Betta female beating the eggs out??

Okay... Weird question. Saw my young female Betta do this behavior a few times and I'm wondering if she's trying to beat the eggs out of her body. So, she'll swim around and you'd never be any the wiser then all of a sudden she'll start ramming her side into anything near her, driftwood, leaves, moss, anything near by and do it multiple times over really fast and then stop less 15 seconds later. Only witnessed this twice, but it's got me curious.

 

Could be flashing? Do you have any videos of this? Is there anything on her body that seems out of order? White spots? Missing scales?

 

I've never heard of that type of behavior in order to release eggs. Does she look egg bound? Bloated?

I'm with UmNick, sounds more like parasite behavior....

 

Could be flashing? Do you have any videos of this? Is there anything on her body that seems out of order? White spots? Missing scales?

Nothing seems out of order except that I haven't seen her eat the food I put it (but I have live creatures in there that she may eat so I didn't consider that much of a concern.)

And I don't have a video, it tends to go very fast and I didn't think of it. If I see it again I can try to get one.

I've never heard of that type of behavior in order to release eggs. Does she look egg bound? Bloated?

I'm with UmNick, sounds more like parasite behavior....

Yikes... I hope it's not parasites. How can I tell if she's egg bound?

 

It's extremely unlikely that she is egg bound. It's this big myth that has floated around for soooo long. While it is technically possible, it happens EXTREMELY RARELY. Like, rare, rare, rarely.

I'd be concerned about parasites as well. Take a flashlight to her and check really closely for velvet.

 

It's extremely unlikely that she is egg bound. It's this big myth that has floated around for soooo long. While it is technically possible, it happens EXTREMELY RARELY. Like, rare, rare, rarely.

I'd be concerned about parasites as well. Take a flashlight to her and check really closely for velvet.

I checked, no signs of velvet. Are there other possibilities?

 

Some sort of external parasite, velvet can be extremely hard to see especially depending on the colour of the fish. If you aren't seeing it now, I would keep an extremely close eye out for it in the next few days and if she's still flashing, I'd treat her anyway.

 

Oodinium/Piscinoodinium (velvet parasites) will usually affect the gills fairly quickly, so you will want to keep a close eye on her breathing. Other symptoms include lethargy, loss of appetite, excess mucus/slime coat, gold dust coloring on the body...especially on the head, as well as breathing issues. The gold dust stage is kind of late in the progression.

You can treat velvet by upping the temp to 84 degrees, adding aquarium salt, and turning out the lights, since the parasites flourish under light (they contain chlorophyll).

If that doesn't help, then you will need a copper based med, like Copper Safe (Fritz product) or Cupramine (Seachem product). Copper is usually pretty rough on the fish, so I would not recommend using it unless you really know that you are treating velvet.

You can read all about the life cycle of the parasite; there's a lot of information if you do a search.

Gill flukes or ick are the other two types of parasites that come to mind. With ick, you will see the salt like round spots on her body. With gill flukes, you will see a lot of issues with breathing, excess mucus, and rubbing against things. (Fritz ParaCleanse or API General Cure treats gill flukes).

Hope she is ok!!! And I hope this helps!!!

Oh, and about the egg bound thing, I have personally seen and helped a few people with females that were egg bound. It is not extremely common, but it is not unheard of, either.

 

Oodinium/Piscinoodinium (velvet parasites) will usually affect the gills fairly quickly, so you will want to keep a close eye on her breathing. Other symptoms include lethargy, loss of appetite, excess mucus/slime coat, gold dust coloring on the body...especially on the head, as well as breathing issues. The gold dust stage is kind of late in the progression.

You can treat velvet by upping the temp to 84 degrees, adding aquarium salt, and turning out the lights, since the parasites flourish under light (they contain chlorophyll).

If that doesn't help, then you will need a copper based med, like Copper Safe (Fritz product) or Cupramine (Seachem product). Copper is usually pretty rough on the fish, so I would not recommend using it unless you really know that you are treating velvet.

You can read all about the life cycle of the parasite; there's a lot of information if you do a search.

Gill flukes or ick are the other two types of parasites that come to mind. With ick, you will see the salt like round spots on her body. With gill flukes, you will see a lot of issues with breathing, excess mucus, and rubbing against things. (Fritz ParaCleanse or API General Cure treats gill flukes).

Hope she is ok!!! And I hope this helps!!!

Oh, and about the egg bound thing, I have personally seen and helped a few people with females that were egg bound. It is not extremely common, but it is not unheard of, either.

Thank you! Haven't noticed anything, but I'll keep an eye out. As for ick, I have experience with it and can assure that this time it is not the problem (thank goodness). Never had any experience with velvet or gill flukes so I will keep up on checking on her for a few weeks.

 

Personally, I'd prefer ich over velvet or gill flukes.

I've dealt with velvet MANY, MANY times during my years breeding and importing bettas from overseas. Velvet is going to require actual medical treatment, not just salt and increased temp (do those things, but use a medication as well or you'll likely never really be clear of it). Any ich medication works, but my preferred is Kordon Rid Ich Plus.

 

Personally, I'd prefer ich over velvet or gill flukes.

I've dealt with velvet MANY, MANY times during my years breeding and importing bettas from overseas. Velvet is going to require actual medical treatment, not just salt and increased temp (do those things, but use a medication as well or you'll likely never really be clear of it). Any ich medication works, but my preferred is Kordon Rid Ich Plus.

I just ment thank goodness because the last Betta I had that got it kept getting it again every time I thought I irradiated it.