Zombie is worrying me... but it might be nothing?

[newlynothere]

Hey guys! I just got back from vacation and I was only gone a few days but I decided to leave Zombie in the care of a close friend who also has a betta. I told her that she didn't have to change the water because it was only a few days and I had just changed it before I gave him to her. I figured he could survive an extra day without a water change and as soon as I got him back (ten minutes ago?) I changed his water and he's now all set up in his newly changed tank.
He is worrying me a little, however. When I got him back his color seems to have drained a little bit and his fins are slightly clamped but they unclamp a little when he swims. He's breathing regularly and doesn't seem to have trouble swimming, however he seems very inactive, choosing to float near the top of his gallon tank. He has no visible signs of distress and I'm thinking that it MAY just be because he's cold? But I wanted to check and see what you guys thought.
Here's more info about his home and feeding and such:
One Gallon tank with gravel, cave, silk plants that reach up to the surface, and a thermometer.
I use conditioned tap water which I change 50% of every other day and then completely every saturday.
I feed him three pellets in the morning and two pellets and a bloodworm at night which he eats quickly and eats all of without spitting any out.
His thermometer right now is reading seventy six or so but I have a heat pad next to the tank to try and get it up to eighty.
I have purchased a proper heater but unfortunately it has not yet come in the mail so I'm waiting for that.

I'm sorry for the long post! I'm just a little paranoid...

[Amour]

I'm no expert, but I think maybe Zombie is a little constipated? If he's floating towards the top and is lethargic and clamps his fins, his tummy might be pressing against his swim bladder.

There's a lot of ways people suggest relieving constipation. I personally take a frozen pea and put it in a little sauce cup in hot water and microwave it for thirty seconds. Then I take the teeniest tiniest bit of pea out of the shell. (About the same size as a pellet) and then feed it to him.

You would think a fish wouldn't like something like a pea but I've had no troubles feeding any of my bettas peas.

Also, one of my bettas is constipated really bad at the moment (which I'm sure isn't your case) and the pea thing didn't help much(even though it usually does the trick) so I'm giving him an Epsom salt bath.

So maybe if you'd rather give him an Epsom salt bath instead of feeding him fiber, you could go that way too.

Hope he feels better.

[newlynothere]

Thank you so much! That actually could very well be the case! I haven't notice him passing waste lately now that you mention it. That could most probably be it! However... I've heard feeding peas to your betta can be bad for them... Is that not true? Or would possibly just having him fast a day or two be good for him? Or maybe there's something else I can give him? I assume the pea thing has worked for you in the past?

[newlynothere]

Hey again! He seems a lot better this morning. I didn't change anything, I just took him back to the routine that we had before I left. I think maybe it was just the stress of being in a different place and having colder water than what he's used to. He's swimming around and has a lot of his color back and is eating fine. He doesn't seem bloated and his fins are fanning out a lot more now. I think his tail just has a slight spade shape to it which makes it LOOK a little clamped even though it's not. There IS however one thing that's still bugging me. Although he no longer looks pale, his tail is missing that bright metallic blue color that it used to have. The blue seems to have turned into a dark bluish grey even when the light hits it the blue doesn't sparkle up like it used to. I was wondering if there was a way to get his old color back? You can see in my avatar thingy what he looked like before I left.. now all the white and blue in his tail is grey..

[Amour]

I used to think peas were bad for them too, but it ended up being the only thing that worked for my guy. I only feed him them when I have to. Some people feed their bettas one once a week. So I guess it's all how you look at it.

As for his tail, what I'm thinking is- in the pet store he was probably really stressed being in such a small place with dirty water. And now that he's in a much bigger space and has good water and a heater and someone to love him, that he got his color back. A lot of people buy fish that are pale looking and have them get much darker and vibrant colors when they've kept them awhile.

I could be wrong though. Maybe someone else would know more about it.

[newlynothere]

Okay I'm going to assume that that's it. He's acting normal again. Swimming around and playing in his cave. I love him so much! He seems fine now. Thank you for your help!