Strange betta behavior

[88keys]

size=9] I have had my betta for about two years now. Lately he is not swimming as fluently as he used to. He seems to have to jerk himself around to get where he wants to go. Also, he can't eat. Yes, I said can't. I put the food in front of him, and he moves up to get it, but he misses it. It's like he can't line it up with his mouth right. He snaps at it, but it misses his mouth. I'm afraid he is going to starve to death! He doesn't have any signs of disease like tail rot, spots, or stripes, etc. He is a little lethargic. Is my fish just getting old, or is he diseased? Thanks in advance.

{88Keys}

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya 88keys and welcome. I'm sorry your lil guy isn't doing well

It very well may simply be old age; Bettas live for an average of 2 to 3 years, and you need to figure it had to be around 6 months or so old when you got him. Its hard to be sure if its disease considering his advanced age.

What are the water parameters (ammonia nitrites nitrates)?

 

[Terry]

Sorry to here about your betta.
This sounds to me as though your fish is just old, i would say that if your fish cant eat then it will starve to death. The lethargic behavior might be down to starvation. But like Allivymar said it could be down to water parameters, If your water parameters are fine then i would say it is down to age.
I think that it might be an idea to Humanly put him to sleep. I know that it is a sad thing to do but in the end he will just starve to death and that will be worse for him. Not seeing him makes it very hard to see whats wrong, so i don't want you to put him down if there is some other way round this. Please look at other avenues before you decide.

 

[ducas005]

One question, is your betta by himself or in a community tank?

If in a tank, I would suggest moving him to a big jar and feed finely grinded (crushed) the food (like feeding for baby mollies) in his jar. Even if it is old age, it should have no trouble finding the food, and atleast won't die of starvation.

 

[MicroFish]

Yep, sounds like old age to me too. 2 years is a good long life for a petship Betta. I'll bet he's having trouble seeing or maybe it's just his motor control, but age is probably catching up to him. Might you be able to use blunt-tipped tweezers or something and hold the food still for him?

Sheila

 

[tkos]

Dump a whole bunch of food in and then give him a few minutes to eat and then remove the excess.