overweight betta

Question
my betta is very overweight and i am afraid that he might die.  i keep him in a 2 gallon tank and have glass pebbles on the bottom along with two decrative peices one with a fake plant.  he has been in this tank for at least 3-4 months now. i clean his tank about every week and put in aquarium freshiner.  latey over the past 2 weeks i have noticed that he is very overweight/bloated and i am worried.  i usually fed him about 6-7 a day but my mom has been feeding him alot like an extra 8-9.  i am going to experiment with giving him little chunks of peas and over the next few days i am going to put him on a fast.  is there any more i can do and is he in danger of dying?

                                     Thanks,
                                     virginia

Answer
Hi Virgina;

You are doing exactly the right thing by feeding peas and fasting. Your mom is probably trying to be kind but overfeeding is very unhealthy and it could easily kill your poor fish. Especially feeding so many extra ones! Yikes! Hide the food or something if you have to. He only needs about 4 pellets a day. I hope he feels better soon.....

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins