Siren managed to jump out of her tank today (over 2 inches) & I found her on the floor just now. She was hard & I thought she was dead, but I put her in a water anyways. Then about a 1/2 hr or so she swam really quick then settles on the bottom. I ran over & added more water & she did it again. I moved her to another cup of clean warm water, but she hasn't moved since & I don't see her gills or mouth move. Is she dead? Is there anything I can do for her?
How is she, most likely in shock..and tired, so if she is moving a lil is good, but try if possible to lower the water level if she is having a hard time breathing and getting to the surface for air..
if you have some Stress coat, and or Aquarium salt, it will help, if she is in a QT that is good, so she can relax, keep in a quiet spot for about an hour or so, but check on her often..
She's laying on her side on the bottom, but her head twitched a couple times. My dad said he can see her mouth moving a little, but I can't see it. I will feel SO awful if she dies!!!
In your rush you did dechlorinate the new water she's in right? (just have to ask it's sometimes overlooked in a panic.)
They can survive quite a lot but make sure you keep her warm and quiet now. lelei already said stress coat or a 1 tsp per gallon of water aquarium salt treatment.
if she wasn't really dried out when you found her the first time, or stepped on, she's in better shape then some that have jumped out. She could have hurt herself when she hit the floor twice. Keep her around 80 if you can.
Always cover your cups :( I know it was fast, and hard to think but they jump like the dickens.
I'm not sure what could have happened to make her jump out, but backtrack and think if anything changed in her water today or if you had a big rainstorm?
at this point I think you should leave her be for now. If you can turn the lights off, or perhaps wrap a towel around her tank. Check on her tomorrow morning and see if she's doing any better.
Depending on how long she was out of water, she may or may not recover. She's been through something very stressful and traumatic, make sure the water level is low enough she doesn't have any trouble getting to the surface.
Unfortunately there isn't really anything you can do right now, it's up to her if she pulls through or not.
Betta's have labyrinth organ that allows them to breath air. If she is perfectly healthy a betta can survive without water for hours. Keep her warm, let her rest and add stress coat if you have it. Hopefully she will have a full recovery.
Thanks guys. I have in about an inch of water in a cup that's inside another cup with warm water in it. I covered her with a towel. When I checked on her just now after a 1/2 hr rest, I'm 99% sure she's dead. The 1% is because I'm probably in denial. She's my avatar. I might leave her til tomorrow & hope she comes around, but her gills & mouth aren't moving & she's super stiff. The worst part is I might have stepped on her. I was taking a nap &I have super poor eyesight & couldn't find my glasses when my mom said she couldn't see Siren. I ran to the bathroom in a panic & put my contacts in & I vaguely remember thinking I stepped on what I thought was a cat toy. I don't know what could've spooked her. She is/was very curious & spent a ton of time checking out the filter. Between the edge of the filter & the tank lid there's an approx. 1 inch gap. There's over 2 inch gap between the water level & the top of the lid. I didn't think Bettas could jump that high, so I didn't cover it up. Lesson learned the hard, painful way.
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