[TheBlur]

Hey-o~ so I went in to get my dog's nails done and ... lo and behold I came home with another freakin' fish. :roll: At least I have space for him now that my little girlie is in the 10gal.

PetSmart gave him to me for free because he is BLIND in both eyes (and was severely clamped)!!! His cup was also horribly filthy. (Have photos will upload later). He's a dumbo too, and a red of sorts I think. We'll see when he colors up more.

I've never had a blind fish before, and right now he's temporarily in my 1gallon with sand substrate and a tiny silk plant. He'll be upgraded to the 3 gallon bowl after I get my new 10gallon this weekend. And boy is he a jumper! He keeps flailing himself into the lid of his icky cup x.x

Does anyone have any advice or experience with BLIND betta fish? I'm not sure if he needs any kind of special set-up for not being able to see...Help is appreciated <3 I hope I can rehab the poor guy...

 

[April R]

how do they know he was blind? could it just be an infection that once cleared up he may regain some ability to see? I have no clue if bettas can even eat without seeing their food since they like to lunge at it.
post pics when you get a chance and good luck!!

 

[aselvarial]

I have one that is partially blind due to scales over the eyes. Sometimes he's ok with "hunting" his food, but usually it floats and I'll wiggle my finger near the food. I think he feels that through the water and he'll find it on his own. Mine is only partially blind though, so I don't know if that would work.

 

[April R]

p.s. from what i read online soaking his food in garlic juice and making sure you put it right by his little nose when you feed him should help him to find the food and eat. Plus the garlic juice is supposed to help boot his immune system.

 

[TealHoundogg]

My female betta had a sister who was blind, she didn't seem to miss a thing. Came up to the glass like the rest of her siblings. As far as I could tell, she acted like any normal betta.

Nice to hear you got this guy.

One way you can tell if he's participial blind is by waving your finger or a pen in front of him. If he reacts then he can see to a certain degree.

I've seen a woman on YouTube test a Border collie who was labeled as blind at the pound but when she waved her hand in front of him he reacted to it which meant he hadn't completely lost his sight.

 

[TheBlur]

how do they know he was blind? could it just be an infection that once cleared up he may regain some ability to see? I have no clue if bettas can even eat without seeing their food since they like to lunge at it.
post pics when you get a chance and good luck!!

They didn't. I brought him to the Fish Department representative and told them, which they confirmed. His eyes are clouded white to the point of little to no visibility of a pupil. Also, he was listless and non-responsive in his cup, even when I removed him from the other betta fish and attempted to drive a response with my finger. This guy clearly had no vision what so ever. Though his blindness is not caused by any sort of scaling over the eye, so he MIGHT recover from it if it is in fact caused by an infection.

 

[TheBlur]

Photos Incoming!
As you can see his eyes aren't fully clouded over, but I just tried to feed him and he cannot...for the love of fish...cannot find his food. :C Also it looks as though he might have something wrong/deformed about his caudal but I can't tell... e.e On the flip side, when he colors up, he's gonna have epic lips

In the death-cup:

In the hospital bowl (covered/heated/1gallon):

*this is a good example of his eyes... They're the same on both sides. v

 

[ZZD]

I had a fish with similar eyes and I some times think my current betta may be near sighted. Or possibly just stupid. He never flares up and gets close to new things and just stares at them. My betta with the cloudy eyes never did get his eyes cleared up and honestly I was pretty young so not really sure how to treat it. You might want to try a little epsom salt to see if it is an infection. About two weeks of daily partial water changes with epsom salt seems to clear up most eye infections and it worked like a charm on my betta's popeye.

As for feeding, I feed in the same space every day. There are floating logs that have feeding holes in the top so food can't get away and I find those to be very helpful as the food can't 'escape'. I lightly tap the water and he comes to the sound and eats as I drop a couple pieces in. Getting into a habit with the fish of feeding it in the same place, even if you make a little ring trap for the pellets out of like a milk jug ring to keep it from moving away in a current should work. You'll just have to rely on sound and as mentioned before possibly 'smell' to help him find the food to eat.

Good luck with the little guy! Glad you saved him!

 

[TheBlur]

Yah I tried to get him to find his food earlier by tapping the surface of the water. He acknowledged and went to the surface, but wasn't anywhere near the food. Next time I'll have to wait for him to surface before dropping the food in x3 Making a "feeding ring" is a clever idea! I'll look into that!

 

[TheBlur]

Also I'm noticing he doesn't swim much. He spends most of his time listlessly floating at the surface or laying on the bottom. I slipped a betta tube in there and he seems to like it...when he can find the entrance x3 Hopefully he'll find some of the food I dropped in there. I'll be cleaning up what he missed in a few hours and trying again...

He obviously hasn't eaten decently in a while. His body is very thin... and he breathes so hard after swimming.

 

[TheBlur]

Learning Process Update:

He's worse in his right eye than in his left. His right eye yields no response to movement directly in front of it. His LEFT eye I think it can interpret light.... but thats about it. I had brought black phone up to the bowl to take a photo of him and cupped my hand to the glass to get rid of a glare. It spooked him! Which was weird because there was no noise/banging, so he must be able to see just barely out of that eye.

Still somewhat concerned that he isn't swimming or finding food. Will try the garlic oil trick when I get some and will invest in a feeding ring tomorrow...


QUESTION:
Do you think that a 3 gallon will be too much for him? He seems to struggle swimming around as is and I'm worried that more space will be just exhausting and disorienting for him... :C

ALSO I'm willing to release him to another member of the forum who is more versed with "special needs" betta fish if one comes along. I won't ship him so you'll have to come pick him up. I'm exactly half way between LA and SanDiego. Just message me if you are interested. If not I can hang on to him.

 

[Cranly]

I don't have any experience with blind bettas, but there might be some good information you can glean from this post chain where another member was also dealing with a blind betta and what to do. http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=397050&highlight=blind

otherwise - best of luck with him! I'm glad you're trying to make his life better for him.

 

[April R]

My wild Betta went from perfect to barely hanging on last night. His fins are rotting and clamped, he can't seem to keep himself off the bottom and it looks like he has lost his left eye to some kind of Popeye or fungal infection. I am floored. So I may now also be dealing with a blind betta if he recovers so I will be following this thread closely

 

[TheBlur]

My wild Betta went from perfect to barely hanging on last night. His fins are rotting and clamped, he can't seem to keep himself off the bottom and it looks like he has lost his left eye to some kind of Popeye or fungal infection. I am floored. So I may now also be dealing with a blind betta if he recovers so I will be following this thread closely

Bettas can have vision issues from a body slime fungal infection. Look for white or clear goo on his body. His eyes would be clouded.

As far as I can tell mine doesn't have any sort of fungus, just really clamped, underfed, and blind. :T

 

[LadySoren]

We're rooting for you blind fellow!

I can't believe they let his cup get so nasty. No wonder he's having issues.
I'm glad you saved him.

 

[ZZD]

Is the 3gal tall or long? I'd say a long tank rather than a tall one for him should be ok since he's having issues swimming right now. Once he's used to it and feeling better he'll learn where things are. Don't rearrange decorations too often though. Feeding him in the tube is a good idea too! Good luck!

And to April R, I had popeye hit my betta's right eye nearly overnight, but I'm pretty sure that was from an injury. He had clamped fins and hung out on the bottom of his tank. One day of Epsom salt and he was swimming and eating better and after two weeks he was fully recovered. He had some fin issues in the hospital tank but I think it was boredom biting in that case. I don't know what would cause sudden fin rotting. Maybe he damaged his fin and eye? Or do you see something fungal on him?

 

[TheBlur]

I can't believe they let his cup get so nasty. No wonder he's having issues.
I'm glad you saved him.

The majority of what was in his cup was food that he couldn't find and wasn't eating. All those pellets on the bottom were not poop. They were food! I'm also pretty sure that the speckles in the water were body slime... hence the cloudy eyes.

Also, I found what I think is a sibling of his today at the same store, also with the same bodily conditions (no blindness though). I suggested they start treatment right away. (The Fish Department rep. is very familiar with me XD)

x

The 3 gallon is a bowl, so its the same distance around as it is to the surface (about 12 inches, maybe more...). I'm going to keep him in his hospital 1gallon until he proves that he can swim without constantly needing to rest on his plant at the surface. When I'm confident he can swim without issue I will consider upgrading him.

I'm guessing he has body slime (fungal). His fins have no apparent self-inflicted damage or rot. Just very clamped and frail. I would assume its from poor conditions and not eating in a very long time. I'm currently treating with daily 100% water changes, siphoning any uneaten food after each feeding, and treating with API Fungus Cure (1/10th ish of a packet per water change). Its kinda funny, it makes the water green but he seems to be responding to it well. I haven't seen him move as much until I put the treatment in.


SUCCESS though! Tonight I put some Hikari micro pellets like...RIGHT on top of his head and he went bonkers! :'D He ate as many as he could find before he got tired and rested (about 5 micro pellets). I'm so relieved. x u x I'll start feeding him on micro pellets from now on since he seems to like them more than the Omega One Betta Pellets.

 

[TheBlur]

Photo Update:
This is how he usually is, just floating at the top on a plant leaf... He did make a tiny little bubble nest around the thermometer though. ; u ;

 

[April R]

he looks like a little old man, so cute. I am glad he is eating and responding to treatment!

My guy has gone missing, I fear he may have passed during the night and is stuck in the canister filter somewhere. I have family in town staying at my place for my husband's graduation so I can't look for him until they leave on Sunday.

 

[TheBlur]

Update: his dorsal, caudal and anal fins are absolutely rigid. Its very concerning. I'm assuming its from being severely underweight. I saw him last night, backlit by the kitchen lights. You could actually see his bones. Not good. Hoping he eats a little more today... He's been spending the last night on the bottom. I did a water change and fear he's disoriented and can't find his plant...