Bloated Female Betta

Question
QUESTION: My female Betta has a very swollen belly.  She is not acting sick, but looks like she swallowed a marble.  We normally feed her once a day, and skip feeding each Wednesday, as we were told it was good for her digestive system.  We thought maybe it was bloat, and have not fed her for several days, but did give her a small piece of a pea.  I noticed this morning that her waste is white.  Is she laying eggs?  Anything else we should do?  She is such a responsive, frisky fish, so we hope she'll be okay.  Thank you for your help!

ANSWER: Bob,
Usually the female's body will absorb the eggs, but sometimes that doesn't happen. The eggs will be very small white ball looking things. If you see her picking them up with her mouth they could be eggs.She could be dropping eggs, but white poop usually indicates internal parasites. If she is not dropping eggs, then it could be parasites. There is medicated food that you can give her that works pretty good. If you can get a picture of the white things in question, it would help me out a lot better in figuring out what to do next.

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QUESTION: Thank you Jaymie for your response.  If I am lucky enough to catch her in action again, with regard to the white poop, I'll get a photo for you.  Meanwhile - she is not picking anything up with her mouth, and the pale waste looked like a string of sausage links connected by a string in between each sausage link -pale, ovals, but connected.  It was one string, almost as if she was pooping, stopped, then resumed, then stopped, resumed, etc.  Apologize for being so graphic, but we are desperate to help her.  Please note, she is not acting sick at all, and she comes right up to us as we approach her.  We just noticed the swollen belly, (which appears slightly more swollen on her right side).  We've had her since January, and she has so much personality, so we want to catch this before it is too late.  We normally feed her "Betta Color Enhancing Flakes", (made by Hagen and sold at Petsmart), and also use Betta Water Conditioner when we change the water.  Hope all this info is helpful to you, and thanks again!

Should I get the medicated food for parasites?  If so, what is it called, and how soon should I give it to her?

Answer
Bob,
It sounds like internal parasites. The fish can act normal but if not taken care of she will lose weight, and start to get pale. Flake food is not good for the Betta. You should be feeding her pellet food made for Betta's. If she is more swollen on one side, then I would sat that she in fact has parasites. I would recommend Jungle's Anti-Parasite Medicated food, and I would also add some aquarium salt to her water at the ratio of 1 teaspoon of dissolved salt to 1 gallon of water.Make sure you are doing water changes once a week.