Betta won't eat

[Blackadder]

I bought a Betta about 3 weeks ago and I have so far never seen her eat anything. When I feed the fish, she watches the food float past her face but doesn't react to it. She seems healthy enough, although she likes to hide more than my other betta (a male, now deceased) did.

Also, although the store told me she was female, she is as brightly coloured as any male I've ever seen. Is there any way to tell?

 

[DepotFish]

Well bred females are often as vibrant or more so than males. The way to tell is by looking for an ovipositor, the white dot by her vent, or by looking for stripes. If she displays horizontal (stress) or vertical (mating) stripes than it is definately a girl. If you are feeding flake food you need to try pellets. Very few bettas eat flakes and they do so only after they learn that flakes are indeed food and after they develope a taste for them.

 

[JohnPaul]

If you have any access to live food at all, sometimes that will kick-start them into eating. Live bloodworms or brine shrimp would likely do the trick. Or lacking that, frozen foods would be the next-best option.

They also make special Betta food, kind of dried little spheres. I've had two female bettas, both eventually would take some flake, but when given the choice they would also go after the "betta balls" as I call them.

 

[Tostada]

All my bettas have always absolutely loved the Hikari Bio-Pure freeze-dried blood worms. They're pretty convenient in a little plastic can with a flip-open spout. PetSmart has them for $7.49, and the can will last you forever.

http://www.hikari.info/tropical/t_19.html

I've always heard that it's not really a good idea to feed your fish bloodworms everyday since they're so high in protein, but bettas seem to like high-protein stuff more than anything else.

If you have other fish in there, you could get the frozen cubes of blood worms or brine shrimp (Hikari and some other brands). Those cubes are extremely convenient if you've got a 30 gal. or larger tank. Otherwise, you probably wouldn't be able to feed a whole cube in a day.