# How on earth do you get a betta to eat peas??



## SilersAngryMeow

I feel like a mother with an obstinate child.

My ornery old betta seems to have a case of swim bladder disease due to constipation. He hasn't eaten in almost 2 weeks (I'm not starving him, he just refuses to eat) save for one betta pellet yesterday. I diagnosed him based on the fact that he tends to float almost perpendicular to the surface, and has a long, stringy beige poo hanging from him. (I attached a picture of this... personally, I wouldn't want to see it if I were you, but I figured a pic is worth a thousand words).

Every webpage suggests feeding peas to alleviate the constipation, but like the petulant fish that he is, he refuses to eat them. These websites, sadly, offer no tips on how to get your fish to actually eat his veggies. It doesn't help the situation that cooked, hulled peas sink like tiny bricks. I've even tried spearing tiny pieces of pea innards on a toothpick and offering them to him. He swims toward this, but doesn't go for it.

I'm worried that this constipation may be the end of my little guy. Any advice is appreciated. In the meantime, I sit here eating a bowl full of peas. I have a giant bag of them now in the freezer, and SOMEONE'S got to eat them... sigh.


----------



## Romad

If he won't eat the pea bits, try frozen daphnia. It's actually better for them.

Are you sure it's not a parasite issue? Did his poo look like a little cinnamon bun before he got sick?


----------



## SilersAngryMeow

Frozen daphnia, I'll try that. I'll pick some up from the fish store today. Thanks!

Regarding parasites, I'm not sure of anything. What makes you think that? His poos before looked... well... like fish poo. I guess you could call it a cinnamon bun.


----------



## Romad

The stringiness of what's coming out of him is what I'd be worried about. Any other symptoms other than not eating/swimming funny?

What are your water params? Is he in a filtered, heated tank?


----------



## SilersAngryMeow

No other symptoms other than the poo, floating a little funny sometimes, and not eating. He's in a heated tank, but the filter is broken, so I do 50% water changes every week. I'll go ahead and answer all the rest of those regular questions now, too 

1. What is the size of your tank? *5 gallons*

2. What are your water parameters? State the brand of test kit used.
*pH - 7.6
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 0
(using API liquid test kit) Numbers are zero because I changed water yesterday.* 

3. Is your aquarium set up freshwater or brackish water? *freshwater*

4. How long the aquarium has been set up? *9 months*

5. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them? *one betta, I've had him for 9 months, but he may be much older, since he's a rescue.*

6. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? *N/A*

7. What temperature is the tank water currently? *76 degrees*

8. Are there live plants in the aquarium? *No*

9. What filter are you using? State brand, maintenance routine and power capacity. *None*

10. Any other equipment used (aside from heater and filter which are two very important components of the tank)? *No*

11. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day? What is your lighting schedule (assuming you do not rely on sunlight for our viewing pleasure)? *No direct sunlight. Light is broken on the tank, so he gets ambient light only*

12. When did you perform your last water change and how much water was changed? How often do you change your water? Do you vacuum the substrate? *Yesterday was the last water change. I change 50% once a week, and vacuum the gravel*

13. What foods do you provide your fish? What is the feeding schedule? *Betta pellets, 2 pellets twice a day. lately he hasn't been eating, so I only offer once a day. Even then he doesn't eat *

14. What unusual signs have you observed in your fish? *Not eating. While he rests, he floats nearly perpendicular the the surface. He can right himself, and does, when he swims. He spends more time near the surface than he used to. He is not as responsive as he used to be, but this is pretty subtle. He has a long stringy poo (pictured)*

15. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? If so, what treatments did you use? State your reasons for planning ahead of proper diagnosis. *I have given him two salt baths, 15 minutes each, in epsom salt. I read that this was a treatment for constipation.
*
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...ad-all-members-please-read-652/#ixzz19L51qxLI​

​


----------



## mom2thebest2

I just ran across this, wondering how your little guy is doing and if you figured out what was wrong?


----------



## SilersAngryMeow

mom2thebest2 said:


> I just ran across this, wondering how your little guy is doing and if you figured out what was wrong?


Aww, thanks for checking! Sadly, he died, about a week ago.  He didn't want to eat daphnia either (or anything really). He started to get pale, and half a day before the end he started to show signs of dropsy.

I was really sad to see my little guy go, but I'm relieved that he's not suffering anymore. He wasn't himself for quite a while.


----------



## mom2thebest2

SilersAngryMeow said:


> Aww, thanks for checking! Sadly, he died, about a week ago.  He didn't want to eat daphnia either (or anything really). He started to get pale, and half a day before the end he started to show signs of dropsy.
> 
> I was really sad to see my little guy go, but I'm relieved that he's not suffering anymore. He wasn't himself for quite a while.


Sorry you lost him :-(


----------



## ginagv

so sorry to read he didn't recover.. 

Yes, at least he's not suffering any more.. and you did try what you could to help.

Gina


----------



## jschristian44

my healthy betta loved the 1/2 of the pea i gave him. luckily i found out its bad to feed healthy bettas peas before i fed him more. he gobbled that thing up like there's no tomorrow.


----------



## Blaxicanlatino

theres was a nice article that someone here put up. I dont know where it is but it basicly describes the pea as actually being bad for a betta. for bettas, meat or meat based foods are their staple diets and bettas cant pass or digest vegetable based foods very well. in reality, the pea might actually worsen his bloat, constipation or SBD.


----------

