Sometimes, I get impatient with my betta fish and feel like he is swimming too slow. So, you ask, how can you make your betta fish swim faster? I will tell you, there are a few ways. The first way is to agitate him by chasing him around the tank with a plastic spoon. Place the spoon next to the betta, and he will try to swim away. Then, after he goes to another part of the tank, place the spoon in front of him again. He will swim away again. Keep doing this a few times, and you'll agitate your betta and make him want to swim and dart quickly. This is what I call agitating your betta, you're making him feel the pressure so he swims around more.
Of course, eventually your betta will get tired and probably stay in the same place for awhile. Of course, you can always let him rest if you're feeling compassionate, and do this again later. He will respond to your agitations by swimming faster.
Another variation on this technique of course is to take the plastic spoon and hit your betta on his head or somewhere on his body. This will definitely make him swim around faster.
You can also poke your betta with a toothpick. I like poking him right on his eye. You'll find that bettas are extremely sensitive to this and will immediately start swimming faster.
So those are some things you can do to make your betta swim faster.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
How to Give Your Betta Fish Popeye
There is a lot of talk about how a betta fish can get eye problems, like popeye, but have you ever considered that you can actually induce this condition in your fish? I'll tell you exactly how to do it.
This involves a little bit of betta fish "surgery", so be prepared. First, as in my previous posts, you need to chase your betta fish around the tank with a spoon or something, so that it becomes tired. That way, it won't fight you as much for what you are about to do.
Next, take the fish out of the tank and place it on its side. Then, this is the thing you need to do carefully -- partially (and I mean only partially, not the full deal) -- partially dig out it's eye with a toothpick. The fish may flip over when you're doing this as its way of escaping. Of course, you take advantage of this by digging at the eye on its other side with the toothpick.
Between the fish flipping over multiple times and your digging at its eyes, pretty soon it should appear that your fish has popeye. Congradulations, you did it! Now, put the fish in the tank and watch it swim around. It should do just fine. Test the fish by putting your hand up near its eye on both sides and see how it responds. It should respond to you, but maybe not as accurately as before.
If all of the above happens, then you have successfully partially disabled the eyes of your betta fish! Congradulations.
You know you can always take this to the next level, and actually 100% dig out the betta fish's eyes. But, at this point, I've typically found it very hard to stop injuring the fish, and eventually ending its life.
So, maybe it's best to stop right here. But you've got to consciously pull yourself away from the fish so that you don't harm it anymore. At least, that's what I have to do. I think that it is possible for the fish to have his eyes half poked out and still have a very normal life.
I think it's possible to do other things to the betta fish, and for the fish to survive. For example, pulling off its directional fins, for one. Taking off its tail fins, for two. Depriving the fish of oxygen for 5 or 10 minutes at a time. Of course, if you do this, keep in mind, the fish may not move as much. Or, it may recover after some time and start swimming again. That's it for now.
This involves a little bit of betta fish "surgery", so be prepared. First, as in my previous posts, you need to chase your betta fish around the tank with a spoon or something, so that it becomes tired. That way, it won't fight you as much for what you are about to do.
Next, take the fish out of the tank and place it on its side. Then, this is the thing you need to do carefully -- partially (and I mean only partially, not the full deal) -- partially dig out it's eye with a toothpick. The fish may flip over when you're doing this as its way of escaping. Of course, you take advantage of this by digging at the eye on its other side with the toothpick.
Between the fish flipping over multiple times and your digging at its eyes, pretty soon it should appear that your fish has popeye. Congradulations, you did it! Now, put the fish in the tank and watch it swim around. It should do just fine. Test the fish by putting your hand up near its eye on both sides and see how it responds. It should respond to you, but maybe not as accurately as before.
If all of the above happens, then you have successfully partially disabled the eyes of your betta fish! Congradulations.
You know you can always take this to the next level, and actually 100% dig out the betta fish's eyes. But, at this point, I've typically found it very hard to stop injuring the fish, and eventually ending its life.
So, maybe it's best to stop right here. But you've got to consciously pull yourself away from the fish so that you don't harm it anymore. At least, that's what I have to do. I think that it is possible for the fish to have his eyes half poked out and still have a very normal life.
I think it's possible to do other things to the betta fish, and for the fish to survive. For example, pulling off its directional fins, for one. Taking off its tail fins, for two. Depriving the fish of oxygen for 5 or 10 minutes at a time. Of course, if you do this, keep in mind, the fish may not move as much. Or, it may recover after some time and start swimming again. That's it for now.
Another Betta Bites the Dust (exits the tank)
That's right. Another betta fish is gone tonight. Flushed down the toilet after I pissed on it, but it was barely moving at that point.
Let's backtrack, and I'll explain how it happened. First of all, I decided that I wanted to damage its eyes. I took it out of the tank, and poked its eyes repeatedly with toothpicks on both sides.
It seems like it could still see after this, as its eyes I think have some sort of a liquid inside, when you poke the eye, it really just moves around.
So I went to the next step, and pushed its eyeballs out with a toothpick. First I took one eye out, and let it swim around. I went to check if the fish could see me from its other damaged but still intact eye, and it seemed like it could not. So, I took its other eye out, too.
Then, I let it swim around. It seemed to be doing pretty good, aside from the fact that it could not see. This, of course, was not enough for me. I had to continue. So, I started playing with it, holding it under water, etc. I used a long tweezers to cut its fins, the fins it uses to change directions in the water. I succeeded in cutting most of its fins.
At this point the betta was kind of on one side, swimming for the top of the water. When I pushed it down with a plastic spoon, it would very quickly swim for the top of the tank again. I practiced holding it down by its fins and by using the spoon several times.
To cut its front directional fins, I put the betta in the top of the water, holding it by its fins. When it tried to move its fins, I pulled out my long tweezer and used it to clip the fins. Finally, I got most of both of them. It still had a little, but not much.
As I said, by this point the betta was mostly flat, always swimming for the top of the water. I took a toothpick and stuck it in its mouth. Then I put it back in the water. I did this several times, but it seemed mostly functional. I put the betta right next to a pellet of food to see if it would eat, but it would not, or was not able to.
Finally I took a toothpick, stuck it in its mouth, and poked it out the other side of something. I would think this would have caused some pain. At this point, the betta was really barely moving around, barely alive. It was at this point that I decided the best thing to do would be to flush it down the toilet, I didn't think it would live much longer.
Such is the end of a betta's life. Some of the things I thought it was doing wrong:
1) Sometimes it stayed in one place for too long near the top of the water.
2) It didn't swim that much towards the middle of the tank.
3) It always stayed towards the sides of the tank. Maybe this is a normal behavior, I don't know for sure.
4) It swam vertically slightly when it was coming up for air.
Other than that, it was a good betta, really, it had a right to live longer than it did. I just couldn't take it. And it was eating its food, too. Maybe I should have had more patience with it. That's one of the areas that I could use some work in.
I'm thinking of getting another fish tomorrow, but I'm not 100% sure. Maybe I'll do better without one. When I have one, I definitely focus on it too much, and spend too much time watching it swim around, noticing always what isn't to my satisfaction. Sometimes you don't know you know until something is gone.
Let's backtrack, and I'll explain how it happened. First of all, I decided that I wanted to damage its eyes. I took it out of the tank, and poked its eyes repeatedly with toothpicks on both sides.
It seems like it could still see after this, as its eyes I think have some sort of a liquid inside, when you poke the eye, it really just moves around.
So I went to the next step, and pushed its eyeballs out with a toothpick. First I took one eye out, and let it swim around. I went to check if the fish could see me from its other damaged but still intact eye, and it seemed like it could not. So, I took its other eye out, too.
Then, I let it swim around. It seemed to be doing pretty good, aside from the fact that it could not see. This, of course, was not enough for me. I had to continue. So, I started playing with it, holding it under water, etc. I used a long tweezers to cut its fins, the fins it uses to change directions in the water. I succeeded in cutting most of its fins.
At this point the betta was kind of on one side, swimming for the top of the water. When I pushed it down with a plastic spoon, it would very quickly swim for the top of the tank again. I practiced holding it down by its fins and by using the spoon several times.
To cut its front directional fins, I put the betta in the top of the water, holding it by its fins. When it tried to move its fins, I pulled out my long tweezer and used it to clip the fins. Finally, I got most of both of them. It still had a little, but not much.
As I said, by this point the betta was mostly flat, always swimming for the top of the water. I took a toothpick and stuck it in its mouth. Then I put it back in the water. I did this several times, but it seemed mostly functional. I put the betta right next to a pellet of food to see if it would eat, but it would not, or was not able to.
Finally I took a toothpick, stuck it in its mouth, and poked it out the other side of something. I would think this would have caused some pain. At this point, the betta was really barely moving around, barely alive. It was at this point that I decided the best thing to do would be to flush it down the toilet, I didn't think it would live much longer.
Such is the end of a betta's life. Some of the things I thought it was doing wrong:
1) Sometimes it stayed in one place for too long near the top of the water.
2) It didn't swim that much towards the middle of the tank.
3) It always stayed towards the sides of the tank. Maybe this is a normal behavior, I don't know for sure.
4) It swam vertically slightly when it was coming up for air.
Other than that, it was a good betta, really, it had a right to live longer than it did. I just couldn't take it. And it was eating its food, too. Maybe I should have had more patience with it. That's one of the areas that I could use some work in.
I'm thinking of getting another fish tomorrow, but I'm not 100% sure. Maybe I'll do better without one. When I have one, I definitely focus on it too much, and spend too much time watching it swim around, noticing always what isn't to my satisfaction. Sometimes you don't know you know until something is gone.
How to Remove the eyes of your Betta Fish
I've often been asked this question, how do you remove a betta fish's eyes? Well, it's actually quite simple. I'll tell you how. I will warn you though that it can severely injury the fish and it can cause bleeding.
Here's the easiest way to remove the eyes. First, I push the fish around the tank with a plastic fork or something like that so it will get tired. Finally, the fish stops reacting / moving as much so I know it's ready for the next step.
Next, I take the fish out of the tank and put it on a flat surface. I hold the fish down with one hand. With another I take a toothpick and poke at it's eye. At first, the fish may flip over a few times as this is painful for it, but it will soon stop doing this.
As I'm poking at it's eye, I try to "dig" the eye out of it's socket. This can be hard to do and requires practice to get it right. You'll know when you got it right when you put the fish back in the tank, wave your hand, and it doesn't have any reaction. That means you have succeeded and the eye is no longer working.
So, I usually flip the fish over at this point and remove the other eye. Sometimes loosening the eye from it's socket is enough to stop it from working, and sometimes you need to fully remove it.
Now, I put the fish back in the water and it is totally blind. What does it do? It normally stays towards the top of the tank/bowl and breathes air every now and then.
Of course, it would eventually starve because the betta fish can no longer see its food. I don't know if it would work if you somehow put the food into its mouth? Any suggestions on this point are welcome.
One thing to remember is that the fish will be somewhat weak, as you have removed two eyes, so it won't move that much.
One thing I have been experimenting with is taking a newly blind betta fish and putting it in a tank with a normal, healthy betta fish. Theoretically, the healthy betta fish will see the blind betta fish, but not vice versa, and the blind betta fish will get attacked without knowing why.
Well, that's it, I hope this clarifies for you how to remove the eyes from a betta fish! If you try it, let me know how it works out for you!
One thing I am interested in is, how to remove a betta fish's eyes while still keeping the fish relatively healthy? If you know how to do this, please send me a message. Thanks.
Here's the easiest way to remove the eyes. First, I push the fish around the tank with a plastic fork or something like that so it will get tired. Finally, the fish stops reacting / moving as much so I know it's ready for the next step.
Next, I take the fish out of the tank and put it on a flat surface. I hold the fish down with one hand. With another I take a toothpick and poke at it's eye. At first, the fish may flip over a few times as this is painful for it, but it will soon stop doing this.
As I'm poking at it's eye, I try to "dig" the eye out of it's socket. This can be hard to do and requires practice to get it right. You'll know when you got it right when you put the fish back in the tank, wave your hand, and it doesn't have any reaction. That means you have succeeded and the eye is no longer working.
So, I usually flip the fish over at this point and remove the other eye. Sometimes loosening the eye from it's socket is enough to stop it from working, and sometimes you need to fully remove it.
Now, I put the fish back in the water and it is totally blind. What does it do? It normally stays towards the top of the tank/bowl and breathes air every now and then.
Of course, it would eventually starve because the betta fish can no longer see its food. I don't know if it would work if you somehow put the food into its mouth? Any suggestions on this point are welcome.
One thing to remember is that the fish will be somewhat weak, as you have removed two eyes, so it won't move that much.
One thing I have been experimenting with is taking a newly blind betta fish and putting it in a tank with a normal, healthy betta fish. Theoretically, the healthy betta fish will see the blind betta fish, but not vice versa, and the blind betta fish will get attacked without knowing why.
Well, that's it, I hope this clarifies for you how to remove the eyes from a betta fish! If you try it, let me know how it works out for you!
One thing I am interested in is, how to remove a betta fish's eyes while still keeping the fish relatively healthy? If you know how to do this, please send me a message. Thanks.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
I killed the fish, accidentally...
OK, this time, I took him out of the tank, and stuck a toothpick in his mouth. At first, I just wanted to see how much it would open. But, then I stuck it in further, and I think I must have damaged him in some way.
When he went back in the tank, he wasn't swimming right. He went right to the bottom, and wouldn't move. I didn't know if he was barely still alive, or dead.
I settled on the decision that he was almost dead, and dumped out the water and flushed him down the toilet.
Tomorrow I'll start again with a new fish. And, I promise to treat him much better. I promise.
I know what I need to do. When I see myself being mean to the fish, I need to BREAK THE PATTERN. How? By doing something else. Anything else. Watching a movie, running, reading a book, anything that can get me away from the fish. If I need to, then I will take an anxiety pill. Anyway, the idea is to break the pattern, and get away from the fish.
They can take a lot of abuse, and I do mean a lot, as I have given them a lot of treatments and still see them swimming around. But, the part about taking the eyes out, wounding their flesh, this seems to be more than they can take. So, I've learned my lesson. I'll do better next time.
When he went back in the tank, he wasn't swimming right. He went right to the bottom, and wouldn't move. I didn't know if he was barely still alive, or dead.
I settled on the decision that he was almost dead, and dumped out the water and flushed him down the toilet.
Tomorrow I'll start again with a new fish. And, I promise to treat him much better. I promise.
I know what I need to do. When I see myself being mean to the fish, I need to BREAK THE PATTERN. How? By doing something else. Anything else. Watching a movie, running, reading a book, anything that can get me away from the fish. If I need to, then I will take an anxiety pill. Anyway, the idea is to break the pattern, and get away from the fish.
They can take a lot of abuse, and I do mean a lot, as I have given them a lot of treatments and still see them swimming around. But, the part about taking the eyes out, wounding their flesh, this seems to be more than they can take. So, I've learned my lesson. I'll do better next time.
I think I went a little too far
So I got a little crazy with the betta fish tonight. I kept pushing him around and he kept on swimming. So I went further. I tried to hold him by his tail with the fork several times and he would not stay. Finally, I put my hand in there and held him by his tail several times, and pushed him around with the fork while I held him by his tail.
Then comes the real kicker. I took him out of the bowl for some "surgery." I removed both of his eyeballs. At first, he really objected, and flipped over every time I tried to hit his eyeball. Then, he stopped moving so much, I guess he got used to it.
Then, I put him back in the tank. I think he's not in too good of shape now. He's staying at the top of the tank. He's not moving much. He no longer sees my hands or any objects I put in the tank, since he's blind.
I don't know if he will make it tonight. I may have to put him down the garbage disposal. Tomorrow I plan on getting another fish. It's a shame. He was such a good fish. Why did I have to mess him up? I guess I just couldn't help myself. But now, I wish I hadn't. I wish I had left him alone to do his thing.
I really think that I need some other things to put my time and focus on, instead of focusing on the perfection of a betta fish. It's really unfair to the fish taht I do that.
This fish is in really bad shape. He can breath, but that's about it. He doesn't really swim around anymore. Can't blame him. The thing has been taken to the end of the earth, and then some. I push him to the bottom, and he just swims back towards the top. I guess that's the only place he can stay now. Poor thing. Probably tomorrow I will put him down the disposal, and get another fish. And I promise, I will try my hardest to treat that fish better.
Then comes the real kicker. I took him out of the bowl for some "surgery." I removed both of his eyeballs. At first, he really objected, and flipped over every time I tried to hit his eyeball. Then, he stopped moving so much, I guess he got used to it.
Then, I put him back in the tank. I think he's not in too good of shape now. He's staying at the top of the tank. He's not moving much. He no longer sees my hands or any objects I put in the tank, since he's blind.
I don't know if he will make it tonight. I may have to put him down the garbage disposal. Tomorrow I plan on getting another fish. It's a shame. He was such a good fish. Why did I have to mess him up? I guess I just couldn't help myself. But now, I wish I hadn't. I wish I had left him alone to do his thing.
I really think that I need some other things to put my time and focus on, instead of focusing on the perfection of a betta fish. It's really unfair to the fish taht I do that.
This fish is in really bad shape. He can breath, but that's about it. He doesn't really swim around anymore. Can't blame him. The thing has been taken to the end of the earth, and then some. I push him to the bottom, and he just swims back towards the top. I guess that's the only place he can stay now. Poor thing. Probably tomorrow I will put him down the disposal, and get another fish. And I promise, I will try my hardest to treat that fish better.
Another Treatment
Hi, I just gave my betta fish another treatment. This time, I went pretty hard on him. For five minutes, I pushed him around the bowl with a plastic fork. Eventually, he got tired and he would go whichever direction I pushed him in. Then, of course, when he tried to get up for air, I blocked up.
I even went a little past the five minute mark, actually I got a little carried away.
Now he is in the recovery stage. He's moving his fins at the bottom of the tank. More updates will be coming in a little while.
He just went up for air quickly and then quickly back to the bottom of the tank. He's of course breathing heavier than usual. I'll keep you posted on his progress.
I even went a little past the five minute mark, actually I got a little carried away.
Now he is in the recovery stage. He's moving his fins at the bottom of the tank. More updates will be coming in a little while.
He just went up for air quickly and then quickly back to the bottom of the tank. He's of course breathing heavier than usual. I'll keep you posted on his progress.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)