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So I got a betta a week and a half ago. He still hasn't eaten a bite. I usually use Betta Bites for my bettas and have never had a problem with them not being eaten. They didn't have Betta Bites where I got this betta, so I got the Wardley Betta food. I live in a college dorm, and it's not easy for me to get to anyplace that would carry better betta food...

So when I give this guy his food he looks interested, goes up and "sniffs" the food, then turns away and doesn't touch it. After the food has been floating in there for a few minutes I give up and take it out. I've tried manually moving the pellets around to get his attention, but he didn't go for it. Is there anything else I can try? Do I have to get a better food? Will he eat if he's really really hungry?

This betta shows no outward signs of illness and had even been building a bubble nest. It's really frustrating that he's not eating!

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Some bettas really are just picky eaters...but to have gone that long without eating them is a bit much....you could always try ordering food (and other supplies) online .

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I feel your pain i also have a betta girl that wont eat ive tried wardley's betta food, the bio gold betta food that my male loves, freeze dried bloodworms and even tetramin flakes. She puts them in her mouth then spits it right back out. luckily its only been 4 days since i got her so ill keep trying. good luck and if you find anything that works let me know so i can try it too. hehehe

Babel - great but I don't have a credit card... what I can do, though, is have my mom send me part of my home supply in the mail I should probably ask soon to prevent the poor fish from starving to death! If all else fails I also have the TetraDelica jellied bloodworms at home (took me a while to find those)... I can't imagine a betta refusing those... if my mom would send 'em

Perhaps finding and catching some bugs would help tide the betta over? something squishy perhaps? I wonder if I can find an earthworm in this parched state (have had a very dry summer) if it squirms I bet the fish would love it.

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Getting your mum to mail you some Betta Bites looks like your best option. I've tried Wardleys &amp; they wouldn't have a bar of it... I ended up feeding it to my piggie Danios... Calla fed hers to her cats Mine are now on HBH Betta bites &amp; Hikari Betta Bio Gold as their staple food &amp; the love them both.

Until you get him eating his normal food I'd recomend avoiding live / frozen foods... things like this are basically 'treats'... &amp; Betta's are alot like 2 year olds. It's kinda like feeding a kid nothing but chocolate &amp; icecream &amp; then sticking a bowl of Broccoli in front of him... you'll never get him to eat his vegies

Just another note on the live foods thing, it's not a fantastic idea to use things like earthworms straight outa the ground... If any sort of fertalizer etc... has been used on the ground it'll be in the creature's system, and you really don't want your fishy eating nasty chemicals

That food is nasty, I wouldnt eat it. Its like aniseed flavoured rocks.
WAAAAY too hard.



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

a friend of mine was having the same problem, and we were seriously getting worried. We fed some freezedried brine shrimp, and the the freakin' fish had a feast. He was just reeeeeeealy picky! Spitting the food out like that may indicate flukes, is your fish lethargic and gasping, but then normal when you come up to the tank?

ok, my mom is sending the food, but it won't be here for a while...

In the meantime, any human foods I can throw to him? Ground beef perhaps? Or chicken? I imagine I can sneak a couple tiny bits of food out for a hungry fish. The poor little guy looks like he's starving He's stopped building his bubblenest too (at least for now)...

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I got him to eat a little! I brought some chicken home from the dining hall (just a tiny bit, maybe a couple grams) rinsed it off and give him a sliver and he gulped it right down! I plan to bring him home a little bit of regular food every other day until my package gets here. He really perked up after eating that. He has looked a little droopy, but now he's holding his fins up strong

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Well it seems that my package has arrived, but it arrived Saturday. And the mailroom closed at 1:00 on Saturday, and I checked the list at 2:00. And it's closed all day Sunday, so i didn't get to pick it up then. And it doesn't open until 6:00 pm Monday night! I'll be there at 6:00 waiting to pick up my box, especially considering there's probably a live java fern in there Hopefully it'll be ok - I'd love to have a java fern in my fish bowl and if it puts off any plantlets I can give them to friends...

Anyway, I'm posting this because there should be some Betta Bites in that package and I'm hoping my betta will like them! Cross your fingers

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*crosses fingers*

Hope it's there for ya ... &amp; the Java *should* be ok... I left some in an esky in the car for a week once It was a lil brownish when i finally remembered it, but it came good with some TLC

Sin

Sin!!

*crosses fingers*

In my experience, my bettas will only eat the HBH and Hikari, along with bloodworms. Picky eaters they are sometimes Hope everything works out!

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Thanks. Unfortunately they didn't have anyone in the mailroom because of the long weekend and I still couldn't get it. I will definitely get it tomorrow - if not dropping by during the day while they're sorting it, then at 6:00 again when it opens for sure (I asked in the main office in the lobby. No waiting for the mailroom to open when it's not going to anymore). It's ironic that our dorm didn't have the mailroom open today because I talked to someone from a different dorm who works in the mailroom there and they were open for the regular scheduled time :'

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Got the box! I was there mailing a letter when my friend started her shift and she letme pick it up early! The java fern is alive and happy - two small plantlets, two leaves fell off one, but I pulled them off and it still looks pretty good. I moved the bowl to a sunnier spot so the plant could get more light.

I tried giving the betta some of those nice HBH pellets, but he didn't seem too interested. I don't blame him as he had a little roast beef feast just a couple days ago. I'll wait for him to get hungry.

I also got rice krispies treats in that box and my absentee voter application (which was fortunately in time for me to mail it back!), and what appears to be plum jam (my favorite), so my fish and I are equally happy!

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He ate a pellet today! I'm so proud! I put two in, and the first he attacked but immediately spat out. As it sank down to the bottom it looks like he was thinking "oops, that wasn't really that bad. There it goes..." but then he smelled the other pellet and snuck up on it and ate it! Hooray!

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