Bettas are such personable fish that you just have to love their attitude and gorgeous colors. But, what are you supposed to do when you realize that your betta may be blind? Well, that is what this article is about.
Before you start worrying about taking care of a potentially blind betta, you first need to figure out if it is actually blind or not. It can be pretty easy if your fish is anything like my partially blind betta, Tempest. His eyes were definitely not normal when I saw him in the fish store. They appeared to reflect a red light, and looked almost see-through. If you see something like this going on with your betta's eyes, they are most likely blind to some degree.
This is Tempest. See how his eyes appear to be red or yellow-ish? That was how I knew he was blind.
You can also watch their behavior to try to pick up clues if they are blind or not. Another thing to watch out for, especially in certain types of bettas, such as dragonscales, is a condition often called Diamond Eye. It is caused by the scales by the fish's eyes growing over them, often leading to blindness.
A final test is to hold up either a light or a mirror by a betta to see if they give a reaction. If there is no reaction, then it is likely they can not see. (Not all bettas will flare to a mirror ime, but it is still a pretty good test)
If you have come to the conclusion that your betta is blind, what do you do about it? One of the first concerns I had when I first bought Tempest was how was I going to feed him? It can seem like a daunting task to train your betta to know when to eat, but in reality it is not all that difficult. By tapping on the glass or the rim of the tank you can teach them that the vibrations mean food. They can also smell the food, so even if they don't get the food on the surface, they should be able to find it in the substrate later.
Blind bettas can still have a variety of tankmates. Snails and shrimp are almost always good buddies for a betta, blind or not, though you might want to make sure that the betta does not try to eat the shrimp. Also, since the blind bettas may need to find their food on the substrate, bottom-feeders such as cories might not be the best fit for a blind betta.
That's all I have for today! Thanks for reading, and if there's anything I missed, let me know!
Before you start worrying about taking care of a potentially blind betta, you first need to figure out if it is actually blind or not. It can be pretty easy if your fish is anything like my partially blind betta, Tempest. His eyes were definitely not normal when I saw him in the fish store. They appeared to reflect a red light, and looked almost see-through. If you see something like this going on with your betta's eyes, they are most likely blind to some degree.
This is Tempest. See how his eyes appear to be red or yellow-ish? That was how I knew he was blind.
You can also watch their behavior to try to pick up clues if they are blind or not. Another thing to watch out for, especially in certain types of bettas, such as dragonscales, is a condition often called Diamond Eye. It is caused by the scales by the fish's eyes growing over them, often leading to blindness.
A final test is to hold up either a light or a mirror by a betta to see if they give a reaction. If there is no reaction, then it is likely they can not see. (Not all bettas will flare to a mirror ime, but it is still a pretty good test)
If you have come to the conclusion that your betta is blind, what do you do about it? One of the first concerns I had when I first bought Tempest was how was I going to feed him? It can seem like a daunting task to train your betta to know when to eat, but in reality it is not all that difficult. By tapping on the glass or the rim of the tank you can teach them that the vibrations mean food. They can also smell the food, so even if they don't get the food on the surface, they should be able to find it in the substrate later.
Blind bettas can still have a variety of tankmates. Snails and shrimp are almost always good buddies for a betta, blind or not, though you might want to make sure that the betta does not try to eat the shrimp. Also, since the blind bettas may need to find their food on the substrate, bottom-feeders such as cories might not be the best fit for a blind betta.
That's all I have for today! Thanks for reading, and if there's anything I missed, let me know!
Advertisement
