# Betta's fight? I think not!



## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

My CT male Tyrol hasn't been himself since he jumped out of his tank around 2 weeks ago and I've been reading online a lot about bettas lately and came across an interesting article saying how Bettas don't actually fight to the death, one will eventually give up and run away, the death only happens afterwards from the injuries sustained if they are not looked after properly. It also goes on to say how allowing them to fight will also help them get ready to spawn and help to intensify their colours and give them somewhat of a thrill in their normally boring lives (I'm paraphrasing a bit lol) So I put Tyrol in with my largest delta male fry Beast Boy and waited to see if they fought, net in hand to break anything up that I perceived as a little too much!, and waited...and waited...nothing happened. They didn't even take notice of each other at first. Beast boy occasionally went up to Tyrol and wagged his tail in his face but that was the extent of the aggressiveness. I left them in there for about 10 minutes and when nothing happened I thought it might just be because the younger male could tell the older one was sick so I took Tyrol out and put one of my smaller delta male fry in there (brother to beast boy) and again....waited......for NOTHING! For some reason I have peaceful male Bettas! I've attached a few pics for those who are interested. I just hope Tyrol doesn't die. He's usually an awesome CT. You can see in the first pic that beast boy has a slight defensive pose but nothing like gills flaring or on full flare. He was just cautious...and for no reason. Tyrol just lay on the bottom with stress markings ignoring him! 

PS sorry for the bad quality pics, I only my cell phone camera at the moment. Getting a new digital camera on wed though so will take some better pics of all my fishes and my new tank to post!


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## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

.. you are worried about your CT living because of him jumping out... so you put him in a tank with another male. Nothing like a little stress to help him along? Sorry but... that seems really cold to me.


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Lol that's because you are under the mistaken impression that fighting stresses them out (ps he has been showing stress colours for a week) and it is mean and inhumane when in fact the Taiwanese people have been doing it for centuries. They catch them in the wild and breed them specifically for fighting. They also allow their males to fight right before spawning to get them in the mood and also to help promote colour and vitality. Think about it, it's like if we lived in a 2m cube then went for a bungie jump. It's a little thrill for them. Unfortunately I don't think my older male is really up for it though so he's pretty much in retirement. He is in the barracks next to Beast Boy the DT male so perhaps it's coz they are used to each other. 

I was going to add a little note at the end of my original post saying I know some ppl are going to get up on their soap boxes and say how cruel it is to fight them etc etc etc but everyone is entitled to their opinion and if you actually bothered to research the way the Thai people raise them you will find that fighting them is common place. It's just us westerners that are all airy fairy and hippy like about treating fish as though they are equals when in fact they are not. It's like treating a bull like a pet when you are destined to eat it. It's doesn't make sense. So anyone who wants to have a go at me for attempting to do what I did please save your time and energy and use it more productively by researching the topic yourselves and become more enlightened and as I said everyone is entitled to thier opinion, I just don't want to hear it. I was merely informing you all about things that happen with my fish at my home, which I am entitled to do, wasn't looking for anyone's opinion on the matter.

Thank-you and have a nice day!


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## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

Let me know when you see them fighting a fancytail ok? I'm well aware of how they fight, why they fight, how they are trained to fight, where they kept and the whole nine yards thank you. While I haven't been to Thailand, I've spoken on numerous occassions to Thai breeders gathering information from them, I read about their farms (written from their point of view, not an outsider), I've seen photos of their farms. You can think that my opinion is due to my ignorance all you want. I really don't care. Its quite humorous that you are now all knowledgable actually. So thanks, I am "enlightened". I still think putting an almost dead male betta in a tank with another male betta was stupid. 

And quite frankly I don't care if you want to hear my opinion or not. If you post in a public place, expect to hear other people's opinions. If you don't want to hear them, then don't post in a public place.


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## (RC) (Jan 18, 2005)

I cull most of the fish from my spawns so I'm not going to sit here and tell you what to do with your fish, but if you post something like that on an open forum you have to know people are going to answer you. People have also fought dogs and chicken (and other things) for years, but that doesn't mean everyone is going to except it. I know people that are against fighting Bettas and they have "researched" it for years not just read an article. For you to say anyone that doesn't approve of fighting fish should do some research to become more "enlightened" is unenlightened of you IMHO.


RC


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## Firefoxx (Jun 5, 2007)

well i know if they dont flare thats a sign of stress or sickness... i keep a mirror to test for that. if they pay no attention then.... theyre sick
thats how i new my betta was better.... oh and ive seen bettas fight... male and male fight.... female and female fight.... even male and female fight....


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## Scootydoo (Jun 1, 2007)

yea that seems pretty sick to me, I remember when my friend was trying to breed his betta's he put a male and only one female, well he never got his babies because he didn't do his research. The male killed the female.


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