My betta started eating his tail.....

[Mart2289]

Hi, I don't really know what to do but i've had my betta for almost 2 months and just 2 days ago, he started eating his tail....like a lot!.... I don't know what to do except for the water change...HELP!

[Pataflafla]

Give him more places to feel secure, keep the water clean and warm, and feed him a high protein diet.

You could also try having him flare for a minute or two everyday to get some exercise for him, just use a little hand mirror.

[Sena Hansler]

There are so many factors in tail biting.

I have had a betta who is now rehomed to a good friend in exchange for her rescue betta... His name was Crayola, and his tail grew very very long. It became double his body length, so he trims it back. It's to avoid being weighed down...

Another reason, can be boredom.
Or, they are not used to having long fins (my Shiloh has this, after being without fins since he got in a scat with the pet store cichlids/another betta),
or they are just disliking their tail because it's following them
there's so many reasons it is hard to narrow it down.

what pataflafla said is a good idea. More plants, or "toys" such as a bottle cap lid, or ping pong ball... clean and warm water, good foods (pellet, freeze dried as treats, frozen, live...) can help.

but there are always some that are just tail biters, as some people on here will probably tell you sometimes you cannot stop it... but just keep it from being infected.
good luck!

[Gen2387]

For everyone who doesn't know Mart is my sister. Lol! We'll probably try to add a pingpong ball, see if he likes to play with it.

He does have a VERY long and big tail and it seems to be weighing him down a little... maybe that's why. Darn. He had such a beautiful tail...

But other than that, he has plenty of hiding places and plants, the water is always between 78 and 80 and the tank is always clean. So maybe he just is a tail biter...

[Sena Hansler]

Maybe. might sound stupid but I wish there was a way for us t trim their tails for them if need be, like we do to our hair but they have to do it themselves.

[ANHEL123]

One of my betta does it too. He is about 2.5 years and he did it about 4 times. Last time long time ago may be my spider plant helped. I put really big spider plant in his tank. Thank you for information Sena now i know i need to distract him with ''toys'' or wiht the plant.
But i also do extra water changes for him too. His tail grew back really fast.:)

[Sena Hansler]

That's good :) You also have to learn your betta. One I had could not see another betta or he would tail bite. another HAD to be in a divided tank or he'd mope, get sick, or bite. >< Each betta I swear is just like individual people

[Gen2387]

We left the room for about 2 hours yesterday and when we came back, he had destroyed his tail. :( There's holes everywhere in it. We added the pingpong ball and today is water change so we'll move things around a bit so he has something new to explore and keep him occupied.

[Sena Hansler]

like pataflafa also mentioned, you can change his food.... what do you feed him? water temp? tank size?