Doesn't Like Flakes or Pellets?

[SleepyRN]

Today I was cleaning a flake out of his bowl that he had completely ignored for about 45min. I got a spoon was and digging it out and my finger was down to the first knuckle in the water. My betta came to the surface and started nibbling at my finger! He wasn't flaring, but he "bit" me about 5 or 6 times while I was fishing the food out!

Just keeping the thread updated :)

On other note... my girlfriends new CT died over night. It was healthy, eating, no problems. She woke up this morning and he was belly up. We are just having NO luck with CT's! That's 2 dead and 1 not eating! The VT's and sorority are doing GREAT and we've had both of them LONGER... I'm gonna try to surprise her with a really cool VT from the exotic fish place... they keep all the crazy colors and stuff so hopefully that will make her feel better!

[SleepyRN]

Finally got him to start eating pellets! I don't drop them in a cup and let them absorb water first (to swell up) I just drop one in his bowl, he'll play with it for a second and then leave it for 5-10 min before coming back to eat it.

I guess the next step is a bubble nest! My 3 month old and 1 week old have been making nests like crazy... the middle child (the issue fish) is now about 3 weeks old and no nest! At least he eats though!

[angie08]

hey, my betta is doing that and has lost almost all his color.. did you ever find a solution?

[SleepyRN]

The only thing I changed was putting flakes in his bowl and leaving them for about 30min floating on the surface. After that I would wait for him to get on the same side of the bowl as the flake and I would tap it with my finger... the flake would then float down to the bottom slowly, but before it got to the rocks my Betta would grab it, then spit it back out. I did this 2-3 times a day until about a week had gone by and he hadn't eaten. I decided to try a pellet, did the same thing (leaving it on the surface for about half an hour, then taping it to make it sink), he ate it and kept it in. No problems since. I would also feed him blood worms in the beginning to try and get him adjusted...

The only other thing I changed was I got a new Betta and so they could both be close to me I placed them on my coffee table about 18'' apart... when they swim into each others views they begin to swim around all excited... I heard that could also stimulate them to eat again...

[Romad]

Originally Posted by dramaqueen

I recommend Hikari betta bio gold pellets.

The Hikari are my favorites. Not one of my 5 bettas will eat flakes but they love the pellets.

Just give him the option of a few pellets and no bloodworms for a few days. He might be turning up his nose at the flakes bc he's already full after the bloodworms.

Good luck