I just want to know why bettas bite their fins and how to make them stop!
I believe Ignacio has started the awful habit of biting his tail. He doesn't bite alot of it, just a little... so far at least. He is a cellophane veiltail so when he does it, the ends of his almost clear tail are obviously red. Like little dots. I just want to make him stop. He can't be tearing his tail because there isn't any rips in his fins and there is nothing in his tank that is rough and has the potential to do so.
He seems all happy too! Every time I come to his tank, he comes to shimmy and greet me. He is eating fine and swimming actively around his tank. He has a heater that keeps it 78 degrees. He lives in a 2.5 gallon tank with no filter. I change his water every 3-4 days.
Are you sure it's tail biting and not fin rot? I'm not saying it is, just sometimes it's hard to tell between the two. Tail biting looks like chunks, or like it was sliced off with a razor blade, while fin rot looks like ragged/torn areas. Most of the time bettas bite because of stress, and you can sometimes find out the cause (mine bit because he was around other males in a divided tank; take him out and he's fine) but some members have tail biters that no matter what they did they couldn't get the fish to stop. 1fish2fish had a betta like that. I hope others can come on here and offer other explanations why he would. I know some causes would be too bright of light, not enough hiding spots, poor water quality, seeing other fish...etc etc. I'm sorry he's started, it's very frustrating when that happens :(
some, like my Dante, out of boredom. some, out of stress. some, for no good reason.
the way i got Dante to stop, was to entertain him. i started re-arranging his tank, every time i changed his water. i added more plants to his tank, too. since then, he hasn't bitten once. :d
Tail biting is the worst! I tried everything for my tail biter....Covered his tank with towels and kept the lights low in case he was stressed, fed him garlic pellets in case he had a parasite, did an epsom salt treatment in case he had sbd (he was a bit floaty at one point), just moved him into a bigger tank in case he was bored. I can't tell if he's stopped or not, though if he has it's probably just because there's barely any tail left for him to bite! It looks awful. And even though I'm very diligent about water changes, I still get nervous about secondary infections with him constantly having open wounds!
Thanks guys! I'll try rearranging his tank. He just started and I have had him for almost 3 months. I forget he was on my dresser in front of the mirror. :/ That was probably no help. I blocked his view of the mirror and I toned the lighting around him down.
I first thought it was because I'm not home all day every day. I'm pretty much home alot every other day. When he sees me, he gets all excited at starts swimming around! I was worried that I was his only entertainment or something.
But I know it was tail biting because there are shreds of his tail now laying in the marbles at the bottom of his tank x(. It bothers me seeing it. Also, where he bites his tail, it is red at the end. However! It does seem that he has stopped (or at least slowed down) since I've made changes.
Also, I used to have plant bulbs in his tank. I got them from Walmart and they never grew. When he had them, he made bubblenests like everyday! He stopped once I took them out. So I decided to get some more and he has at least starting blowing random bubbles again.
Am I doing everything right? I don't want anything to happen to Iggy. :(
I had his tank in front of a mirror. I've blocked his view of it and I haven't seen any newly shredded fin for about 2 days. I'm hoping that is all the tail biting he will ever do. Thanks everyone!
I have a pet store betta, Fishwish, who is a chronic tail biter. Once it starts healing again, he gives himself another trim. I've tried everything as well. I also have a few imports with very long tails, and a couple of them are the same way. One, who had a VERY long tail (he's an HM) used to really struggle to swim under the weight of it. Since trimming it down nearly to his body, his personality has changed....outgoing, crazy fun fish! Very social, etc. I honestly think that some fish just can't tolerate the weight of their beautiful tails and once they figure out the secret of easy swimming....well....there's no turning back!
Leave it to a male not to understand us woman and the whole 'suffer for beauty' thing
Just make sure to rule other things out, and if he turns chronic, make sure to keep the water nice and clean!
P.S. For fin rot, pick up some Maracyn 2, and keep it handy just in case....
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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Ugh. I don't understand why!
He doesn't bite alot of it, just a little... so far at least. He is a cellophane veiltail so when he does it, the ends of his almost clear tail are obviously red. Like little dots. I just want to make him stop. He can't be tearing his tail because there isn't any rips in his fins and there is nothing in his tank that is rough and has the potential to do so.
