Topic: Treatment for Constpation

[AquaGoldie]

One of my  male bettas hasn't eaten in like 2 weeks.  I can't believe he is still alive.  I think he is constipated.  So I gave him some peas but he doesn't eat that either. So what else can I do to treat this?

[Jessie226]

What are his symptoms? Physical appearance? What are u trying to feed him? What size bowl is he in? To you treat/condition your water? How often do you do water changes? How long have you had him?
Sorry for all the questions, but we need to know these things to better assist you.

[Gen Gen]

sometimes the way a pea is fed can make the diffrence. the best way for the best results is to take a frozen pea; run it under hot water while removing the outter skin then dice it up in to betta bite size pieces. jab a bite size of pea with a toothpick then feed three or so bites to the betta. refrain from feeding for the rest of the day And the following.

If you've already done it this way then Hmm..

[Carianne]

Have you tried the epsom bath?

[AquaGoldie]

He has no symptoms except not eating.  He is swimming fine and he looks normal. He is in a 1 gallon bowl.  I give him a water change every week and use treated water that's been treated with Stress Coat.  I have had him for almost 1 year.

What is an epsom bath?

[Carianne]

Add 1 Tbsp per gallon of Epsom Salt to some aged, temperature-adjusted (same temperature as the water the betta is already in) water.

Pour Epsom Salt solution into a containter.

Place the Betta in the Epsom Salt bath for 15-20 minutes. While the Betta is having a bath, change the water in his tank so that he has nice, clean water to go back to afterwards. Make SURE that the water in all of these containers is the same temperature, we don't need the Betta getting another disease right now.

Hopefully the Epsom Salt bath will help to loosen the blockage, just sit back and watch. The Epsom Salt bath can be repeated up to two times a day - just be aware that it is stressful to the fish, so if you can get him to eat the pea, give the pea a shot first.

[wendyjo]

Can you assume he's constipated if he's not bloated at all?

[Squeek]

^ not really since constipation is a blockage of food, thus bloating the fish

Before we can actually jump to any conclusions, we need to know what size bowl the fish is in and how often the water gets changed.  Usually if a fish doesn't eat, it can be a symptom that he is unhappy due to water conditions.  However, if he is bloated and not eating, then this can indicate that he is constipated of has diarrhea...with diarrhea, the water has a slight tannon like tinge to it. If the fish hasn't been eating for a while and is still bloated, I am going to have to lean more towards an internal bacterial infection.

[Jessie226]

I think she mentioned that he is in a gallon bowl, getting water changes once a week.
You might want to increase how often you change the water to every 3-4 days. I beleive the epsom salt baths are only productive if the fish is bloated. Also, do you test your water?

[Santaaa]

http://groups.msn.com/TheBettaObsession/epsomsaltbath.msnw

this has info on constapation treatment. it also has other information. Take a look