Betta Doesn't Flare - Normal?

Hi, everyone. It's been a while. I've had my beautiful betta, Dusty, since October. Very healthy (besides his impending Diamond Eye that does not bother him). He makes massive bubble nests, hunts for copepods and worms in the substrate at night, and is always happy and responsive to see me. I just realized for the first time today, though, that he's never flared. So, I got home from work and held up a little mirror. He was very excited, but he showed no signs of flaring or aggression. He has not been around other aquatic animals besides snails. He leaves my nerite alone, but he will sometimes successfully pull bladder snails out of their shells and eat them (again - he's an apex predator).

I have two theories:

1. Dusty's actually a girl (he's quite thick compared to any past betta, but this is my first short-tailed betta)
2. Dusty's very calm

I have heard that not flaring regularly COULD possibly cause some issues for bettas, so I was wondering your thoughts and, if I should be helping Dusty flare, other ways to do it. I've never had this issue before with male bettas. Thanks!

First two photos was his first bubble nest. He makes one literally every single day, though they vary in size. The second two are pictures from just a few minutes ago. His blue eye is the one with diamond eye, so no need to mention anything about that. I've got that handled.

 

I've had 3. One was such a maniac I had to stop putting a mirror up to the tank as he would get so worked up he would bounce off the glass and I was afraid he'd hurt himself.

The second seemed to be afraid of his reflection and kinda slunk away.

The third is somewhere in between, flares but doesn't lose its mind like the first. I think they vary a lot.

 

Dusty seem to be a boy. As was said before, behavior varies - my lavender dumbo betta would flare at everything (including snails) but my African Butterfly Fish.

 

I had a betta who wouldn't flare for nothing. I used to put a mirror in front of him and he would glance at it and grt right in his own face but no flaring. So yeah, it happens.

 

Bettas all have their own individual personalities. Some flare at just about anything, others flare for pretty much nothing. PS - females can and do flare just as much as males do, so your theory that Dusty could be a female simply because he doesn't flare, has no merit. Dusty is in fact a dude.

 

Dusty seem to be a boy. As was said before, behavior varies - my lavender dumbo betta would flare at everything (including snails) but my African Butterfly Fish.

I've had 3. One was such a maniac I had to stop putting a mirror up to the tank as he would get so worked up he would bounce off the glass and I was afraid he'd hurt himself.

The second seemed to be afraid of his reflection and kinda slunk away.

The third is somewhere in between, flares but doesn't lose its mind like the first. I think they vary a lot.

My betta before Dusty used to stress himself out so much with his reflection in the back of the tank that he bit his tail almost clear off. The only way to stop it was to darken the water with tannins so he couldn't see himself (plus it was good for his constant state of healing). This is definitely a welcome change.

I had a betta who wouldn't flare for nothing. I used to put a mirror in front of him and he would glance at it and grt right in his own face but no flaring. So yeah, it happens.

Makes me feel better. I was pretty sure nothing was wrong, but I still wanted to check and get on top of it.

Bettas all have their own individual personalities. Some flare at just about anything, others flare for pretty much nothing. PS - females can and do flare just as much as males do, so your theory that Dusty could be a female simply because he doesn't flare, has no merit. Dusty is in fact a dude.

That they do. I have heard that they tend to flare more at other fish rather than their reflections, so I figured it was a fair wondering regardless.

 

Hm... I think it's more of a personality thing as many other have mentioned. I've had two maniac Bettas who would attack their own reflections (one female, one male), one Betta boy that flares but won't attack, and one that literally doesn't do any flaring hardly at all unless I use a pencil eraser to direct him.