Betta won't eat

[Blackadder]

I bought a Betta about 3 weeks ago and I have so far never seen her eat anything. When I feed the fish, she watches the food float past her face but doesn't react to it. She seems healthy enough, although she likes to hide more than my other betta (a male, now deceased) did.

Also, although the store told me she was female, she is as brightly coloured as any male I've ever seen. Is there any way to tell?

[Slow Cheetah]

Females are usually less active than males and don't have quite as big appetites. You shouldn't worry too much if she isnt eating alot but if you think she hasn't eaten at all i would suggest feeding frozen bloodworms to get her back ino her normal diet (whatever you feed her flakes etc).

Females are usually quite smaller than males and also don't have nearly as long fins. I recently bought a new female that i thought was quite dull, but after about 2 days in her tank with my male and she is starting to get really nice red fins and and is swimming around more. Females CAN be as colourful as the males (not always) but they will always have short fins.

good luck

[kdce]

I am having almost the same probem with my male crown tail. One of them is not eating at all. He watches it float past too. What I did was went out into my kids old UNUSED pool, in the stagnet water I found little mosquito larva. I fed that to him and he loved it. I have tried the pellets, freeze dried bloodworms and frozen brine shrimp and nothing. he prefers live food. Some betta can be very picky.
About the shyness, give it time. Fish need to adjust to the new surroundings too. I do not give my betta tree and hiding places except for breeding. I want friendly fish. I have found that having no place to hide forces them to be more friendly. I do not bother mine until i see they are ready for me to visit them as not to stresds them. Then you will see that fish perk when you walk into the room like all mine do me.

[nrich85]

I am having almost the same probem with my male crown tail. One of them is not eating at all. He watches it float past too. What I did was went out into my kids old UNUSED pool, in the stagnet water I found little mosquito larva. I fed that to him and he loved it. I have tried the pellets, freeze dried bloodworms and frozen brine shrimp and nothing. he prefers live food. Some betta can be very picky.
About the shyness, give it time. Fish need to adjust to the new surroundings too. I do not give my betta tree and hiding places except for breeding. I want friendly fish. I have found that having no place to hide forces them to be more friendly. I do not bother mine until i see they are ready for me to visit them as not to stresds them. Then you will see that fish perk when you walk into the room like all mine do me.


I have had several bettas in the past and they were all from petco and all had healthy appetites and were active from the first day I brought them home. This one, a young, very small crowntail, will not eat anything and its been a little over a week since I brought him home. I tried Hikari pellets and he just kind of looks at them and swims away. So l tried brine shrimp. He took an interest in it, ate a piece and spit it right back out. Every day, I'll leave one or two pellets in his tank for up to 15 minutes and he won't touch them.

This fish is quite healthy and active, he comes up to the side of the tank when I come around and everything. He just won't eat. I will try bloodworms today but if he doesn't eat that, what should I try next? If I I have to try live food, where would I get it?

[betta mom]

my avatar is a male crowntail . most lfs carry live food atleast mine does . :laugh1blue: i've had the same thing with females . if your worried she's not eating and your not sure put her in her own tank . give that a try . watch to see if she's eating .

[Zepher03]

My betta eats the flake food then spits it out again, he does that to all his food flakes. Although he looks WAY better then when i brought him home. is he just taste testing or something?

[f1oored]

Low water temps can also cause loss of appetite in bettas. You might check the temp in the bowl and if it is below 70 that may be your problem.

[Zepher03]

i don't have a water heater :(

[Zepher03]

my betta was having an eating problem too, but it turns out he likes bloodworms! he's just picky, try changing his food type. he gobbles his blood worms like no tommorrow!