Betta Literally Won't Eat Anything But Bloodworms

Okay so from what I've read, feeding bloodworms constantly 24/7 is a really bad idea. Now at the moment I'm not feeding him since I'm heaterless and his tank is cold. However in the past I've tried pellets, flakes etc. He only ever wants bloodworms. I soak the pellets and flakes, he won't eat them.

Anything else I could feed him so he has a varied diet and won't get bloated or some other problem? I've heard peas, mangos, cucumber and a few other things are ok. But he obviously needs way less protein bc blood worms have a bunch. He's so picky and annoying haha.

Feeding my fish is actually one of my favourite things I just find it really cute and relaxing to prepare little foods for him to eat, especially since he'll eat out of my hand.

 

Have you tried fasting him for a day and feeding him the pellets after

 

Don't feed for 2 days then give only pellets, it will eat it. Brine shrimp is another good option-live or freeze dried. If you fast it, it will eat the pellets or flakes

 

Hi!


Here is a web page that I found helpful with feeding my bettas. I would say bloodworms are fine as long as you don't do overfeeding. If you really want to give your betta a varied diet, try cutting out all food for several days. Yes, I mean ALL food! Don't worry, this will not kill your betta. Fish can go for many days without food and still be ok.

Here is a week test I did with my picky betta to get him to eat a rounded diet:
Day 1.) Feed your betta NOTHING! This will make your betta realize that his feeding schedule is off.
Day 2.) In the morning, drop a very small amount of the food you would like to start feeding your betta. If he
doesn't eat it, take it out and don't feed him anything else all day. You may try the same thing with the
food you want him to eat. If he still doesn't eat it take it out of the tank and don't feed him.
Repeat the step on day 2 for the rest of the week. If, by the end of the week, your betta still won't eat the new food, give him one meal of the food he will eat and continue the step on day 2 giving him a small meal of the food he will eat once every three days. If he still won't eat the new food within 2 weeks, give up. Your betta will probably never eat that certain food.

Right now, I feed my betta frozen bloodworms and flakes. I give him bloodworms maybe twice a week if I remember to get them out of my freezer. There are dehydrated brine shrimp with my flakes too and he loved the shrimp!

Hope this helps!!!

 

As far as I know bloodworms are really suppose to be more of a treat then an every day type food. I would fast him until he takes pellets. It will take a while for a fish to starve, so one or two days may not be long enough.

 

I've tried this, I usually fast my fish and it was all I really used to try and feed him. He doesn't like them. He just spits them out. I only just started blood worms since I was worried bc he wouldn't eat

 

I've tried this, I usually fast my fish and it was all I really used to try and feed him. He doesn't like them. He just spits them out. I only just started blood worms since I was worried bc he wouldn't eat

my sister's betta used to spit out his food too. it worried her.. until we realised he was indeed eating. just spitting out what was too big to swallow. so I just crush the food smaller for him and he doesn't spit anything out anymore

 

I've tried this, I usually fast my fish and it was all I really used to try and feed him. He doesn't like them. He just spits them out. I only just started blood worms since I was worried bc he wouldn't eat

Spitting food out can actually be a very normal part of a fish eating. As GlamCrab said above it usually mean food is too big, so they take a bite, spit it out, then take another bite, spit it out rinse and repeat. Also you can get minI betta pellets.

 

I also agree that frozen brine shrimp is a great idea. If he is turning down pellets you could try soaking them in tank water for 10 minutes prior to feeding to make the pellets easier to eat. If he still doesn't like the pellets, you could try crushing them up and then soaking them.
Good luck!

 

Spitting food out can actually be a very normal part of a fish eating. As GlamCrab said above it usually mean food is too big, so they take a bite, spit it out, then take another bite, spit it out rinse and repeat. Also you can get minI betta pellets.

He'll spit it out once and then not touch it. It just floats away and he ignores it.

 

I don't have a betta, but my pellets were too big for my tetras. I crushed them with the back of a spoon and that seems to help.

 

He'll spit it out once and then not touch it. It just floats away and he ignores it.

Well then I still suggest either minI betta pellets, or crushing the ones you have and trying to fast him until he eats the pellets.

 

Is he not eating bc you have no heater? I would recommend getting one ASAP but for now, add some hot water. Around 1 gallon of hot water to 10 g cold

 

LOL bettas can be brats! As long as you are providing the proper health and living conditions for the fish, than honestly just fast it and feed pellets ONLY and eventually it will eat them and learn to like them. BUT please make sure he is healthy and tank conditions are good!

 

Is he not eating bc you have no heater? I would recommend getting one ASAP but for now, add some hot water. Around 1 gallon of hot water to 10 g cold

The heater issue was recently, I've managed to keep the tank now at about 25c because I've blasted the central heating to max and I have my radiator on the highest setting. It's so warm in here and I'm sweating but as long as he's okay I don't mind hahah. I'll live, I'm not dying from it. I've bought a new heater and it should arrive soon.

 

(1) Be sure there is no pellets stick in the fish throat, (2) keep the fish in clean water, (3) soak the food in garlic , this will stimulate appetite

 

Okay so what I did is:
Crushed some garlic clove I had up and mixed it with the pellets. I then crushed the pellets up so they're small. (Tried it with a normal sized one and he just kept spitting it out.)
I managed to get him to eat literally a speck of dust in terms of food, that's it. No joke this was literally a crumb of the pellet and that's it. I tried to give him another one and he decided he hates them again and just spat it out. By speck of dust I mean like, tiny-crumb-you'd find-on-your-mattress sized. I've fasted him, his tank is at a normal stable temperature now. He just hates everything I give him unless they're bloodworms. It's so irritating.

 

For the garlic don't give him pieces of garlic, let the garlic soak in water for a while. This makes garlic water, then soak the pellets in the garlic water. I would just fast him until he eats a pellet. Just having bloodworms isn't all that healthy for him. He won't starve while you fast him, you just have to stick with it. What kind of pellets do you have? You can also buy minI betta pellets.

Even just him eating a crumb is good, their stomachs are pretty small so a crumb can be filling.

 

For the garlic don't give him pieces of garlic, let the garlic soak in water for a while. This makes garlic water, then soak the pellets in the garlic water. I would just fast him until he eats a pellet. Just having bloodworms isn't all that healthy for him. He won't starve while you fast him, you just have to stick with it. What kind of pellets do you have? You can also buy minI betta pellets.

Even just him eating a crumb is good, their stomachs are pretty small so a crumb can be filling.

I have hikarI betta pellets. Also I didn't give him literal pieces of garlic, more so just kinda crushed some garlic and put the pellets in the juice that came off it. They smelt like garlic and now my hands will smell like garlic for a week probably.
I did fast him and I know he won't die since I usually fast my fish. Just it's annoying since I want him to eat something pft.

 

This worked for me plenty of times , fir a lot of fish, epson salt, 3 tea spoon to (10) gallons of water, put the fish in for a couple of hours, epson salts is good for bloating constipation and internal parasites, say a prayer for the fish , I always do.

 

This worked for me plenty of times , fir a lot of fish, epson salt, 3 tea spoon to (10) gallons of water, put the fish in for a couple of hours, epson salts is good for bloating constipation and internal parasites, say a prayer for the fish , I always do.

He's not bloated, just fussy. Bettas are very picky fish.

 

Your fish like my wife, lol sorry.