Friday, October 23, 2009

My Beta is Constipated

Now there is a title of a blog post I didn't think I'd ever write. I looked at our beta, Kip, when we got home today. At first, I thought he was dead since he was laying at the top of the water on his side, but when he saw me he got excited and started swimming around. He wasn't swimming quite right though and he looked bloated. I confirmed that Pipsqueak hadn't fed him lately without telling me, so it wasn't overfeeding. I thought he was a goner, but I hit the internet anyway.

Come to find out constipation is the most common problem in betas, and most longterm beta owners are bound to have it to deal with at one time or another. It can be deadly, but luckily, there is treatment and it's simple. Cook a frozen pea until it's mushy, put some on the end of a toothpick and drag it through the water to tempt the beta to eat it. Don't feed until the bloating is down and the blockage has passed. Kip took his medicine like a good patient. I'll give him another dose of pea tomorrow to be on the safe side. It says he should be better in a day or two. If not we'll have to try plan two, an epsom salt bath. I'm hoping the pea treatment works.

Here's Kip on a better day.  He didn't want to be photographed all bloated and clumsy.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That made my day! As you might imagine, I care for betas in my line of work and they're rarely around from one vacation to the next. I'll bet they're dying of constipation! I look forward to sharing this info with my clients...

Anonymous said...

this is fascinating. who would have thought....

im with kip, i dont like my picture on a bloated day either. fortunately for me there is Activia.

Anonymous said...

i am having Facebook problems and couldnt leave a message on your page. or you may have gotten it 900times. either way, i thought id leave it here too:

your wish is my command. tomorrows post is more about my life growing up as one of jehovahs witnesses. Thanks for inspiration. I totally had no idea what I was going to write about. It was looking like the end..........

Kitt said...

Aw, poor Kip! I think we've all been there. Who knew frozen peas were the answer?

Lorilee said...

Aww poor Kip! I learn something new in blogland everyday!
Blessings,
Lorilee

Aunt Becky said...

Just THINK of the search terms you're going to get.

Clare said...

Our beta fish Bert III hasn''t had that problem before but if he does, I know the solution. Thank you! Who would have known that the beta version of activa was a pea?

Liz said...

Who would have thought fish can be irregular. Thank goodness for Google...

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