Grim gave me a fright!

This morning I came into the office. As usual, the first thing I did was go straight to the tank to check on Grim. I couldn't find him at first. And then, I saw him... a little bit of his fins were sticking out from under the "no fishing" sign in his tank... There was no other exit, and I thoguht for sure he was drowned. I quickly had the top off the tank to see if it was too late or not, but the second he heard me, he wiggled right out! After giving him a firm talking to about scaring his mom, I readjusted the sign so that he can't get under it any more, I fed him and life gose on. ~J~

 

With all of the not-so-good news on the forum as of late, I think we're all primed to expect something bad.  I can imagine how your response to finding GrI'm in a tight spot must have been.  Good thing all turned out well!

Mike

 

Yeah, that would have freaked me out too!!

 

I'm so glad he was ok. Now, GrI'm don't ever scare your mothe like that again, you naughty boy. Natalie

 

Grim, you are totally lucky you have such an even tempered mommy. She could have told you to go to bed without your supper tonight. ;D Seriously though, it is a really terrifying thing to find a small part of a betta sticking out of a place you do not think they need to be....they are just so determined to get into small places to see what it is that is in there!!

They are some of the most curious of fish and will get into some very tight spots when they want to. I am so glad he is okay.

Rose

 

I am glad to hear that GrI'm is ok.

Just curious, is there a way to "unstick" them if they do get stuck?

 

I always find my fish with their little tails sticking out of somewhere and I wonder if they are stuck. I've made sure all ornaments and things are placed so there is enough room but they still want to squeeze into every crack they can find!
Lately one of my females, Aenara, seems to be trying to evolve and become a mammal... She has a plant with leaves that reach to the top. A couple days ago I opened the lid to feed the girls and found her sitting on top of the leaf, COMPLETELY out of the water, propped up and moving her head back and forth looking around. She looked like a little lizard! I panicked thinking she was stuck but then she calmly slipped back into the water and looked at me like "What?" Since then I've found her doing this a few more times. She seems to have the sense to go back into the water before she dries up. The tank top is completely sealed so she can't get out so I just let her crawl on her leaf since she seems to like it. Bettas are so weird!  ;D

 

That is just too precious...I would have had heart failure and probably died myself. They are so full of surprises and so naughty at times... :

As far as I know they would be very injured if you had to remove them from a tight spot. The only and best way to prevent this is to follow a few short rules for tank decor:

When you purchase a decoration with entries into it for the fish to explore, make sure that there are more than one entry for them to go straight through or the size of the ornament needs to be at least 3" in diameter for the fish to be able to do a turn about inside so they can get out. The entry doors or windows (all of them) need to be large enough for the fish to go into with no problem. Tiny windows and little narrow doors will be a cause for alarm and probably a death trap. Also nothing made of Lava Rock should be used with a betta. It will snag fins and rip them.

Move all decorations away from the edges of any wall or other piece of decor by at least 1" to give them room to "swI'm through".

Heavily planted tanks should be planted with a good inch at least between the plant bases and more if it is a wide leafed plant. They go in and around plants and get tangled.

Hope this helps.
Rose

 

I love Bettas! They are such curious and explorative little guys. I am so happy that all of your bettas are safe. Thanks for sharing your amusing stories and your great advice.

CherryRose

 

Well I'm glad all your Bettas are ok despite the antics. Phloxface--that is so funny she sits out of the water like that!! I wonder what she is doing?? You've gotta get a pic of her doing that sometime. ;D

I just hope my Betta doesn't pull anyhting like that on me or I'll surely die of a heart attack. Quite a while ago I had my Oto Mist nearly kill himself when he wriggled his way into the base of a plastic plant which I had left floating in the tank. His body was was bent at a 90 degree angle and only half submerged and he shredded his fins (they never did grow back right). He was stuck so tight I had to get my dad to help him get out. So that's my little horror story... sheesh I hope I didn't just scare all you guys now. Mist is just fine though and is now one of my 2 oldest fishies.