# "Training" your Betta



## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

I've mentioned this a few times before in the forums, and have gotten some inquiries about it...so, I figured I'd just make a definitive thread which I could continually edit as I learn. I'll use "he" as they are more commonly kept, but females aren't excluded from this thread.

I'm going to assume your fish is well-kept and healthy. If not, focus on the well-being of your fish first. 

This post is about teaching your betta "tricks", such as fetch, swimming through hoops, etc. Other fish can certainly attain the same level of domestication, but me choosing a betta as an example is like a service-dog group picking the Labrador Retriever: nice and common and simple, right? 

_*Shouldn't fish be fish? I think human interaction would be stressful on a betta.* _
There was a scientific study a couple of years ago with bettas. The ones that were provided daily stimulation (mirror, chasing games, etc) lived around 5 years, versus the average of 2-3 years.

So now that we've established that, *let's move on to taming.* Before you can train your betta, he needs to be unafraid of you. When you walk by the tank, he should be interested in you. Remember that individual bettas have different personalities. Some will attack and kill even a snail or shrimp, while others are extremely mellow, even for a betta. I personally have found bettas very personable, more so than, say, my danios or convicts. 

Start by feeding your fish from your finger. If his bite really hurts, you can make a "finger" from some airline tubing or a drinking straw. Same concept. My current betta has a very gentle nibble, while another one I once had would latch onto my flesh quite painfully. Again, not all bettas are the same. 

Once he's tamed, *you can begin teaching him "tricks".* One that I always liked to use was to make a hoop out of that good ol' airline tubing. Hold it together with your fingers or rubberbands. Lure your fish through it with some food, or if he's really personable, just your finger. 

*A note on this treat system*: fish are extremely easy to overfeed. Using a flake food will quickly stuff your betta and leave him obese and prone to early death. Hmm. What I liked to use was one of those pellets for bottom feeders. It was large enough to hold in my fingers. I would lower it into the water and the fish can nibble at it, but won't actually consume a whole lot of food. Instant solution! You can use any sort of slow-dissolving pellet food. 

You can't punish your fish by hitting him or anything. Instead, you have to be (you guessed it) patient and wait for him to perform the desired behavior (the trick) and then reward him with food. Keep training sessions relatively short...and try to incorporate his daily feedings into the training. That way there's less a change of overfeeding.

That's pretty much how you do it! Other tricks are playing fetch with a floating ball (make sure it won't leach toxins into the water), or doing the limbo (this works only if your betta is in a shallow container, of course...bettas are naturally surface fish and can find it difficult to plunge very low).


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## Bettawhisperer (Oct 1, 2010)

A well kept Betta will live for up 5 years whether it has daily stimulation or not. Also a Bettas mouth is not big enough to bite hard enough to hurt. After raising, breeding ,showing, feeding, doing water changes etc. I have never had a Bettas bite hurt me. Don't know where your getting your information from other than just making it up yourself.


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## Lanette001 (Apr 7, 2011)

Well, Claude can bite pretty hard when he wants to. He never wants to, but one time I think he thought I had food even though it was just my finger and he bit down pretty hard. I didn't yelp in pain or anything, but it was a very noticable feeling! Usually it is just a tiny nip  

Thanks for the ideas!


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## Chard56 (Oct 10, 2010)

The females in my sorority tank try to eat the hair on my arm when I have it in their tank while cleaning. It made me jump the first time but doesn't hurt like it does when fishing and the Bluegill do that to the hair on my legs! Generally when I think about training Bettas it has to do with giving them a stimulus to flare and training them to flare at your finger or at you when you come into the room so that they will flare and put on a good show for the judges.


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## Cichlid Dude! (Mar 15, 2011)

This betta-training stuff is really cool! Now I want to buy a betta! Oh, my friend has a betta that won't seem to build a bubble nest, would it be possible to train the fish to do so? If so, how?


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## Bettawhisperer (Oct 1, 2010)

No they have to be in a breeding mode.


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## Cam (Nov 9, 2009)

Interesting stuff going on here, but personally I would rather train a long living big fish such as Snakehead, Gar, or Catfish. ;-)


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## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

Cam said:


> Interesting stuff going on here, but personally I would rather train a long living big fish such as Snakehead, Gar, or Catfish. ;-)


Or goldfish.  


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W74Z0sR6XvA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHC-X8xBMOI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fslALpdsWZk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTvKgd-CFDk&feature=player_embedded


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

I'm working on training Wilbur the elephantnose to eat from my hand. So far... I've gotten him to shy away from me less, and come forward just a bit from his hiding place at the back of the tank.

A bit harder, as they are naturally shy. My goldfish, african dwarf frogs, and betta will all eat from my hand no problem...


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

egoreise said:


> I'm working on training Wilbur the elephantnose to eat from my hand. So far... I've gotten him to shy away from me less, and come forward just a bit from his hiding place at the back of the tank.
> 
> A bit harder, as they are naturally shy. My goldfish, african dwarf frogs, and betta will all eat from my hand no problem...


Both my Black Ghost Knife and my Striped Raphael Catfish will eat out of my hand as I have been doing it with them for a couple years now. The catfish will actually just lay there and let me stroke is back or belly because he's a lazy [email protected]


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

haaaha! If I had a catfish that did that, I would call him Lebowski or something...


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## Chard56 (Oct 10, 2010)

Cichlid Dude! said:


> This betta-training stuff is really cool! Now I want to buy a betta! Oh, my friend has a betta that won't seem to build a bubble nest, would it be possible to train the fish to do so? If so, how?


I place a small mirror next to the nest sight to stimulate the male to make bubbles and it also helps take some attention off the female if the male is overly aggressive.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

egoreise said:


> haaaha! If I had a catfish that did that, I would call him Lebowski or something...


I actually refer to him as Fatso. One of these days I am going to get a good picture of both my Black Ghost Knife and my Catfish.


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## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

I like your signature... _6" and very fat._


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