My Betta Ate A Fly

[bettalover2033]

I dont know why he swallowed the fly...I hope he wont die.



Haha. Sorry bad joke! It was the first thing that came to mind :P (Nursery Rhyme)

No but seriously he did eat a fly. Will this do anything to him? It was a common housefly that landed in the tank and I guess I was a bit too late to remove it. I heard of bettas eating mosquito larvae, but that's completely different. I'm a little unsure about this.

Thanks.

[Oldfishlady]

Since all my tanks are open tops...my fish eats lots of different critters that fall in the water and have never died, choked, got sick....etc the moths do leave some oily type dust on the water surface but that has never caused any problems.....common house fly shouldn't cause any problems as long as it wasn't contaminated by any toxic substance....most insects are the normal part of their diet....its just any toxic substance that can be problematic....

[bettalover2033]

Ah, I see. Thanks OFL! That was solved faster than I thought lol.

I know that bettas eat various insects (in the wild), but they are splendens and I didn't know if a fly would be on the "able to eat" list.

[potter]

I am from Asia and we have mosquitoes and flies all year round. I used to smack mosquitoes or small flies to the point that they are dead but not flattened, wash it and give it to the bettas. They love them.

[bettalover2033]

Originally Posted by potter

I am from Asia and we have mosquitoes and flies all year round. I used to smack mosquitoes or small flies to the point that they are dead but not flattened, wash it and give it to the bettas. They love them.

Thank you! Heh, my bettas seem to love them as well. It was just a few flies that we had in the house. I am glad that the out break is finally done.

[potter]

Originally Posted by bettalover2033

Thank you! Heh, my bettas seem to love them as well. It was just a few flies that we had in the house. I am glad that the out break is finally done.

Lol your bettas are probably dissapointed though. Flies are considered a delicacy to them lol.

[bettalover2033]

Lol most likely because they would (especially the females) get almost the whole fly in its mouth. I never saw them eat the wings. They always, seemed to get them off it was pretty cool. My sister came up to me one time, looked directly at my fish that was eating and literally said "That's Nasty!"...and walks away. Not many people understand that to us eating bugs (usually in the US) is something VERY few people do, but in countries like Japan and China for example, they eat hissing cockroaches, centipedes, pray mantis, ect...My science teacher was one who ate Chocolate covered Grasshoppers. I personally think that a stomach is the place where a thing like a bug should be, but if someone enjoys something in a different way, I would just leave them be because it is kind of rude to tell someone their food is nasty.

[ChibiShishou]

My little Ichiru slammed himself into the side and top of the tank trying to catch a fly...I have no idea how but he was beyond ambitious trying to get that thing. Ill have to try and catch one for him some day. But Im glad you posted this now I know my little boy isn't just a tad odd.

[Aus]

Sid scared the heck out me the other day - he was thrashing around at the top of the tank, I thought he was having some kind of fish fit.

Turned out one of the bajillion little black flies that swarm my house every summer managed to get through the lid slots and Sid was attacking it. He demolished its whole back end in about ten seconds and left the rest for me to clean up.

Yuck. ><

I imagine bettas might leap out of the water to catch bugs in the wild. They're such fierce little things.

[bettalover2033]

Bettas can be REALLY determined to do certain things. Sometimes it can be very dangerous for them. Jumping out of the take is what I'm deathly afraid of a betta doing!