Topic: playing dead

[stan8815]

ive had a female ct betta for about 2 months and she likes to wedge herself between objects and look dead.
her tankmates are peaceful, the tank isnt overcrowded, and there have never been any real water quality issues.
she is a little bit bloated and has been that way since i got her, but im not sure if its sdb, tumor, or eggs.
she seems to swim okay, but there is a small possibility that she struggles a little.
i have a plastic hamster tube in my tank, and today i found her completely wedged underneath it, looking extremely dead, and this kinda got me concerned.
should i be? :cwm3:

[dorn27]

It's possible there is something wrong.  Particularly if she does this during most of the day light hours.  Bettas do sleep... and in weird spots... but they shouldnt be doing it all day.

Does she look like a pinecone? Can you post a picture?  

Honestly I would isolate her and observe her in a smaller, less 'fish' filled setting.  It's possible she's just really stressing from her tank mates, or that she is egg bound and very uncomfortable.  But there could be other problems so isolation in important.

[stan8815]

no, its not dropsy (no pincones)
and how long can a betta be egg-bound? shes been doing this for 2 months

[ksmith08]

They don't release the eggs til they get with a male to squeeze them out or she finds a way to push them out (which it sounds like she might be trying to do) . I have heard of some owners helping but I would be afraid to do it myself.

[Jessie226]

My female dropped her eggs the other day. One day she was real fat and the next, she was thinner and her water looked kind of oily. I didn't actually see her drop them though so I can't tell you how she did it.
I would assume they've got to drop them eventually...they can't go swimming around forever with the same eggs inside of them. I would assume they go through a 'cycle' same as we do. er, us girls that is.

[ksmith08]

not true jessie. One of my female bettas had the same eggs for almost a year. Then one day I saw her wedge herself between some items in the tank and finally release the eggs. Same thing happens with gouramis. And really unusual, sometimes other species of tank mates will help the female. I've seen it happen.

[Butterfly]

And I don't believe that's true.

Females will do one of two things if they aren't bred and are full of eggs:

1.) They will release or "drop" them of their own accord

or

2.) They will absorb them back into their body.


If you say your female was eggy for a year then she was either eggbound or was dropping them/absorbing them and getting eggy again. It's like any female function - if the egg isn't fertalized then it's expelled from the body. If she kept her eggs for a year then she would have exploded because they're always making more. I'm thinking that your female was eggbound, and the same could be true for Stan's female.

[CobraR]

Once again, I agree with the Butterfly on this one.

Bettas will gradually release their eggs in the water, which dissolve quickly.  The dissolved eggs will produce an oily shean on the surface of the water.

And I don't believe that's true.

Females will do one of two things if they aren't bred and are full of eggs:

1.) They will release or "drop" them of their own accord

or

2.) They will absorb them back into their body.


If you say your female was eggy for a year then she was either eggbound or was dropping them/absorbing them and getting eggy again. It's like any female function - if the egg isn't fertalized then it's expelled from the body. If she kept her eggs for a year then she would have exploded because they're always making more. I'm thinking that your female was eggbound, and the same could be true for Stan's female.