HELP!!!

[Ellie Kistler]

My Half Moon Betta insists on biting his tail off, and I would like it a bit better if I could find some way to make it stop.

 

He is currently in a 2.5 gallon tank, and it has a filter in it.

 

How do I get him to stop?

[NetMax]

Not sure if there's anything definitive about this behavior. I'd
attribute it to boredom (give him a mirror for an hour a day), diet
(hungry or lack of variety - try feeding bloodworms which are mosquito
larvae), or mental disorder (which is actually quite likely as they
are not bred for their problem-solving abilities ; )

At the end of the day, Bettas are carnivorous hunters. If we were to
take a lion and put it in isolation in a tiny round room, I can see it
eventually biting its tail as its only form of exercise and
excitement.

I'm not comparing lions & fish, other than to say, that maintaining a
carnivore (bird, reptile etc) in an environment which does not
stimulate the senses they evolved with, can result in fairly random
behavior.

As a minimum, put a small floating plant in the water. Limnobium
laevatigatum something.... making sure it never fills the top (water
needs some surface area to re-oxygenize for the fish). Bettas also
evolved hiding from birds while in the pursuit of floating bugs. If
there's no cover for him to hide under, feeling he might get eaten at
any moment (first passing shadow) might make him skittish enough to
chew his tail (like we would chew our fingernails ; )

Some company might be good (Cherry shrimps, a couple of Zebra danio,
an Apple snail etc.), and probably better to upgrade the aquarium too
(though it's tough to consider a 2.5g as an aquarium when my change-
water pail holds 5g. ; )

cheers
NetMax