Betta Bloating Or Dropsy?

My mom’s male betta has been bloated for a few days now and she has stopped feeding him, hoping his bloat would go down. It hasn’t and we don’t know if he’s been pooping or not. I took a close look today and I’m worried he might be beginning to pinecone. I’m not sure if his scales are slightly protruding because of his large belly but I believe the scales on the rest of his body are also very slightly protruding. Again, I’m not sure if it’s just his belly or not. Should I treat for dropsy to be safe? If so, would I do an Epsom salt bath?

 

Wait a bit longer for definite pineconing, but meanwhile, do not feed him and keep his water pristine.
If it does end up being dropsy, then there is not much you can do besides doing very regular water changes and doing epsom salt baths or adding diluted amounts of aquarium salt. (Too much can aid the dropsy due to possible kidney failure)
I have had a betta who died of constipation. This unfortunately happens when you do not give your betta a varied diet.
Constantly feeding your betta just dry pellets is just calling for failure. Always soak pellets before feeding, and use frozen or wet foods for supplementing their diet.

 

Also, dropsy is not necessarily an illness, but a set of symptoms. Dropsy can be caused by actual illnesses or bad health, like in this case, constipation.

 

An epsom salt bath will help if he's constipated.

 

He gets thawed blood worms once a week. Thanks guys!