help please

[FireKidomaru]

My best friends betta fish has been experiencing tail shrinking. We re both puzzled on what could have happened or how to stop it from shrinking. Here's a picture of his tail please help! We are both worried alot.

[BettaxFishxCrazy]

I can't really see the tail that well in that picture. It could be fin rot or he could be biting his tail. What size bowl is he in? It looks a little small. If they don't have the room to spread their fins and they have to turn around a lot, they will bite their tails because they're seeing it all the time. It's kind of like us biting our nails when we're nervous or agitated. Could you take another picture of him so we could see the whole tail? Maybe put a mirror up to the bowl so we can see him spread out.

[ScuitoAmi150]

Can't really tell, but it sounds like he might just be biting his tail. And his tail looks clamped in this picture.

[FireKidomaru]

Ok. My friend can mabey put him in a larger bowl. His in a vase right now. The think is that his tail didn't look torn or bittin. Just smaller. We will try the bigger bowl

[BettaxFishxCrazy]

When did she get him? When they're really young their tails are shorter and gradually it'll get longer. But, since you're saying that it's shrinking, I'm assuming that it wasn't that short when she bought him.

[DragonFish]

Your friend'll need to get him a 2.5 gallon+ heated tank and change his water 2-3 times per week religiously. The issue is hes being kept in a tiny container where he has no room to swim and get proper exercise, resulting in the fin clamping or 'shortening' your witnessing. Another contributing factor is that he has no heater, so hes cold and probably doesn't want to move around much....therefore not stretching his fins. However, unless he has a properly sized tank, he couldn't do that anyway.....
The only way to fix this problem is to get him a heater, a properly sized tank, and keep his water nice and clean.

[1fish2fish]

I agree with Dragonfish... I see no biting or tearing.. but it does look like his fins are starting to clamp. He needs an upgrade asap.

[FireKidomaru]

Ok that sounds like it will do him good