betta issue

Question
QUESTION: hey i wanted to ask you a question which is why is there a red slash on both gills ane bellow it is a lump colored black

ANSWER: Hi Kenny;

If it looks like his gill plates stick out to the sides and the actual gills are protruding from behind them it may be normal. There is a darker area on the gills of some bettas depending on their normal color. Male bettas "flare" their gills when they are feeling 'frisky' for a female or trying to fight off other males. It makes them look bigger and sometimes it scares off other males without having to fight. Here is a google search page with several images of flaring bettas;

http://tinyurl.com/6yw8o3

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

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

QUESTION: hey chris can you tell me if bettas can eat floating turtle pellets? also can you give me some ways of training my betta.

Answer
Hi Kenny;

I can't recommend feeding turtle pellets to your betta even though he may eat them. Betta food has the nutrients your fish needs and turtle food doesn't. I wouldn't recommend betta food for turtles either. They just have different requirements.

I'm not really into training fish to do anything so I can't help you with that one. I just want my pets to enjoy life and enjoy being themselves, whatever that is. ;-)

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins