Yesterday afternoon I was taking care of my nephew. I had left my betta fish in the living room with him unattended since i was doing Homework and he was watching his cartoons on Netflix. Some time later he came into my room saying "the fish died". I rushed over to where my fish was. There was fish food everywhere, the flilter was outside the tank and had wet important notes,fish waste thrown up from the ground(today was my weekly cleaning of the tank), and my fish's cave house was tipped to the side. I couldn't see my pet betta anywhere until I moved his cave house. She was right under it and seemed really badly hurt. Couldn't move but was still breathing. I gently got a small cup i use when i remove her from his tank. She would float for a bit then sink face down. I thought she was already dead, she wouldn't move. I had a water already with dechlorinator which I usually have ready for the day before. I quickly cleaned her fish tank and put the ready water in but only enough so her face wouldn't sink and she could catch in air whenever she needed it and her little bamboo plant. She seemed like she was gasping for air for 20 minutes until she later relaxed. She was struggling to move for a bit but started using her pectoral fin to get around, everything else seemed paralyzed. shortly after about an hour or two she was able to move her pelvic fin. My mom was able to get out something from my nephew since he was just completely ignoring the question and bringing up the most random things. He said "i took the fish out of the water but it wouldn't die". He probably dropped it outside the water and grabbed it by its tail and broke it but i'm unsure. Over night my betta fish seem's to be moving about a bit more but still can't move her tail. On her tail she has lost color and seems like its peeling off now. someone please help!
mikeys betta fish
https://lh6.ggpht.com/VACf7uZ7Gr9cvH5IdAjdrvn8_CzRXddPqSExOhx5hZ9JswAAGjadepWuxTSEpV3ZgvuVo3E=s114
Here's a photo of her progress.
Here's a photo of her progress.
I'm so sorry about your fish! How old is your nephew? I couldn't really tell anything from the pics because they're small but I think she probably got some internal injuries from your nephew trying to take her out of the tank. Your nephew may have thought he could take the fish out of the tank and play with it. I think all you can do is keep her in clean wwarm water with a little stresscoat if you have it. Indian almond leaf couldn't hurt either if you have that.
That is a really disturbing sentence, as if he was trying to kill it. :shock:
Anyway, I hope your fish continues to recover... not sure what's going on with her tail, though. The fin part will grow back, but the way they move their tails is from their bodies, so some part of her body might still be paralyzed.
she passed away about 19 minutes ago. In the morning when i brought her a better heater she was so happy, moved around a lot more. Eventually she started swimming slower and slower then sank. I was literally there with her since yesterday from then until she took her last gasp right now. I'll miss that curious little fish who would always popped out of it's little cave house to see me after school. RIP Yogurt.
Sorry for your loss. If you can, I would try to explain to him that the fish did die and that what he did was very wrong...
Six is old enough to know better than that. I would think it's time to sit that young man down and have a serious talk with him, or have his parents do it, but he is definitely old enough to understand kindness to animals and other living things. If someone doesn't address this immediately, while the consequences of his actions are clear in his memory, then the next animal might be a dog or cat or a younger sibling. I know that sounds reactionary, but I believe this is a critical moment in his upbringing.
So sad to hear about your fish passing.
I agree this is something I would discuss with his parents. I'm sure we've all done stupid things with animals when we were younger (I once locked the cat in my play oven) but the difference is that this sounds like your nephew may have been deliberately trying to hurt the fish. Even when I was in kindergarten and we had fish, none of us ever tried to take them out of the tank.
I agree this is something I would discuss with his parents. I'm sure we've all done stupid things with animals when we were younger (I once locked the cat in my play oven) but the difference is that this sounds like your nephew may have been deliberately trying to hurt the fish. Even when I was in kindergarten and we had fish, none of us ever tried to take them out of the tank.
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