Bettas are meat eaters not vegetarians and as far as I know they do not eat plants. I have known of them to take a nip of a leaf if they are really hungry but it is mostly spit back out and not repeated. And shame on the owner that lets their betta get that hungry!

The one exception that I know of is they love defrosted and peeled frozen peas in small chunks the size of half their eye. This is a treat for them that is actually good for them but not to be used as a meal unless they have been determined to be constipated or have been overfed and are very distended in their stomach or swimbladder area.

The thing that got the rumor going about bettas eating plants was the horrid thing that came out a few years ago that showed a betta in a vase with a plant growing out the top and it advertised that the betta would eat the plant for food and the water never needed to be changed just more added as the PLANT needed it. It was inhumane and cruel to the fish. There was no room for oxygen to enter the vase and the fish invariably died of ammonia poisoning or lack of oxygen or food. Cruelty in the name of merchandising.

Bettas do need to have their food controlled as they will eat themselves sick easily. Fish owners need to remember that the stomach of the fish is the same size as their eye. So when you feed them you are in control. The idea that a fish should be allowed to eat what they can stuff into themselves in 2 or 3 minutes is ridiculous. They will have themselves eaten to death in a short time. It puts pressure on their swimbladder and makes it difficult to swim and can eventually actually cause a problem with swimbladder disease or constipation (yes, I said constipation) that will kill your betta. If I had a dollar for every betta that I knew of that died of overkindness and overfeeding leading to those two conditions I would be sitting very well right now.

I realize I did way more than answer your question but thought while I was going on the subject I may as well give the whole answer.

Hope this helps.

Rose