betta swollen intestinal area?swim bladder?

Question
QUESTION: Hello,
my betta has a body part that is protruding a bit more than it should, and I
am trying to figure out what part of the body it is, since it is not the abdomen
area, but right past that area, where anatomy would suggest is the top of the
swim bladder?  He is having no trouble swimming or anything, seems
happy...but I am afraid to feed him, don't know if something is clogged?  It is
sticking out from the side, in a small area...I can't send a pic, sry,have you
any idea what I might be dealing with?

ANSWER: Hi Silver,
It is hard for me to tell you what is wrong without a picture.  It could be a tumor, but not to worry, many tumors are not cancerous, and betta can live a long time with them.  It could also be the beginning of swim bladder.  Swim Bladder is easily cured when found in  the first stages.  Feed his a cooked pea.  Cook a frozen pea until it is tender, remove the outer layer, and cut it into tiny pieces.  Try feeding the little pieces to your betta one at a time, making sure that they don't fall to the bottom of the tank.  This is good for him, and he should have a pea once a week.  On the day that he has the pea, he should have nothing else to eat.  This is to clean out his system, and avoid Swim Bladder Disease.

Here is some information on how a betta should be kept:



A betta needs 5 gallons of water to be healthy, and happy.  
In his habitat the betta may live in shallow waters, but he has lots of room to swim.  
Keeping Bettas in small bowls, containers, vases etc, is cruel.  The Betta is one of the most mistreated fish on the market.
He needs a heated tank,  Temperature should be 78-80 degrees.  He is a tropical fish, and is cold under this temperature.  Cold bettas get sick, are miserable, and live unhappy lives. ( Always remember that when heating a tank, do this very very slowly..1 degree every two days, as bringing up the temperature too fast would kill your Betta.)  The temperature should always be stable.  Fluctuating temperature is very bad for bettas, and any other fish.  
They should have a silk plant in their tanks, so that they can rest on the leaves  They also need a little tunnel or some knick knack that they can go through.   You may add 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt in his water which has been diluted before adding to his tank.  1 teaspoon to 5 gallons of water.
Aquarium salt helps them with stress.
He needs a varied diet. This is very important.  Betta pellets one day, Betta Flakes the next, Daphnia the next, and bloodworms should be given once a week as a treat.
He should be given one well cooked frozen cooked pea a week, and on the day you give him the pea, he should fast.    
A betta is prone to constipation, and constipation leads to Swim Bladder Disease.  A pea a week keeps him from getting constipated.
He should have 2-3 small meals a day, and not one big meal.  We must remember that his tummy is the size of his eye.
Example:  2 pellets for one meal.
Water changes are very important.  Water changes must be made every week without fail with a good water conditioner such as Aqua Safe or Stress Coat.  There is also a conditioner made especially for bettas.   Never put two bettas in the same tank, they will kill each other...male or female.  The Betta male is a loner.  Females can be kept together in a big enough tank.
When treated well, a betta can live up to 8 years, if you buy him when he is very young.  (Unfortunately we do not know their age when we buy them at the Pet Store which is why some bettas die two or three years after we have bought them.
He's an intelligent little fish, and should be treated with kindness.
Too many vendors know nothing about the betta, and don't care...so don't give good information on how to keep them.
They are there to sell, and will say anything just to make a buck.  They send you home with your bought betta, telling you a small bowl is perfect, and bloodworms!  The poor customer thinks he has everything he/she needs, and then the fish gets sick, money is spent to cure him, and eventually the fish dies.   
This turns my stomach over.  Unfortunately there are no laws to protect fish.  
Bettas kept in small bowls, one gallon tanks, and vases, will get sick, and are very hard to cure in such little water.  They end up dying, and
that hurts the person who has grown so attached to them.  They don't deserve to be treated this way.
This is how a Betta should be treated.  If treated this way, you will have your friend for a long long time.  I have bred them, love them, and know what is good for them.
I hope this helps, and if you have more questions, please write me again.
Lynda




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have fed him bits of pea before, like once a week, but I only defrosted the
frozen pea, didn't cook it...hmmm...how important is it for me to cook it?  
does it help the digestion for it to be cooked? cuz he LOVES the peas, and I
cut em as small as I think i can, cuz he likes to just gulp it up, whatever the
size...and do you feed him one whole pea? at once?  or is that too much? I'm
worrying that the last pea I gave him might've been too much?  That's what is
causing the little swollen spot?

Answer
It's okay to feed him defrosted peas, make sure you remove the outer layer.  The outer layer is hard for the betta to digest.  Maybe this is why he is swollen.  Feed him nothing else for 24 hours.  You can feed the betta the whole pea or you could feed him half a pea in the morning, and half a pea at night.  On the day you feed him the pea, feed him nothing else, so that he cleans out his system.
Lynda