Help me learn more about our new beta

[browniefuzz]

My son is 9 years old, and I talked him into a beta for his first pet. (He wanted a hampster!) We're both excited about him (her?), but I'd like to find out more about it, so we can better understand, um, it.

First, how do you tell who's a male and who's a female? lol... Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to Lil' Bit Fishy.

[prettylittlefishy]

To be honest, I actually can't tell.

[browniefuzz]

I'll try and get some better pictures of Lil' later on. The girl at the pet store said he (it) was a young giant, and that we could expect him to grow to around 3-4 inches? That seems huge to me for a beta. Right now we have him in a one gallon tank, but I'd like to find him something nicer in the future.

[Saroar]

You must have bought a "King" betta. They grow larger than the average betta.
The way to tell a male and female apart is the fin length. Males have longer fins than the femals in most cases. There is an exception- Plakats. The male plakat betta has shorter fins than other males. Your betta looks like it's fins are too short to be a male, yet pretty long for a female. I can't really tell. If you look closely, you can see eggs if it's female. The eggs would be around where the stomach is, which is under the "chin".

[naturegirl243]

Did she say king betta? Cause thats usually what the "giants" are called.He kind of looks like a she but it could be the pictures.

[browniefuzz]

The sales girl specifically said giant, but, we are in a small town, with a small pet store, so she may not be going by much except what her boss told her. I'll try and look for eggs... I'm having trouble seeing her well because she's dark, and this goofy tank that we bought is hard to watch her in. I may try and find a better container somewhere in the house tonight.

[sjones]

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49160

this is a great site for learning betta care, check out the above link!

[browniefuzz]

Yay! Thank you. I've been reading all night.

[Betta Slave]

Is there a white spot on your fish's belly? If there is, your fish is probably a female. Has he/she been blowing small bubbles (that stick together?) If he/she has, probably a male then...

It's really hard to say, though... most of my females have those big bodies, though kings are just naturally like that...

[doggyhog]

Male for sure. Check out the long Pectorals.

Kings will often grow to about 3-4 inches, but it doesn't mean they are Pure giants. They are Half giants supposedly, REAL giants will sometimes get up to 5 inches.