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Chickadee · 07-07-2009, 11:15 PM

Part 3 The Stubborn Betta

If you have never had one and you continue to have bettas for long you will someday run into one, that much I do promise you and when you do there are a few tricks to winning them over.

Some bettas are just plain different. As some of our members have found out among them are the little Cambodians whether they be male or female but I do believe the females are the more challenging. Cambodians are more often characterized by their coloration of a very light colored body either an off white or a pale yellow in color and usually a dark colored fins in the red or even wine colored but if your fish is very young in the 3 month or so age group the fins may not have colored up yet so if the body is a pale yellow in color and the fins a cellophane you could still be getting a Cambodian. Later as they mature the fins will begin to color into a deep red and their temper will become red hot as well. They also have a different shaped body more like a dirigible type shape rather than the sleek type of body some of the Thai bettas have. It is thicker in the middle and does taper at both ends like the Hindenburg did. They tend to look more chunky than a lot of bettas and their fins do not get as long and full as the others having more of a plakat type of nature. Although let me tell you it does not mean that any other type cannot be an ornery and very stubborn type of betta. I have had a Crowntail male who was very stubborn and nearly drove me to distraction. The rare Cambodian type female that I owned though had the body type of a Cambodian with the coloration that was a pure red all over instead of the light body. So don't go by the coloration entirely.

The first thing you do when you find you have one of these peculiar bettas is to isolate it in a tank by itself. They do not tolerate tank mates and if you value other fish that you have in your tanks it is just not worth the loss of them to insist on having that betta in with them. And you are never going to persuade that betta to accept a tank mate. They will actually kill every inhabitant that you put in with them. You may be able to win them over to you eventually to be able to handfeed them but you will not be able to get them to accept other fish in their water. Please do not ask other fish to pay the ultimate price for experimentation purposes.

I never feed this type of fish just one meal a day even after they are 6 months old. They get fed 2 times a day but small meals so that they are never overfed but enough so that they are not in a nasty mood because they are overhungry. 5 or 6 bloodworms or 5 or 6 pellets that have been soaked are usually sufficient for each meal. I also soak their food in garlic juice at least one time a day. Not that it would not do all the fish good to have garlic in their food one time a day but these fish get it especially as it does help keep them healthy as when these fish are not feeling well they are especially touchy. Garlic adds to their immune systems and keeps them healthy.

I also never leave the lights on in the tank for more than 10 hours a day in the tanks that the bettas with touchy nature's are in and I make sure that they cannot see their own reflection in the sides of their tank. While I know a lot of owners like to allow their bettas to flare a bit, I do not like to let the bettas flare much as I believe it is like letting them think there is an intruder there and they have no way to get to them so they get to flare when they are being photographed but not otherwise. If they do during the day it is because they have seen their reflection on their own not because it was allowed to happen all day.

I never put their tanks where they see other tanks of bettas or if they can see the other tanks I take care to keep them far enough away that they are not aroused by the fish in those tanks. If I see that happening I find a way to correct the situation. Bettas have been known to find a way to jump out of tanks through very small cracks and holes (even cord access holes) to get at other tanks they get so excited by the sight of other bettas. Dividers will not always work in tanks as I have personally had a male dig with his body under the divider to get to the other side to get to the other betta male. I would not have believed it but I caught him at it the second time after finding him on the other side the first time and nearly having heart failure. The only actual divider I had that worked with the males or females for that matter was siliconed in on all sides and the bottom and was black plexiglas with a 4" T top across the top to keep them from jumping over it. It worked but eventually was no longer needed when the fish number decreased. Of course it needed a seperate heater and filter on each side of the divider.

Stubborn bettas are sometimes also stubborn eaters and sometimes will not eat anything you offer them. Sometimes they invent the idea of frustration in trying to find what your fish will eat. The easiest way to find what they will eat is generally to go to the people you bought them from and ask what they were eating there. Sometimes though this backfires though as they will tell you what they want you to think they were feeding them and if you buy it and find the fish will still not eat it you can bet the fish was not being fed that if at all hardly. Sometimes I have found that when I have a fish that will not eat it is because they were NOT being fed to start with at the store.

Mostly though be glad when you get an ornery betta, as those are usually the ones who have a lot of life and are pretty healthy and rearing to go and give you a lot of trouble. If they were not healthy and full of energy, you would not be having any trouble with them at all. They would be totally docile and flacid in their natures. Although some bettas do just have a more gentle nature so do not think I am saying that good bettas are all sickly.

Next one more thing to help you win over these little demons on fins, please talk to them. I know there are going to be some of you who are going to say "not me!" but if you do that you have a much greater chance of winning the fish over to your way of thinking. Bettas are a lot of things and among the chiefest of them is curious. So if you start to put your hand on the front of the tank and talking to them even if you do not have anything much to say, talk to them and/or get someone in the family to do it, they will start to come up to listen eventually. They cannot help themselves. It is their nature to have to know what is going on and what is that noise? You don't have to yell at them they will hear you and come to your normal speaking voice, maybe not the first, second or third or even the fourth time but they cannot help being curious. That is what drives them into seeing what is inside of every hole, nook and cranny in every place in their tanks and what gets them into trouble if the decorations are placed too close to the walls of their tanks or gets them into a big problem if them get too close to some piece of decor that is rough. They have to know and experience EVERYTHING. So they may be ornery and they may be the naughtiest of fishes but they are ours and it is kind of endearing. If you can win them over they will start to listen to you and you may even get them to learn to behave a bit better.

Maybe......

07-07-2009, 11:15 PM	#6 (permalink)
Chickadee Banned Chickadee's Photo Gallery Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 1,323 Name: Rose Location: Nebraska, USA My location Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 426 Times Said "Thanks" 707 Times Was Thanked 681 Times in 466 Posts	Re: For anyone who has never had a betta... Part 3 The Stubborn Betta If you have never had one and you continue to have bettas for long you will someday run into one, that much I do promise you and when you do there are a few tricks to winning them over. Some bettas are just plain different. As some of our members have found out among them are the little Cambodians whether they be male or female but I do believe the females are the more challenging. Cambodians are more often characterized by their coloration of a very light colored body either an off white or a pale yellow in color and usually a dark colored fins in the red or even wine colored but if your fish is very young in the 3 month or so age group the fins may not have colored up yet so if the body is a pale yellow in color and the fins a cellophane you could still be getting a Cambodian. Later as they mature the fins will begin to color into a deep red and their temper will become red hot as well. They also have a different shaped body more like a dirigible type shape rather than the sleek type of body some of the Thai bettas have. It is thicker in the middle and does taper at both ends like the Hindenburg did. They tend to look more chunky than a lot of bettas and their fins do not get as long and full as the others having more of a plakat type of nature. Although let me tell you it does not mean that any other type cannot be an ornery and very stubborn type of betta. I have had a Crowntail male who was very stubborn and nearly drove me to distraction. The rare Cambodian type female that I owned though had the body type of a Cambodian with the coloration that was a pure red all over instead of the light body. So don't go by the coloration entirely. The first thing you do when you find you have one of these peculiar bettas is to isolate it in a tank by itself. They do not tolerate tank mates and if you value other fish that you have in your tanks it is just not worth the loss of them to insist on having that betta in with them. And you are never going to persuade that betta to accept a tank mate. They will actually kill every inhabitant that you put in with them. You may be able to win them over to you eventually to be able to handfeed them but you will not be able to get them to accept other fish in their water. Please do not ask other fish to pay the ultimate price for experimentation purposes. I never feed this type of fish just one meal a day even after they are 6 months old. They get fed 2 times a day but small meals so that they are never overfed but enough so that they are not in a nasty mood because they are overhungry. 5 or 6 bloodworms or 5 or 6 pellets that have been soaked are usually sufficient for each meal. I also soak their food in garlic juice at least one time a day. Not that it would not do all the fish good to have garlic in their food one time a day but these fish get it especially as it does help keep them healthy as when these fish are not feeling well they are especially touchy. Garlic adds to their immune systems and keeps them healthy. I also never leave the lights on in the tank for more than 10 hours a day in the tanks that the bettas with touchy nature's are in and I make sure that they cannot see their own reflection in the sides of their tank. While I know a lot of owners like to allow their bettas to flare a bit, I do not like to let the bettas flare much as I believe it is like letting them think there is an intruder there and they have no way to get to them so they get to flare when they are being photographed but not otherwise. If they do during the day it is because they have seen their reflection on their own not because it was allowed to happen all day. I never put their tanks where they see other tanks of bettas or if they can see the other tanks I take care to keep them far enough away that they are not aroused by the fish in those tanks. If I see that happening I find a way to correct the situation. Bettas have been known to find a way to jump out of tanks through very small cracks and holes (even cord access holes) to get at other tanks they get so excited by the sight of other bettas. Dividers will not always work in tanks as I have personally had a male dig with his body under the divider to get to the other side to get to the other betta male. I would not have believed it but I caught him at it the second time after finding him on the other side the first time and nearly having heart failure. The only actual divider I had that worked with the males or females for that matter was siliconed in on all sides and the bottom and was black plexiglas with a 4" T top across the top to keep them from jumping over it. It worked but eventually was no longer needed when the fish number decreased. Of course it needed a seperate heater and filter on each side of the divider. Stubborn bettas are sometimes also stubborn eaters and sometimes will not eat anything you offer them. Sometimes they invent the idea of frustration in trying to find what your fish will eat. The easiest way to find what they will eat is generally to go to the people you bought them from and ask what they were eating there. Sometimes though this backfires though as they will tell you what they want you to think they were feeding them and if you buy it and find the fish will still not eat it you can bet the fish was not being fed that if at all hardly. Sometimes I have found that when I have a fish that will not eat it is because they were NOT being fed to start with at the store. Mostly though be glad when you get an ornery betta, as those are usually the ones who have a lot of life and are pretty healthy and rearing to go and give you a lot of trouble. If they were not healthy and full of energy, you would not be having any trouble with them at all. They would be totally docile and flacid in their natures. Although some bettas do just have a more gentle nature so do not think I am saying that good bettas are all sickly. Next one more thing to help you win over these little demons on fins, please talk to them. I know there are going to be some of you who are going to say "not me!" but if you do that you have a much greater chance of winning the fish over to your way of thinking. Bettas are a lot of things and among the chiefest of them is curious. So if you start to put your hand on the front of the tank and talking to them even if you do not have anything much to say, talk to them and/or get someone in the family to do it, they will start to come up to listen eventually. They cannot help themselves. It is their nature to have to know what is going on and what is that noise? You don't have to yell at them they will hear you and come to your normal speaking voice, maybe not the first, second or third or even the fourth time but they cannot help being curious. That is what drives them into seeing what is inside of every hole, nook and cranny in every place in their tanks and what gets them into trouble if the decorations are placed too close to the walls of their tanks or gets them into a big problem if them get too close to some piece of decor that is rough. They have to know and experience EVERYTHING. So they may be ornery and they may be the naughtiest of fishes but they are ours and it is kind of endearing. If you can win them over they will start to listen to you and you may even get them to learn to behave a bit better. Maybe......