Betta Fish-Eating Habbits

Question
Hi Jaymie,

I hope you can help me out. We got a betta fish for our daughter on christmas eve. He is very active and has quite a personality. My question is this...i noticed that when he eats he spits his food back out. He sometimes tries to eat it again and spits it out again. Why does he do this? Do we need to change his food?

Answer
Melisa,

It is common for fish to spit out their food. Sometimes they do it to make the pieces smaller. Since you didn't mention what it is you are feeding him I cannot say for sure. As long as he looks good and is putting it in his mouth he is getting food. It is always good to give you Betta variety in his food. I would give him flakes, pellets, blood worms and brine shrimp both frozen and freeze dried. Also feed him a frozen cooked pea once a week and fast him once a week. If his home is too small he might do this as well. Make sure he is in a 5 gallon tank with a heater. Remember, Betta's are tropical fish and needs his water to be between 80 and 82 degrees. If he starts to look like he isn't eating at all let me know?