puffy betta

Question
I have a betta that I thought was constipated but he doesn't seem to be making any improvement. It started around 10/31 when I noticed he was getting puffy in the belly. He is not puffy all over his body, just the front under belly. His back half looks fine and if you look down on him from the top he looks fairly normal. His color is still good and his gills look fine. He was in a 10 gallon tank with 4 neons but I took him out around 11/5 and put him in a bowl and started feeding him cooked frozen green peas shelled. He seemed to like these for about a week and was still swimming normally. I have not noticed any reduction in his belly or any waste in the bottom of the bowl. For the past 3 days he has not seemed interested in the peas but will eat a pellet if I give that to him although I have only done it once. He doesn't swim to the top to get his green peas portion now unless I move the bowl a little but then looks at it, follows it to the bottom and forgets it. He still swims straight and smooth. I had sent a previous email to another expert who thought he might be constipated, but when I sent a follow up question last week, have not received a reply. Do you have any suggestions? From what little I know, he would be more puffed up all over for dropsy, would be swimming crooked or bent for swim bladder, or would have responded to the peas by now for constipation. I may be wrong about all of this, please let me know what you thing. Are there more diseases I don't know about and is there anything else I can do? Thank you


Answer
Terri ,                                                      I am sorry it sounds like he has dropsy. It is almost always fatal, but you can keep him comfortable. It has been known to be cured this way , but not often. I tbsp of Epsom salts to 3 gallons of water. Soak him 2 x's a day for about 15 minutes. It is strong and should help him release at least some of them extra liquid wastes. There isn't' much more you can do. Good Luck,Tina