Floating Betta

[jparkin]

I'm a little worried about my Betta. I bought my Betta, named Wednesday, a little over a week ago. This morning I found my cat fishing... so after making sure he was ok, I changed his water right after that because I was worried about the hair. Now I noticed that he seems to be floating a the top of the bowl a lot. He swims downward, but always seem to float back to the top. Is this something I have to worry about? Thank you!! :(

[Meatpuppet]

he could be shocked or your cat could have clawed him. does he have and wounds or markings? dows he float at the top right side up or sidways or upside down?

does your tank have a cover. it would be a really good idea to have one especially if you have a cat.
how big is your tank? does it have a heater?

[jparkin]

I did look over him, there aren't any scratches, and he's flosting right side up. I don't have a cover for the bowl, but I moved him to a different shelf. I think I'm going to look into getting a different tank. There isn't a heater in the bowl... and I don't use cold water when refilling his bowl.

[cajunmomof4]

I'm sorry your little guy had an accident.
as for a heater, a betta needs a heater in the tank because the water needs to stay in the upper 60's for them to be really comfortable. I know most pet stores don't tell you that, but really they need one. I use the small 2-10 gallon heaters by tetra from Wal-mart, they are about $15 but there is also one from amazon.com that many betta keepers use it runs about $8

[Flashygrrl]

You do mean upper 70's right?

Anyways, I bet he's stressed and if you did a full water change that doesn't help the stress any. Consider buying a bigger tank, say a 2.5 gallon that comes with a filter and a lid. They aren't that expensive and compared to full water changes it's less work. Plus you don't find your cat trying to get a snack.

[Meatpuppet]

5 gallon would be even better

[cajunmomof4]

:shocjavascript:emoticon('')
Shockedk: yes 70s!! SEVENTIES!!!!!!!!!!!

[jparkin]

Thank you everyone for helping me out on this one! Thankfully he's doing a ton better and eating again! I'm going out today to see about getting a little tank rather than the bowl he's in now. I can already see my cat calculating how to get to his new place. She's evil and apparently hungry for sushi!

Thanks again!