Betta Fish feeding

Question
Hi Karen!,
I have had a Betta fish for 20 months.  He has always eaten good, except when he is in his breeding periods.  I feed him with  betta food that suggests to give him 6-8 pellets twice a day. He used to eat 8, 9 or even 10 pellets twice a day.  But he started getting very fat.  and about four weeks  ago he himself started eating just 1, 2 or 3 pellets twice a day and sometimes he wants a worm.  Is this OK?
Thank you.
Yvonne
arevalonrvl@aol.com

Answer
Hi Yvonee,
Lets hope its nothing dangerous like an illness and your betta is only chubby from eating too much. I'd definitely cut back on his food a lot. Is his belly swollen? Can you see any waste in the tank? I ask this because he could be constipated. You can treat that with cutting back severely on the pellets and offering bite-size pieces of a green pea. Feeding this on the end of a blunt toothpick works well usually. It may take him a while to recover.

Make sure his belly doesn't swell to the point that his scales are protruding (easiest to see when viewing him from the top) if so, he may have an internal infection of a bacteria nature. This would require an aggressive water change schedule, warm temps, and an antibiotic. Please read here for more info-
http://bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=930

Hopefully its nothing severe and I hope he gets better soon!
Karen~