checked out all my bettas today. looked for ANY signs that they're not doing well. ya know, clamped fins, lethargic, hiding, ick, velvet, ect. checked out Chappy first. she's my baby, and i'm really protective of her. admired how big and beautiful she is, despite turning from a stunning green-blue dragon, to a brown pineapple with metallic blue-green fins. then, i checked out my Dresser Bettas, Cup, Dante, and Lulu. fed them what tiny bit was left of my Attison's pellets, then noticed Cup had these dark blue vertical stripes on his body, both sides. it CLEARLY wasn't just his marbling. it looked like the 'breeding stripes' my females get, only darker instead of lighter! o.o can males get 'breeding stripes', or do you think it's just a color change? i can't take a pic of it, since Cup doesn't DO photo shoots, and they wouldn't show up with how bad my camera is about close-up photos.
they're not horizontal. and, he's a deep blue, it'd take him lightening alot for him to get the stress bars. .___. these actually look like a female's breeding bars, only darker instead of lighter.
It is not unusual for juvie males to get those horizontal stripes. It probably signifies submission, or maybe some type of juvenile betta thing. I have never seen an adult male betta get them. It is not a good idea to have bettas constantly in sight on one another.
he's about 2, if he was a year old when i got him. he can not, in any way, see another betta, unless i chose to let him. i only notice it when i show up to feed him. .___o he flares at me, but i always see these dark lines on his body, as i said, like a female's breeding bar. he's a healthy betta, who's a tad spoiled. he recently ripped his fins to shreds on a plant, so i removed all but his favorite, a silk plant i KNOW he can't rip up on, and that he's had in his 2.5 gallon the whole time he's been in it. he's built an AMAZING bubble nest, though. covers almost his whole tank! O.o
i noticed it when he started changing colors. he used to be the common turquoise betta, with a green-blue body, black head, and a smidge of red on his ventrils. then, he kinda started marbling to a greener body, with white and red on his fins. then, the green left him all together, and he's a blue betta with kinda muddled fins, still blue/red/white, but in an ugly way(don't tell him i said that. xD). it was around that time, a few months back, i started noticing the dark bars. it happens every time i look in on him, not just to feed, but to check his fins for new rips/healing. he'll flare angrily, but i'll notice the bars. o.0
I have an adult male that gets them. He's overly shy and stresses when I changes his water or even just when I turn the room light on. When he's really freaked out he'll bar up.
I also had a black VT that used to do the same thing when he was stressed.
From what I've read the vertical bars can be a sign of submission in adult males.
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