Jumper Survived - Now What?

[CarmanDirda]

This is only the second time in my many years of having bettas a betta has ever gotten out of the tank on me... she is a very accurate and unlucky jumper...

Jewel, my female betta, jumped out of her 5gal while I was in the bath. I have an idea that she may have been picked on by her tank mate, another female betta (they've been together for a while, but sometimes the other female nitpicks at her even though noone is ever hurt).

I immediately searched for her when I returned to my room because I noticed she wasn't begging for food like she usually does this time of day and found her still a little damp under the desk. I put her in a cup while I cleaned a 1gal for her and treated the water at the correct temperature, etc. She's still kind of dirty, even though I got most of the dirt off of her - slime coat seems fine and I cleared her gills as carefully as possible.

The part I want some help with is even though she's swimming fine, she's very lethargic. I turned off the lights like I saw many people suggest elsewhere and she stays near the top, righting herself when she may start to drift and swimming around lazily but she isn't active as usual by any means.

Should I just keep her tank extra, squeaky clean? I removed the filter because it's too strong for her right now, so I plan on cleaning it daily, but is there a better way without stressing her out? My male who did this stressed to death within 24 hours, so I'm afriad to do anything that might bother her mentally just as bad as physically.

I don't have a pH tester now so I can't give the exact water qualities, but it was literally just cleaned as it normally is and she's been in there maybe an hour and a half. I added a bit of aquarium salt and of course "betta bowl plus" to get rid of the metals and stirred it myself since the filter is gone. I also added a tad less than the bottle reccommends for the tank size of BettaFix because she did seem to have hurt her head and fins slightly.

For the most part she just seems weak, but I'm afraid she'll be joining my male, Knight, who jumped if I'm not extra careful.

[sainthogan]

My female jumped out of a tiny hole in her lid and dropped about 4 feet to a hard wood floor. She was quite lethargic for many days. Then, she perked up and was fine.
Yours is in better shape than mine was after her jump, mine had been out of the water for at least a half an hour and her fins and tail had started to dry out and were badly ripped. She jumped the night before I had to go out of town, so I had my mom watch her - I had her keep the tank light off, but the light near her tank on during the day - and by the time I came back, except for her fins, you'd never even have known that she had jumped.
Just keep a close eye on her, keep her warm and clean, and a little extra dark would be ok.

[CarmanDirda]

Thank you! So basically not too much aside from what I was planning. Just had to be sure it'd be enough. Second opinions from people with experience are always nice.

She still has a bit of dirt in her slime coat. Will it come off on its own or should I do something? I got it all off her face but her body is a little dirty.

[sainthogan]

It should come off on its own. My poor girl jumped into dustiest corner of my house and although I rinsed her off twice, tons of it was still stuck to her. It all came off after a few days. Don't be alarmed if she fully sheds her slime coat and you find slimy, dirty looking blobs floating around - this is completely normal as she sheds off her slime coat to get the excess yuck off of her.

[Solaris]

I think you're doing perfectly. My aunt's Betta jumped from his tank. Despite my warnings, she left it without a cover. He jumped out and landed five feet below on the wood floor. Right in front of the cat even! Luckily, my uncle was up and heard the plop noise and saved him. He was stunned for awhile. His gill was bright red, from a cut probably, or maybe it was bruised. And his tail was full of rips and holes. It's been about a month now and he's back to normal! I can't even tell that his tail was ever ripped!