constipated and have more to move.. Usually once the constipation passes my bettas perk up quick so not sure on that one, but that's just when the only issue is constipation and no other factors present.

I'm kind of spoiled because I have a local shop that carries just about everything, but I always make sure I have Kanaplex by Seachem on hand. It's a very gentle antibiotic (my fish don't bat an eye at it being in their aquarium when dosed properly). It also is a strong broad range antibiotic that works quickly and goes internal. There isn't much Kanaplex won't treat. My second favorite is Maracyn Plus followed by Furan 2.

Generally speaking, Metronidazole is a good one to keep stocked just because it can be mixed into a feed which treats internal parasite and bacterial infections, but it doesn't look like you'd need that one at this point.

[shellieca]

Glad to hear things are moving along (hehe). Just keep an eye on him, he may take a few days to get to normal, you haven't had him long & he's been moved back & forth a couple of times. Keep an eye on him as I'm sure you are & keep us posted.

[LittleBlueFishlets]

Thanks, guys!

I gave him one pellet of Aqueon this morning, and he did another poop! Yay! (I seem to get pretty excited about poop these days. LOL)

I picked up Omega One today. I gave everyone one pellet of it tonight to see how they tolerate it.

Hopefully, things will keep moving along. LOL

Thanks for your advice!