Any risk of overfeeding with positive reinforcement? (Betta)

[andytw...@gmail.com]

Hey, came across Fish School while looking for things to keep a Betta
from getting bored - looks fantastic!! I am not a very experienced
fish owner, just kept a Betta for around 6months before now and I am
very open to any new advice or tips!

I have thought about using positive reinforcement with a Betta before
now, but didn't because I was worried about over feeding. I have
seen positive reinforcement used very effectively with both dogs and
cats, but it seemed like you have to use alot of treats/food to do
it! We feed our Betta 4-6 pellets of Atison's Betta Pro, 6 days out
of 7 a week... so that would only mean 4-6 goes a day at training, if
you see what I mean, which didn't seem like it would be enough but I
understand there is a big health risk associated with overfeeding fish
especially Betta.

So, my questions:

Using the feeding regime above, would that be enough to get any
results training using positive reinforcement?
Is there a risk of over feeding using positive reinforcement? What
kind of limits would you safely use with a Betta?
Is there anyone who has trained a Betta out there - how did you do
it? What did you feed and how much?

[Dean Pomerleau]

Yes - there is always a risk of overfeeding. The rule of thumb is not to feed your fish (any fish, not just Bettas) more than you normally would - just do it as part of a reinforcement session, rather than randomly. 

With only 4-6 (you could probably go up to 6-8) reinforcement events per day, it does take a bit longer to train a Betta. But I've done it several times myself using the R2 Fish Training Kit, and I know many of the other people who've purchased the kit have too.  Here is a post about Isaac Newton, one of our trained bettas (may he RIP):

http://blog.fish-school.com/2008/02/isaac-our-trained-betta.html

So give it a try and have fun!

--Dean

[freshwater]

The issue of overfeeding is a tricky one. I have trained about 20 fish in the past 5 years, mostly using the Fish School feeding wand - a brilliant means of delivering targeted reinforcement. But I have learned that one has to be very careful with its use. I don't know about bettas, but goldfish have no stomach, only a straight, narrow intestinal tube. The intestine is very easily blocked, and it doesn't take a large quantity of food for this to happen. I have lost fish for many reasons - parasites, Mycobacterium wasting disease, etc, but in almost every case, the fish's problems began with an internal bacterial overgrowth precipitated by intestinal overload. After much research, I finally came to this realization: goldfish are designed to ingest food along with a significant quantity of water. When they snatch a food particle from the water column or substrate, a rush of water accompanies that food. The ingested water propels the food through the intestine at precisely the correct rate -- slow enough to allow digestion to occur, but fast enough to prevent intestinal contents from backing up. The feeding wand can't really duplicate this flow of water when it delivers food, so there is a real danger of an intestinal traffic jam.

So how can we trainers reap the benefits of targeted reinforcement without impairing the fish's digestion? Several ways. 1) I now never give the fish her staple meals through the feeding wand. Instead, when training, I feed only minute but very tasty treats through the wand. One or two bloodworms per reinforcement really excite the fish, and the worms are so tiny that they slip right through the intestine. 2) I used to shake the water out of the wand between reinforcements so it wouldn't drip in my lap. But now I realize that water must accompany anything fed via the wand. So I make sure the treat sits in a little pool of water in the scooped end of the wand. 3) I feed the fish's staple food in 2 small meals daily, at least two hours after training. And the staple food is scatter fed in the water column, so the fish can ingest it with a stream of water, as nature intended. My golden rule is: no meals through the wand, only itty bitty treats. 4) It is possible to use the target feeding wand to drop a treat into the water in front of the fish without letting the fish touch the wand. That way, more water is ingested.

Since I have become more stringent in following these guidelines, my fish have been significantly healthier. And I can still enjoy the use of the targeted feeding device that revolutionized fish training!

Regards,
Diane

www.smartsmallfry.com