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Help!! Please help with my Betta Fish!! He is eating his tail!?
Does anyone have any ideas? He was fine earlier, and now all of a sudden his big pretty tail on his butt is less than half its original size!! I watched his behavior and he was turning sideways to reach back and snip at his own pretty tail!! What could it be??? How can I stop him? And will his tail ever grow back??
Thanks for any help!!
I feed him alot and his tail looks fine, like there is no bacteria or fin rot or anything, he just all of a sudden started snipping it and ate it half off!
thanx purple_explodes!
I had him in a 2 1/2 gallon tank, it was a little dirty, so I transferred him to a smaller one, because now he is swimming funny and he couldn't even reach his food this morning because his tail was helping him to swim, and now he has to use his whole body
so I put him in a littler one for now till he is better
thanks for your help, and if there is anything else you can tell me, feel free to!!
I heard you were supposed to put chlorine in the tank and test pH but I have never did this, I just change his tank and provide heat light and filter, so if you have any tips on those, that would be great!! thanks again!
4 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
Yes, his tail can and will grow back completely. My boyfriend's old betta was a tail biter. He would stop when it got too short to nip, and then when it was all grown, he would bite it again.
Bettas can be notorious tail-biters. Some do it out of boredom, or stress, or just because, like my boyfriend's betta.
First of all, buy some melafix (or bettafix, its the same stuff), follow the directions on the package, and add it to the water. It will help aid the re-growth of his tail (and it won't hurt him if he doesn't need it. It's just tea tree oil).
How big is your tank? He should be in 2 gallons minimum. (Don't listen to all the rumors you hear about 'they live in puddles in paddy fields'. Bettas can jump, giving them lots of lateral room to jump from puddle to puddle. Also, those 'puddles' can also be up to 3 or 4 feet deep.) Think of it this way, you can SURVIVE in a closet your whole life if someone came in to clean it and give you food, but you wouldn't like it.
So if you haven't, upgrade him to a bigger tank, and give him lots of 'toys' to play with to occupy him. Try small drinking glasses or tiny clay pots turned on their sides partly buried in gravel to make caves, cloth (not plastic because they tear fins!) aquarium plants, marbles, small glass figurines, solid plastic toys, shells, even small aquarium decorations you can find at the store. Just be sure not to overcrowd him!! Rotate toys and rearrange them every time you clean his tank.
Bettas are naturally curious. Have you ever noticed that he watches you and follows you from the tank when you come in the room? They appreciate new surroundings to explore. It will make him feel less like he's cooped up in a tank.
Source(s): Personal experience with bettas and especially tail-biting bettas - 1 decade ago
Maybe it did it out of stress. Changing the water or temperture too much or too suddenly will lead the fish to confusion where strange act starts to appear.
- 1 decade ago
his tail might grow back a little bit but definately not to its original size. my guess is that he is really hungry or he might have some sort of bacteria on him
