Bloated beta

Question
Over the last 2-3 weeks my beta has been getting a strange
bulge in what looks like his stomach, the lower area between his
gills and back downward-facing fin. He usually has good color,
but this bulge loses color and eventually is silver at the bottom.
Today he has lost more color all over, esp. in his face, than ever.
But he still makes plenty of bubbles and swims around a little.

I keep him in my office in a large vase with a peace lily floating
on top. I regularly change the water and treat it before use, and  
wash the rocks and shells I keep in the bottom very well. I feed
him two tiny little dried blood worms a day, one at a time to
make sure he gets them both, except on weekends. He's
survived for a good 6 months this way. I'm not sure how old he
is, a friend of mine gave him to me when her kids abandoned it.

At first I thought the problem might be overfeeding, so I backed
off a bit on the food - he kept getting bigger. It's so pronounced
now it looks like he'll burst. How can I help my little guy?

Answer
Hi Aaryn;

He may be constipated. Get some frozen green peas and thaw one out. Pop it from it's tiny little round shell and feed him little chunks of it. Do this for a couple of days and feed no other foods but the peas. He may be too cold so he can't digest his food properly. Bettas are tropical and need to be 75 to 82 fahrenheit all the time, night and day. Put him in as warm a place as possible and put a desk lamp close to him if necessary to bring the temperature up.

I hope he feels better soon....

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins