# Betta Fish Unable To Eat



## bobo16 (Feb 3, 2016)

My betta fish seems to be having a very strange problem - he is unable to grasp his food! 

I have a 10 gallon tank that my betta has been living in for about 4 months now. His tank mates are 3 african dwarf frogs that he gets along with quite nicely. He has been perfectly healthy except for an episode of swim bladder disorder about 2 weeks ago which I cured with daily water changes, aquarium salt, fasting and warmer aquarium temperature. 

He has always been very excited and happy to eat with a healthy appetite. I feed him pellets, freeze dried bloodworms and frozen blood worms. He normally lunges at his food and chomps away on it happily. However, within the past week he lunges for the pellets, but is unable to swallow them and spits them back out. He has better luck with the freeze dried and frozen bloodworms, but even with that he isn't able to finish all of it like he used to. After he eats a few of them, he will try to grasp the other worms but for some reason he can't and eventually he gives up and swims away. I have been feeding him the same food since I got him and he never had a problem with it before. I'm worried that maybe there is something wrong with his mouth or his jaw that prevents him from swallowing the pellets. I feel so bad for him struggling and I don't know what to do!

Does anyone know what could be causing this and what I can do to fix it? Thank you!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Fish can get broken or dislocated jaws. They can also get stuff literally stuck in their craw. Can you look him in the mouth? Make sure he hasn't got a rock or piece of plant stuck. It could also be a problem in the digestive system. "swim bladder" can cause an infection, you might try a metro-medicated flake. You can try a smaller, softer food and hope its some of sort of swelling which will go away.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Try soaking the pellets for awhile before feeding, to make them soft and easier to eat.


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## BabyGirl77 (Nov 2, 2015)

Any updates on the betta?


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