My fish has an eating disorder.

My new baby fish Little T refuses to eat. She bites a pellet, holds it in her mouth for a few seconds and spits it out. I have tried Atison's Betta Pro pellets, HikarI pellets, frozen bloodworms, freeze dried bloodworms, dried daphnia, a pea. I cut pellets in tiny pieces in case she can't swallow them. I tried to soak them in water. Nothing works. Help!

 

You can try soaking them in garlic juice.

 

You have not found the one wonderful thing that your little princess is going to accept... welcome to the wonderful world of picky betta parenthood. Not often but once in a while will one of the little darlings set their fins in the gravel and refuse to eat anything but one thing. The trick is to find that one thing. The easiest way is to call the people where you got her and ask what they were feeding her and try that. It may not be what you want to try but it may be what she wants to eat. I swore I would not feed flake food to bettas ever but I had one little monster stubborn naughty child who would not eat anything but a flake food that was so bad I won't even name it here. When he got to be about 4 months into our relationship he decided he would eat bloodworms and nothing else and that was the end of those awful flakes. But there was not any changing his mind when he had it made up. I loved him to distraction but he was the most cantankerous stubborn spoiled rotten betta child I ever owned and I miss him horribly even yet. Just call and see what she is used to eating and give in to her whims. It is easier on you both believe me. In a few months she will maybe grow up and want big betta food and be more reasonable.

Rose

 

Sounds like she has a very tiny mouth...I'd try the HikarI brand of freeze dried bloodworms...They are very soft and tasty and I'll bet she will eat them..One thing you don't want to do is be offering her too many choices....This will lead to a finicky eater for sure....

 

I agree with lucy on the garlic juice..its fresh from the jar and I have one boy, no names mentioned, that will only eat anything I feed him soaked in garlic juice...its a good food stimulant...

 

That's so funny Shawnie because NONE of my boys will eat anything with garlic on it.....I have to put drops of garlic guard in their water when I do changes...My whole house smells like garlic! lol...I guess it will keep the vampires away......Or is that all men away lol

 

When I first got Mizu, he wouldn't eat either. I had to cut pellets in half and soak them in garlic juice. It took him a couple of days, but he finally came around

 

I tried feeding Bowie a little piece of minced garlic yesterday because I've heard from many people here that it's a good supplement and bettas love it; he must have thought it was something else, because he was really excited to have dinner, swam up like it was the end of the world if he didn't get it RIGHT NOW, sucked that garlic up in the blink of an eye... then stopped... slowly turned to face me (you could see the wheels turning)... and spit it right back at me.

I never knew until then what a stinkeye a betta is capable of. ;P He was very cautious about the blood worms that followed; I guess I broke his trust a little. ;D

Like people, they have their favourite foods, and things they abjectly refuse to eat... Rose's suggestion to find out what she was eating before sounds like the most reasonable ( and least stressful, time-consuming, expensive...) course of action.

 

my boys never ate it before either but after reading how great it was for them, and their health, I started feeding them it after a fast...and to begin with, it has to be cut so small, that it almost floats so they can nibble and spit a few times before it sinks...I fast my boys on sundays so its like mondays they know its vitamin time (aka garlic pieces) and even though its a pain in the rear, I feed and wait and its like they know they aren't getting another piece of food until its gone.. .but they are use to it now and its like their flintstones that they gotta chew n swallow

 

Unfortunately, there is no way to find out what kind of food the breeder gave to Little T. I got her from a Petco death cup. I am not sure if she even was fed at the store. Those people don't care about Bettas. I tried to soak pellets in Vita-Chem. Little T chews on them but doesn't swallow and spits them out. Tomorrow I will try garlic juice. All my other 4 Bettas hate it. Who knows maybe Little T will be different.

 

Have you had her very long? Some bettas just won't eat at first until they're settled in. The fact it, she'll eat once she gets hungry enough...I don't know what else to tell you to try... I guess I'm lucky, all my bettas will eat anything.

 

Wow!! that would be a strange problem for me to have, as I'm pretty sure I could drop a penny in their tank and they would eat it!!!

 

Can you get New Life Spectrum foods? They have a super-tiny pellet that's only .5mm. It's called Spectrum Grow.

 

Wow!! that would be a strange problem for me to have, as I'm pretty sure I could drop a penny in their tank and they would eat it!!!

So far, my experience has been identical! Once they settle in, they attack anything I drop in! But I'm sure I just haven't met my problem child yet!!! ;D

 

my boys never ate it before either but after reading how great it was for them, and their health, I started feeding them it after a fast...and to begin with, it has to be cut so small, that it almost floats so they can nibble and spit a few times before it sinks...I fast my boys on sundays so its like mondays they know its vitamin time (aka garlic pieces) and even though its a pain in the rear, I feed and wait and its like they know they aren't getting another piece of food until its gone.. .but they are use to it now and its like their flintstones that they gotta chew n swallow

Hm... this is a really good idea, Shawnie... looks like my boys are about to get a surprise: "Clean your plate or mom isn't feeding you dessert!!" ... ahh, tough love.

Ara, it's true, if your fish gets hungry enough he WILL eat eventually... they have too strong a survival instinct to willingly starve themselves when there is food available unless there is something really, seriously wrong with them... in which case, their food is the least of your worries.

Best of luck!

 

Finally! Little T ate a frozen bloodworm! She did not touch a pellet soaked in garlic juice. She still spits other pellets. But she is not going to starve to death! What a happy day!

 

Yay!! So glad that she is eating now.

 

Finally! Little T ate a frozen bloodworm! She did not touch a pellet soaked in garlic juice. She still spits other pellets. But she is not going to starve to death! What a happy day!

Glad she ate something. But don't worry about her starving to death...it would take several months of absolutely no food for that to happen. Though the way my bettas act at feeding time, you'd think otherwise...

 

Glad she's eating. Maybe she's just a picky eater.

 

Little T continues to eat! I think she even has grown a bit since I got her. But she has no color. Just a light pink tint. Is it because she is a baby?

 

My goodness, she is awfully cute!!

I would not worry about her size and colour too much... if you have seen this thread:
... then you can see what a difference that occurs with a few weeks' worth of proper living conditions and some TLC. My new girl is also small and pale, but she is already starting to fatten and grow more vibrant by the day. ;D
Females do tend to have less bright colour than males... but they are every bit as charming in their own way.

 

Some do have a light color like that and she'll get more color probably as she gets older.. but she's likely to always be fairly light colored.

Little T continues to eat! I think she even has grown a bit since I got her. But she has no color. Just a light pink tint. Is it because she is a baby?