Hi, just checking, is it normal for bettas to have poop that looks like bloodworms? I feed my betta presoaked freeze dried bloodworms, and now most of his poop is sort of white and brown with a small black tip and is bloodworm shaped. Shouldn't he have digested the worms completely or is he just pooping out the exoskeleton of the worms?
He used to have the regular 'cinnamon bun' poop when he ate flakes, but after I stopped feeding him flakes, his poop just started looking bloodwormy. Is this normal or is there some kind of infection happening? I would change his diet back to flakes again, but he won't eat them now.
freeze dried blood worms are not a suitable diet for bettas. They are more of a treat, and an rather pointless one at that. They are pretty worthless in nutrition and are hard to digest. I would get him on betta pellets right away
I tried feeding him pellets before, but he wouldn't eat them. He stopped eating his flakes too.
Are bloodworms really just a treat? In the wild here, most local, native bettas tend to have a diet of mosquito wrigglers, smaller fish fry, and other insects. Freeze dried bloodworms are pretty much just dried versions of mosquito wrigglers aren't they?
Are there any specific brands of pellets that are better for them? I've heard a lot about Hikari gold, but I'm not sure if I should just go out and get them if he won't even eat them.
I tried feeding him pellets before, but he wouldn't eat them. He stopped eating his flakes too.
Are bloodworms really just a treat? In the wild here, most local, native bettas tend to have a diet of mosquito wrigglers, smaller fish fry, and other insects. Freeze dried bloodworms are pretty much just dried versions of mosquito wrigglers aren't they?
Are there any specific brands of pellets that are better for them? I've heard a lot about Hikari gold, but I'm not sure if I should just go out and get them if he won't even eat them.
You need to get him on pellets. freeze dried blood worms are like you eating mcdonalds french fries. In the wild bettas get a a lot of variety to their diet with different insects. Our fish need that variety for the nutrition, or a pellet that covers it. What you need to do is starve him. Offer him one pellet twice a day until he starts to eat them. It may take a week or two for him to give in but he will give in and he will be fine. Once he does start eating them give him 2 pellets twice a day. Hikari gold are I believe the best but as long as you get a "betta pellet" your fine.
I would ignore him for a couple days and every two days test him by dropping in ONLY 1 pellet. If it's not eaten in 1 hour, toss it in your plant's soil as fertilizer.
I tried to feed my bettas omega 1 freeze dried bloodworms and they wouldn't eat it, so I gave it to the guppies instead.
It's a bit hard to ignore him since I have to check on him everyday to see if his fins are getting better (he's recovering from fin rot and an ulcer) and when I do he does his fish dance and I end up feeling really guilty if I don't feed him. He's also taken to nipping and butting at me if I'm not fast enough with his food.
MSG's trick with dropping one in every two days and watching to see if he eats it will work. Bettas aren't stupid, they won't starve themselves to death unless they're ill with something. He'll eat pellets eventually, but it may take a week or so.
I also recommend NLS or Omega One. Hikari has changed their ingredients for the worse, and unless you manage to get your hands on an old pre-ingredients-change batch of the stuff, it's no longer one of the best foods available. You also may be able to get your hands on a food called Atison's Pro, since you're in Singapore, but if none of the stores sell the brands mentioned above, they're all on eBay.
Yes he needs pellets and I would get the smallest ones since he is not used to them or didnt want to eat them before. The New Life Spectrum are very small and already have garlic in them my Betta loves them.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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