Female Betta has White poop

Question
Ok,I purchased a male and female betta and keep them in a 2 gallon tank with a partition to keep them apart. It's room temp, about 72 degrees and they've been very happy active fish for the first 2 months we've had them. I do a weekly water change on on my last water change I noticed the female had long white poop.  She's always been pretty big in the belly, but she ate a lot too. Now the appetite is gone and she struggles to swim. She poops a lot and it's still white and stringy. I've read a few possibilities and I'm not sure which one to follow through with. Is it constipation, parasites or something leading up to death? Anything you could tell me to help her would be greatly  appreciated.

Answer
Hi Amber,
Its possible she could be constipated. I would try the least invasive treatment first. Constipation can also cause swim bladder disorder which is why she struggles to swim. Constipation often goes hand and hand with swim bladder disorder.

Constipation is often caused if the betta has been overfed or hasn't had enough variety in their diet and not enough fiber or too much dry foods...
Try fasting her for about a day or so. Then try to get her to eat a bite of a green pea that is completely thawed, peeled and offered at the end of a toothpick..She may or may not accept it. Sometimes bettas surprise you.. You can only try your best to tempt her. You can also try frozen Daphnia which is known as a mild laxative.

I'd also give her a big water change and its good to not have any gravel if possible so you can monitor if she does poop and the color of it so you can tell if she is getting better or not.

If this doesn't work after a few days then you may need to consider if she has some other condition. Maybe egg binding, internal infection, or maybe even a tumor. Internal parasites are typically distinquished by the fish losing weight rapidly, loss of color and little to no appetite.

Best wishes and I really hope this helps!
Karen~