How to stop betta chewing his tail

I have recently acquired a halmoon male betta who insists on chewing
his tail. There are some areas of the tail that appear to have
finrot, and some injured from chewing. His past owner and I both have
witness him chewing.

I am currently in the process of fixing the finrot, but this has been
done in the past by his original owner and the chewing still persists
in the absence of finrot.

My question is, is there a way to stop him chewing?! It would be nice
to able to see his tail grow back, even if it's not the same as it
was.

Thanks.

On Mar 31, 11:08�pm, "Beano" wrote:
I have recently acquired a halmoon male betta who insists on chewing
his tail. *There are some areas of the tail that appear to have
finrot, and some injured from chewing. *His past owner and I both have
witness him chewing.

I am currently in the process of fixing the finrot, but this has been
done in the past by his original owner and the chewing still persists
in the absence of finrot.

My question is, is there a way to stop him chewing?! *It would be nice
to able to see his tail grow back, even if it's not the same as it
was.

Thanks.

HI there.
First off, let me invite you to a group that doesn't have any of the
bullcrap that this group is going through now.
It's called The Freshwater Aquarium and it has many knowledgeable
hobbyists there, but no bullcrap.
http://groups.google.com/group/The-F...m?lnk=li&hl=en

You mention your Betta being a tail chewer.
You also mentioned treating finrot. Does he have finrot (a bacterial
infection) or is he just biting off bits of his tail?
What size tank do you have him in?
What temp is this tank?
Does he have any tank mates?
Does he get exercised at all with a mirror or flare buddy?
Sometimes a Betta will start chewing his tail out of boredom.
Sometimes they just develope this nasty habit and don't quit until
they've chewed everything they can reach. Then after it grows some
they "trim it" back.
If he stops his tail can grow back. Many times not in full glory, but
back.
I actually have one Crowntail that decided one day he'd chew off his
tail. This was before he had a few Neons for tank mates.
He stopped after I got him some buddies to chase at feeding time, but
only this time his double ray'd spikes grew back with even more
splits. I wouldn't even know how to properly term him. There are
double rays, triple rays, quadrupal rays, etc....but his double rays
split, then split again and again and again, etc., it's crazy yet
gorgeous.
He's never chewed his again. He needed something to do.
I did, however, have a male veil yrs back that was a chewer. He would
chew it down, then let it grow it nice..almost all the way. Then I'd
find him without a tail again. What a dork he was.
So get back to me with the answers to the several questions I had for
you.
Then check out the other group that I left a link for.

As fish heal their wound often seems to itch, this may be a reason for the
biting the tail.
I would put this betta in water with NO nitrite or ammonia present in it.
finrot is caused by less than great water
so 1) fix your water!
2) try get the poor creature some live food, like mozzies or brine shrimp

It really is important to get this fish is good water!
At the very least start taking a cup of water out each day and replacing
with a fresh cup.
the cup a day water dilution is a good way to get the water in better order!
remove any rotting food too
your fin rot is almost certainly being caused by ammonia in the water
burning the fishes fins.

It would help if you could explain how you are looking after this fish,
water changes (amounts and frequency), filters, tank size......
those bits of data are how we can help you




"Beano" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have recently acquired a halmoon male betta who insists on chewing
his tail. There are some areas of the tail that appear to have
finrot, and some injured from chewing. His past owner and I both have
witness him chewing.

I am currently in the process of fixing the finrot, but this has been
done in the past by his original owner and the chewing still persists
in the absence of finrot.

My question is, is there a way to stop him chewing?! It would be nice
to able to see his tail grow back, even if it's not the same as it
was.

Thanks.