Two females, one hungry, one not

[smidgen]

I got two female bettas earlier this week and they share a bowl. They seem to get along just fine, no aggressive behavior and they're both swimming around.

I'm feeding them hikari betta bio-gold pellets. One of them loves the things. The other one will look at them and sometimes make moves to eat but won't. Other times she'll look at it and swim right past or ignore it completely. By then, usually the other one will come in and eat what's left. I've tried separating them and feeding only the non-eater, without the other one coming in to eat it. The farthest she's gotten is getting it in her mouth and spitting it back out a few seconds later, which only happened once.

I've only had them for about four days so it wouldn't be crazy for one of them to still be adjusting to the new home. Am I just adding more stress by separating them and trying to feed the non-eater? I'd like to be able to put food in there and leave it for 10 minutes or so so she can get to it on her own time, but I can't do that with the other one in there because she'll eat everything.

Also, once she adjusts and starts eating, will I have a problem with the big eater getting in her way and stealing all the food?

[doggyhog]

Well, it is HIGHLY recommended NOT to house two females together. Especially in a bowl. I'd separate them.

Sounds like she's just adjusting to her new home. I had one that didn't eat for 2 weeks after I got him. He just didn't want to eat. They can go a while without food, so don't worry. Just keep offering the pellets to her.

[CodeRed]

Agreeing with doggyhog. Bettas should only ever be housed together for a long term basis if they're female, more than 4, and live in a ten gallon tank. That's it. No room for if's, and's, or but's. You CAN have them in a DIVIDED tank, with one on each side, but ONLY in a tank that's 5 gallons or more.
(; Sorry for the caps, but it cannot be stressed enough. One day one of your girls will snap and kill the other, without a doubt. They can only be housed together for so long before one gets too territorial, and kills the weaker.

[dramaqueen]

I agree with CodeRed and doggyhog. One female will dominate the other and end up bullying it to death.