Does Hole-In-The-Head cause lethargy?

[Betta Slave]

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'm getting a little worried about Murdoc.

After closer inspection, he has hole-in-the-head. (I hate Petsmart bettas for that reason.) Can Hole-In-The-Head cause lethargy...? Marmaduke has it and he's one of my more active bettas. I'm not sure it's the hole-in-the-head that's causing this, but he (Murdoc) does have quite a bit of it. He's just resting at the top. He eats, but he's very quiet. He was much much MUCH more active in his pet store cup

Also, I woke up this morning to find that my heater broke and now he has a lamp that produces heat (though not a heat lamp) over his tank. I had a heater in there yesterday and he was not acting any different.

Both he and Stu (who I am not worried about) are in 2 gallon pickle jars. I rinsed them out well, used a 5% bleach solution, and I was satisfied with them.
What's wrong??

Thank you in advance!

[Betta Slave]

Sorry for the double post, but if this helps any, his operculum is sticking out under where his chin should be.

[Oldfishlady]

Can you post a pic and why do you think its HITH

It sounds like he also may have some scar tissue formation from ammonia burns from being in dirty water too long at the pet shop.

I would start by making daily water changes of 50-100%, aquarium salt is a common treatment for HITH along with a diet high in vitamin C & D, however, if he has scar tissue formation not much can be done except to make him comfy.

[Betta Slave]

Well, he literally has these little holes in his head. In these pics, you really have to look hard- they're to the right of his eye and they're very small pinkish or lighter colored dots. They're kind of speckling his head. You can also see his operculum sticking out.

[kuklachica]

Betta Slave,

Are they in the same spots as my (former) guy's spots in this pic? If so, they are on all bettas, and are sensory receptors.



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[Betta Slave]

Really? Oh. Oopss...... o.o It's just that I can't see it on my other bettas.
Thank you o.o I never knew bettas had those... Thank you for telling me!

[Lion Mom]

FWIW, I have a 10 year plus old female Severum that was neglected by her previous owner & came to me with HTH. I have been feeding her New Life Spectrum Thera A (it has extra garlic in it) for a couple of years now and while the scars remain, she has not had any new outbreaks.

Mama gets the 2mm size pellets, but for a betta the .5 or even 1 mm pellet would work.

Of course, regular tank maintenance probably helps as well! :)

Hope that helps!

[Betta Slave]

Yes, thank you
He's swimming more, he's blowing a bubblenest, flaring more, and some colors have showed and they weren't there before.

[Lion Mom]

GREAT news!!!!