Question/ Picky eater?

[geminidragn]

I have a question. I know that Crown-tails tend to be slightly different than most betas when it comes to caring for them. But I was wondering if they are picky eaters.

My new fish Corona is a Crown-tail and he will not eat the Beta Gold pellets at all. I have had him for a few days and did the fasting thing after I got him to start him on my regular feeding that I do for my other Betas. I give 3-4 pellets in the morning and dried blood worms at night. But he will not eat the pellets at all; he'll chomp down the dried blood worms as fast as he can. Is there such a thing as a picky eater with Betas? On the container it says to supplement the blood worms with pellets to insure proper nutrition; is this right or is it ok to just give Corona dried blood worms only? Is there something else that I can give him to eat with the worms?

Any ideas or suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Sharon]

I had a Betta who refused to eat anything other than Bloodworms. I tried other food for nine days...all of which he refused. Finally, I gave in and gave him Bloodworms. He developed a swim bladder disorder which never went away, although I'm not sure if the diet caused this. I would definitely switch to live(frozen) bloodworms as the dried may contribute to constipation and swim bladder issues.

[geminidragn]

What can I do if he gets swim bladder? Do I fast him or is there something that I can give him (meds or food)?

I just got him and I don't want to loose him already.

[Sharon]

I would feed him a diet of frozen defrosted Bloodworms, baby brine shrimp(which he'll probably take). Feed peas(cooked in the microwave for 30sec. and shelled)two or three times a week to avoid constipation issues. Once you get him eating, he may even take flakes or pellets. Having a varied diet is the important thing with Bettas...I had one who loved broccoli...

[geminidragn]

Well I figured out what to do. I remembered that one of my earlier Betas (Flash) would not eat the pellets because they were too big. So I thought this might be what was happening again and that was why Corona was only eating the blood worms. Well I was right, last night I took some pellets and cut them into smaller pieces. This morning I tried feeding Corona the smaller pellets and IT WORKED. He ate them! Yippee!! Now I won't have to worry about swim bladder. Problem solved.

Thanks for idea, Sharon, about the peas; I am thinking about doing it any way just to give everyone variety.

[Sharon]

No problem!!! Glad he's eating...thumbs2: