Female betta

Question
I have had a female betta for about 5 months.  She did very well until about 2 days ago.  I noticed that she was not eating as much as she had been.  She did not come up to my finger as readily as she had been.  I had transferred her from a 3 1/2 gallon tank about a week ago.  I did not see her late last night nor this morning.  I went really looking for a little while ago and found her dead under a clam type shell.  She had a fat belly (I have neglected to feed her just 1 pea a day once a week for the past 3 weeks, meaning I fed her regularly 7 days a week.) but not too fat just sort of a bulge.  When
I removed her from the tank, her mouth was open like she had been gasping for air.  Any ideas as to why she might of died?  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Paula,
 It is really hard to say, but one of the main reasons bettas die is that they get old. They do not live very long.  A year is a pretty good life for most bettas.  You had yours 5 months, but you don't know how old it was when you got it. Old age seems like a likely cause of death in this case.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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