[cloveflower]

I'm not new to owning bettas but it has been a few years since I have taken care of one.
It's been one month now and my new betta has been giving me so many problems!

He began to spit out the pellet food as soon as I brought him home, which I never experienced with my previous bettas. I unknowingly switched him to flakes and he instantly became constipated off of them. After taking care of that situation I have been giving him dried bloodworms which he has been eating fine up until I gave him a small flake as a Halloween treat... now he's back to spitting out any food that isn't the flakes.. Whenever I tell him to eat his food he flares his gills at me lol.

Any suggestions on what I should do would be appreciated, as of right now I am going to continue to feed him bloodworms for a few days to try and get him to eat them again.

 

[Veloran]

If he's eating but just being picky, the best course of action will require you to be strong.
Get him a good, high quality pellet and give him one. If he doesn't eat it, remove it and try again the next day.

He has gotten used to what he knows and probably does not recognize the pellets as food. They will not allow themselves to starve, what you have to do is train him to know that the pellets are food. He may go days without eating, but he should get the picture when he's hungry. It is an uphill battle right now since he's been eating flakes. Just keep an eye on him.

 

[cloveflower]

If he's eating but just being picky, the best course of action will require you to be strong.
Get him a good, high quality pellet and give him one. If he doesn't eat it, remove it and try again the next day.

He has gotten used to what he knows and probably does not recognize the pellets as food. They will not allow themselves to starve, what you have to do is train him to know that the pellets are food. He may go days without eating, but he should get the picture when he's hungry. It is an uphill battle right now since he's been eating flakes. Just keep an eye on him.

Thank you! I have been giving him only pellets for about 2 or 3 days now. He keeps spitting it out and flailing his gills.. When I first brought him home I had to break up the pellets into smaller pieces or else he would spit them out.

If he continues to spit out the pellets are bloodworms an okay alternative?

 

[cloveflower]

Clove is starting to ignore the pellets all together. A day or two ago he would spit out the pellet and flare his gills at it immediately after.
It's been 5 or 6 days since he's eaten something. I think I might have to try and feed him the bloodworms soon. :/

 

[Veloran]

Give it a little longer, it's going to be a longer road with him since he's used to getting bloodworms.

As long as he's active and swimming and still shows interest at feeding time, he's still healthy.

 

[cloveflower]

Clove is slowly eating the pellets!
He still spits them out each time but eventually eats it.

Thank you everyone for the help!

 

[Veloran]

Good to hear it.
I actually believe the process is harder on the owners that it is on the fish.

 

[Old Dog 59]

Flakes or pellets

In the past 20 years of keeping betta's I have only tried pellets once. I could never get any of my betta's at that time to eat at all. I went 2 weeks of trying to feed pellets. I switched to flakes and mixed in brime shrimp and tubeflex worms. I have never had a problem with a pickey eater after that. With my new betta Ben I have from day one with him, fed only flakes. I choose to feed Omega One flakes. Ben has no problem eating at all. I feed him 2 times a day, and he would eat another 2 times a day if I let him. And yes he is a pig. Feeding 2 times a day with only enough for him to finish at one feeding, he is always letting me know when it's time to eat. He waits by the feeding door and flares.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Betta are not really picky (nor are they "bratty"). They normally don't eat certain foods because, as Veloran said, they do not recognize it as such. My experience is they will not starve themselves and whether it takes two days or 20, they will learn to eat what you offer. I have had a couple take more than two weeks but not the rest.

However...as long as what you feed is quality, IME, it doesn't really matter if it is flakes or pellets. The advantage to pellets, being uniform in shape, is they make it easier to know exactly how much one feeds. If fillers are the first ingredients and not whole fish or whole fish meal you need to rethink how much nutrition your Betta is receiving and how much is empty calories.

Caveat: Do not count pellets. Instead feed any food until the belly is gently rounded. That is a better indicator of whether you Betta is receiving enough food.