Rust colored gills

I’ve had a female crowntail betta for quite some time now. She’s always been healthy and active, her water parameters are always solid with no ammonia spikes.
a while ago I noticed that her gills had changed color, and it concerned me a little. I knew it wasn’t ammonia burn because there was no ammonia in the tank, but I decided to put some Kordon fish protector in there just in case she had any gill damage.
it’s been a while now, and I haven’t seen anything in her behavior change: she’s very active and swims up to me to ask for food when I walk by.
When I look at her gills, I always feel concerned. So I finally decided I should post them on here.
Here’s some pictures. Is anything wrong? I heard that it might be that her gill covers slipped off but I’m just not sure.

 

IMO it doesn't look like there is anything wrong.
Did this happen overnight or did it slowly change to that color? Is is on both of her gills? Is she breathing normally?
I'll also do more research about gill covers slipping off. I had no idea that could happen.

 

IMO it doesn't look like there is anything wrong.
Did this happen overnight or did it slowly change to that color? Is is on both of her gills? Is she breathing normally?
I'll also do more research about gill covers slipping off. I had no idea that could happen.

It just randomly happened one day. Though it used to be less darkly colored. It is on both sides and her breathing is completely normal

 

It just randomly happened one day. Though it used to be less darkly colored. It is on both sides and her breathing is completely normal

I can't really tell from the picture, but does it look like she's missing scales? If she's not missing scales my best guess is that she just changed color.
I couldn't find anything about gill covers slipping off, but I did find this picture that might help:
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...Pgh9SdGqXeXQ_FW3SbDIoD-moU9e16g1H5Pc&usqp=CAU
That betta has similar colored gills.

 

I can't really tell from the picture, but does it look like she's missing scales? If she's not missing scales my best guess is that she just changed color.
I couldn't find anything about gill covers slipping off, but I did find this picture that might help:
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQROvSEB4WPIFCRPgh9SdGqXeXQ_FW3SbDIoD-moU9e16g1H5Pc&usqp=CAU
That betta has similar colored gills.

No it doesn’t look like she’s missing any scales. I didn’t know that gill color could change

 

It could just be a color thing, bettas have some pretty weird color patterns sometimes. They also can change color very quickly, like if you put a betta that was in bad water conditions in a cycled tank with perfect water conditions, they may change colors. In the wild bettas can change colors in split seconds ( when they are threatened they get a kind of shiny vibrant color and flare ), so I wouldn’t be surprised if she just decidedly her gills should be white.

 

No it doesn’t look like she’s missing any scales. I didn’t know that gill color could change

I didn't know either. It's just my best guess. My other guesses would be stress, velvet, or columnaris, but you mentioned she isn't acting sick at all and it doesn't seem like it could be any of the other guesses.

It could just be a color thing, bettas have some pretty weird color patterns sometimes. They also can change color very quickly, like if you put a betta that was in bad water conditions in a cycled tank with perfect water conditions, they may change colors. In the wild bettas can change colors in split seconds ( when they are threatened they get a kind of shiny vibrant color and flare ), so I wouldn’t be surprised if she just decidedly her gills should be white.

This is really helpful! When I think I know everything I need to know about bettas, I learn something knew hilarious