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So Stubborn, He Nearly Starved to Death

398 views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  Kwomais 
#1 ·
I'd like to know if anyone else has ever had a betta so determined not to eat good food that they have nearly died. But let's but this question into context.

5 months ago, I moved across the province (1200km north and east). I took Kappa Sushi with me, set up his tank in my new place and praised the forces that be that he lived through the 2 day drive and 1 day delay (3 days of living in a bag and bucket!). Kappa adjusted well to the new water up here as did all my plants and shrimp.

A few months later Kappa was fluorishing; he looked healthier than he ever had before. I checked out the LFS and saw that they carried omega one. Huzza! I'd been wanting to switch him from the cheaper flake that I'd fed him all his life to that stuff but had previously been unable to access it. So I purchased it, raced home and dropped a few pellets in for Kappa's evening feed. He was unimpressed. "Well, I'll wait him out. If this is all I offer," I thought, "he'll have to start eating it soon, or he'll starve. And betta's are too smart to be so picky that they'll willingly STARVE to death!".

Guess again. 2 weeks later and Kappa still refused to eat. Now in his defense, maybe he was eating some of then plants instead (very heavily planted, well established npt). So I though to myself again, "Stubborn little brat! Well we'll see who's more stubborn! I want you to eat this awesome, healthy, expensive food. So either eat it, or starve!" Guess what he chose?

A month went by, still I didn't cave. 2 more weeks and he got fin rot. "Lucky you! I know how to treat that! And I still refuse to give in to you!" Another week and a half, the fin rot was cured but I'd been seeing less and less of Kappa... I was starting to worry that he really WOULD starve to death. He had become very thin, very pale (although this may be coincidental... He's a marble and is undergoing a colour change again right now) and very depressed; fins clamped, ignored me (where previously he swam to greet me every morning, lunch break and when I got home from work) and hanging around at the bottom of the tank, or hiding in his castle.

And then there's today: 2.5 months from the day I swapped his food. I was really worried about Kappa. He still wouldn't eat the pellets and was starting to look really ill. So I pulled out the flakes... Dropped one in and sunk it to him with a chopstick. He inhaled it. And then another... And then I tried a pellet the same way. Nope, Nada. So I sprinkled a few flakes up top and... BOOM! Away he goes like a rocket to consume the flakes. Kappa Sushi: 1, Kwomais: 0. Looks like you win, little fishy, you win.

PS I would like to point out that the ONLY thing to change was the food; water changes and parameters, frequency and amount of food and all other variables remained constant. Only the type of food changed throughout this entire ordeal.
 
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#2 ·
LOL - there's a stubborn little boy there.

I got omega one flakes for my two boys when 1)Neptune's mouth was too small to eat Omega One pellets and 2)Enceladus was too small to eat the pellets. They just wouldn't stay down. I even had to crush the flakes for both of them.

I've gotten to the point where I can get them both to eat pellets now - but it's really hit-or-miss. Since I had to get the flakes anyway, I think I'm just going to mix it up for them.

Callisto though - he'll just inhale whatever I put on top of the water. ;-) Yum-yum-yum-yum-yum-yum-yum....MORE??? MORE?????
 
#3 ·
I didn't know they made a flake! I'll have to try that! Alpha was like your Callisto, he ate anything. Kappa's always been a bit spoiled though... Starting with when I first got him and had him and the shrimp together (as I did with Alpha, who was fine with them) where he ate freshly hatch RCS for the first few weeks of his life... Bettas can be so frustrating! I just can't wait until I get my 30 up and running and I can plunk Kappa in there with some friends. That'll make it all worth it.
 
#4 ·
Haha -yup, they make Betta Buffet flakes!

http://www.omegasea.net/products/nutrition/betta-buffet-flake

My biggest worry is overfeeding. Some of the flakes are...rather huge. They're also rather fragile though, and since I have to smash them into crumbles anyway....it's pretty easy to keep a consistent, small portion size.
 
#5 ·
Ouch! I just don't think it's worth starving any animal over a food preference. Sometimes what is best is what they will eat. I can't imagine this contest of wills is going to lengthen his life. Cats with kidney disease for example often will not eat the special food that will make them do better. Sometimes they'd rather eat Fancy Feast which is full of by products. Sometimes you can mix the two foods and they will eat it. All in all I'd rather have a happy, normal sized cat that will eat and than a starved, skinny cat that ends up dead/or or in the hospital because the cat won't eat the ideal food. The ideal food is the goal I work toward if possible. The same applies to my fish. Feeding them is one happy parts of my day.
 
#6 ·
Yea, that's why I gave up. Really didn't think he would be so stubborn though. And I really do wonder what he was eating... Prolly one or two pellets here or there when I wasn't looking. And given a week, most cats with renal disease (in my experience anyways) will eat only the good stuff, just sometimes takes a little coaxing (eg heating it up and offering nothing else).
 
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