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HELP!!! Gus has been injured! :'(

2K views 26 replies 8 participants last post by  Bluewind 
#1 · (Edited)
*Please go to my profile and look at the profile titled "Gus Emergency" for pictures

I came in my room 30 minutes ago to find my poor Betta STUCK IN HIS CASTLE! I have no idea how long he was like that, but he sure thrashed when I picked him up! I got him out of the castle and realized he has a flesh colored wound on his back and stomach where is was stuck. His fins got a bit shredded. Please tell me what to do :cry:

Also, Gus is active and responsive. He is going up to the top of the water for air. The tank is 10 galon with a Tetra Whisper 10-30i. PFS substrate with plants, snails, and shrimp. Water chem is fine. Temp is 78. It's slightly basic and soft.
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#2 ·
Ouch, im definitely not experienced in this type of injury, however i would just keep his water CLEAN so that no infection sets in. Add some stress coat and maybe a tiny bit of aquarium salt. Good luck! Keep us posted!
 
#3 ·
It's ok! The wound is not to big. As precautionary measures, I would remove the castle (obviously) and keep him in pristine conditions. If you have access to ial, use it. Monitor him very closely, at the slightest sign of anything going wrong, ask or treat him accordingly. Best of luck to you and your fish!
 
#6 ·
I am going to wait til tomorrow to do a pwc so that he can rest tonight. What is Ial? Where is it sold?

He is gonna miss his castle. He loves that thing! His dumb bum just tried to squeeze in the back window! That little spot is like the size of the tip of my pinky! No wonder he got stuck :-(
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#4 ·
Thanks Gracie. OMG, I am just BEYOND upset. I'm the overly cautious one that over prepares for everything. Ever since I lost Todo (False Julii) anyway and now... I missed it. 1 detail that could end up costing me my fish :'(
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#7 ·
AQ Salt and keep it warm. You dont want him getting infected, and AQ Salt helps heal open wounds like that. I'm so sorry to hear he got stuck! Best to remove teh castle and find him something with bigger openings. I hope he'll be okay!
 
#8 ·
But what about my inverts? Wont the salt bother my snails and shrimp? I can't QT him. No spare heater! :-(
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#10 ·
He's lucky. We had a female get stuck in the decor and we didn't find her until the following morning after she'd drowned. :(

I agree with floating a deli container, or even a pop bottle with the top cut off in the 10.

We're wishing him a speedy recovery!
 
#11 ·
He is stilll active today. I snagged his food fast this morning because he was starting to dance for his food like he always does and I didn't want him to hurt himself. He munched up 7 omega one betta bufet pellets like he does every morning (he burns off all the food because he is crazy active. No swelling or buldging before anyone asks).

I am gonna do a pwc in a bit including a substrate vac. About how much should I do a day? My tank details are in my siggy. I decided to do the whole tank instead of floating him because I think it will stress him out since he is still so active.
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#12 ·
You are overfeeding. Betta's stomach's are the size of their eye. You are feeding 7x the size of his stomach. I'm glad you haven't had problems so far but you will eventually if you continue to gorge the guy. I wouldn't feed more than 2-3 of those in a feeding and 7 is also a ton even split up.
 
#13 ·
I know it is double what most feed theirs, but Gus has no swelling, buldging, or bowel problems. He would easily eat 10 if I let him! :lol:

He has been eating 7 per day since late October. I worried that he had a problem, but he has shown no signs of problems. He eats them all quickly without spitting out a one and when I feed him less, he munches the plants and the bottom feeder's food!
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#15 ·
I have always wondered why everyone keeps those! But I was afraid to ask :shock:

I will look for it. I may not find it around here, but I will try. Thank you Matt :-D
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#16 ·
Oh no! Poor Gus! Bettas love to squeeze into places they shouldn't, silly little dudes. I'm sure you've removed the ornament already, just make sure the next one only has holes that are plenty big for him to fit. As for treating him I would just keep the water clean and warm. Don't use aquarium salt yet unless you notice signs of infection and make sure to quarantine him because you're right, your snails and plants will not appreciate it! The only thing I would pick up is API Stress Coat, it is a dechlorinator, but it also promotes a healthy slime coat for accidents like this. IAL will be ok too, but I don't think you'll be able to get it anywhere but online, and if I remember correctly that isn't an option for you right now. Best of luck to Gus! I'm sure he'll make a full recovery in your care.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Thanks Fae! The castle was meant to be a hiding place for shrimp, but Gus figured out how to get in the front door! I would have left it in there if he hadn't tried to go in through the window! :lol:

My boy isn't gonna be as pretty as he was before, but he's still my little boy. ;-)

I have been keeping his water good and clean. I also put his big quart jar back in which he enjoys chilling out in as it was his home for his 1st week here! I put in a new filter to keep the water crystal and have been using my API Stress Coat to condition all my pwc while he heals.

He's been active and eating well. I split his feeding into 2 separate ones of 4 and 3 which REALLY pissed him off! He was like "WHERE MY FOOD!?!" Every time I came in my room, he was like "FOOD LADY!" and start dancing. Such a silly boy :lol:
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#18 ·
Haha! I bought a little mountain that I meant for shrimp too. The cave was big enough for him to fit in, but there were leaves around it so I rigged it so he wouldn't be able to follow them in. He didn't like that idea much so he just pushed those leaves right aside and went in an explored. Scared me for a bit cause I had no idea where he'd gone, then all of a sudden I see his little head poking out, haha.

With the food, I'm sure he will eventually come to love having two meals a day, its like twice the fun! Yesterday my guy discovered algae wafers. Ooh boy. He went over and kept fanning his tails around so all these little particles were going EVERYWHERE. Then he'd come swimming up to me all covered in them and was all pleased with himself, haha. He had a pretty full belly after that though, and probably regretted it, hehe.
 
#19 ·
I was actually thinking of getting one of those wiffle balls (plastic ball about the size of a soft ball, but with holes in it) and cleaning it up really good (including sanding rouch spots) and putting it in my tank for shrimp to hid in, but after this, not so sure. I would partly burry a bit of it in the sand so that it wouldn't just roll around. Is it a bad idea?
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#21 ·
I think that would be a great idea if you can find one with holes that are large enough for Gus to fit in, just in case he decides to get in there. Or make them large enough yourself. You could even use some aquarium silicone to seal up some of the holes if you wanted to. I'm pretty sure you said that Gus is pretty good with your shrimp, and won't try and terrorize them in there or anything.
 
#20 ·
bettas enjoy playing "where do I fit?". it's a very dangerous game where they try to squeeze in anywhere that they're not supposed to be. I use those "dino skulls" and terra cotta pots. Just make sure you offer more than one. Because then Mr. Gus can't use them all at once.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Oh yes! Gus is just a little sweetheart without a mean bone in his body. He did get an adatude with Magic (my Mystery Snail) when she was bugging him one day, but I have never seen him do anything more agressive than play tag. I have seen shrimp sit on his head before! :lol:

I tweaked his castle so he could get it back. I opened the window up and sanded it down to get rid of any sharp places. I might put it in the little tank I'm setting up for the female I'm getting as a gift on Saturday.
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#23 ·
Well, Gus is doing well. The spot is still white, but no infection and he is healing. Unfortunatly, my plants did not like my aggressive gravel vacuming and are now covered in brown freakin spots! *head desk*
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#25 · (Edited)
Just wanted to do a litte update...

Gus is back to his old self. Well, save dor a white spot on his back that lookings like a cowboy saddle! :lol:

The castle is fixed. I took some pliers and broke out the back window and sanded it down to make a keyhole door. It is now in Cami's aquarium. She reallly likes it. Not too bad if I say so myself ;-)

The brown spots on my plants weren't bad spots on the plants at all! After closer inspection, I discovered that it was in fact brown algea! Must have started growing because of all the pwc and time I had the filter off while treating Gus (one day I even forgot and left it off all day :shock: ) After a bit of careful cleaning with a paper towel, my "brown" plants are green once more :-D
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#26 ·
Glad he's acting so much better :)

Are you thinking the white back is from recovery? Because that's generally a description of columnaris.. I mean it could be healing, if it was part of the injury and you see it improving, but if it's popped up recently that's not a good sign.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Nope, it was there when he injured himself. You can see it in his emergency pics in my album. I got to admit that I thought it would eventually turn brown or something where he pulled all his scales off, but it's still white! Kind of the color of boiled fish (I boil cubed bass with bay leaves and the color reminds me of that).
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