Betta opening and closing his mouth?

[Santiago272]

Hello all how are you, I'm new to this forum so sorry if I happen to put this thread in the wrong place. I have had a Betta named Charlie since late october and boy I'm happy I saved him form his death cup at petsmart. He is in a nice 2.5 gallon bowl that he seems to love! However yesterday I noticed when I come next to him and put my finger on the bowl he starts opening and closing his mouth a whole bunch of times until I leave. Just wondering if anyone knew why he might be doing this, I dont know if this plays a role but I did give him the good'ol mirror excercise for about 20 seconds. Many Thanks

[PhilipPhish]

he may be hungry. but he might also want you to sit with him and look at him. or he simply doesnt want your finger there and is trying to freak your finger out to get it away...
idk. sounds like an entertaining fish!

[Santiago272]

Originally Posted by PhilipPhish

he may be hungry. but he might also want you to sit with him and look at him. or he simply doesnt want your finger there and is trying to freak your finger out to get it away...
idk. sounds like an entertaining fish!

Yea, those seem like good reasons why he's doing it. However I dont know either.

[PhilipPhish]

perhaps take some time out of your day and sit with him. talk to him, look at him, maybe give him some food while you sit with him. make sure he isnt sick and that the temp in his tank is correct.

[Sakura8]

He could also have something stuck in his gills that he's trying to get rid of. Or there might not be much oxygen in the water. Sorry, I know my suggestions aren't as fun as the othrs. ^_^

And Santiago, welcome to the forum. It's good to have you.

[CyerRyn]

Mine do the open and close mouth to me on occasion but they haven't done it like how you described. It looks really adorable though I cant help but giggle when I catch one of mine do it.

[pens]

My betta does this a lot when he's doing his frantic tank patrols while jerking his head back and forth. My guess is that he's trying to swim through the glass to go investigate stuff in my room as bettas are innately curious; bettas I've kept in my community tank would always circle my hand during cleaning and try to nip my finger or the gravel cleaner while the other fish cowered in fear in a corner. They also have very keen eyesight and respond well to visual stimuli. I guess your betta could be attacking the glass out of frustration or perhaps have been flaring at his reflection in the glass for a while and is now in attack mode trying to bite off pieces of his perceived opponent.

Do you see bubbles coming out of your bettas mouth when he opens/closes it? He could be in the initial stages of building a bubblenest... At this point it's hard to tell since the bubble nest is just made up of a few scattered bubbles on the surface of the water. You can check though, by sticking your finger into one of the bubbles - if its gross and slimy and doesn't pop when you try to pop it, it's probably a bubblenest bubble.