should i be worried??!!

[hannahluvsherbetta]

I have a male CT betta and yo get it to eat you have to literary put the food right above him. And he is really thin. And he keeps searching for food at the bottom of his bowl and i keep trying to get him to eat. (I just got him yesterday) he also tried to eat a pebble. What should i do? Should i be worried? ?

[LebronTheBetta]

It's pretty normal for a fish to not eat for around 1 week when it just arrived. Don't worry. And what do you mean thin? Like a soft curve or a hollow belly?

[Greylady]

I wouldn't worry unless he stops eating all together. It could be just because he's new and not accustomed to his surroundings yet. My betta is such a little pig, that he's so busy swimming back and forth across the front of the tank when he sees me walk up, that I have to stick the tip of my finger in the water to let him know where I'm going to drop the pellet otherwise he missess it completely and it eventually sinks. This way of feeding isn't so bad because the benefit is I watch him eat each pellet, I know exactly how much he's eating and I know there are no pellets rotting at the bottom and dirtying up the water :)

Oh, and he might not be "eating" the gravel as much as exploring his new surroundings... they can be very curious

[hannahluvsherbetta]

@lebronthebetta-it has a hollow belly

[LebronTheBetta]

Hm... Like this one: http://www.bettafish.com/album.php?a...ictureid=24622 This is a normal good sized belly. Is it like that? Or even hollower?

[hannahluvsherbetta]

@lebronthebetta- its hollower

[LebronTheBetta]

Oh boy. Can you post a picture? He MIGHT have internal parasites since that's known to cause weight loss. Is his poo white and stringy? If it is, he has that. Just try to feed him a pellet everyday and see how it goes. I don't know any other illness besides internal parasites that can cause weight loss except for TB. :(

[hannahluvsherbetta]

I dont have a camera but ill try to find a pic on thd internet that lookes like mine(size wise)

[Greylady]

you could read this... there are also some other threads on this forum addressing this issue. My betta is very thin also and practically see through, however he acts healthy, eats like a horse and has normal "poo" so that's just his makeup. As long as he doesn't act sick he's probably fine.

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=99969

[GrayL]

My fish went into hiding for 4 days one time. Just leave it alone, it takes time for him to get acoustomed to his surroundings. I had a Baby do the same thing. The best thing to do is put food in like you usually do, and just leave him alone. Don't micromanage your fish, it stresses them out.