# Betta meets Tadpole (Pics included)



## Nataku

Tadpole becomes dinner. 


My father brought home a treat for my fish today - live tadpoles! I wasn't sure they'd be able to do anything to them, the tadpoles were already quite large, some were nearly the size of the bettas. But I figured, hey, why not, if the betta doesn't kill them I'll be able to watch them grow up into frogs and they can keep the bettas company for a week or so. Well the bettas quickly proved me wrong about their ability to deal with larger prey. It just makes me wonder all the more why people think tiny little fish like neon tetras would make good companions for bettas when they so obviously will attack anything in their territory, bite-size or not.

*WARNING:* If the thought of seeing a betta eating a live tadpole disturbs you, DO NOT scroll down any further, as these pictures will not be to your liking.

*cough* okay, disclaimers aside, I thought this was really cool, and wanted to share it with you all and see what you thought. Threw one of the tadpoles in with one of my bettas currently in quarantine and sat back to watch. 

After an initial bout of flaring at the tadpole, a short but furious chase ensued. THe bettas is apparently faster, but the tadpole can turn in a tighter radius.








This is a good comparison shot on how big those tadpoles are compared to a betta.








The betta attacks by disemboweling the tadpole. That's what the swirls in the bottom right of this picture are. The betta does not eat the intestines.








What? Have I got something stuck between my teeth?










And here's a couple shots from one of the other boys eating his tadpole, just to show that they all seem to attack the prey in the same fashion. There is a fast strike to grab and then the prey is disemboweled before being consumed. This guy didn't have quite as clean of a technique and he ended up shaking the tadpole to finish disemboweling it... was kind of like how a dog shakes a toy.

























If anyone would like to see these in larger form or some of the other shots I grabbed from this interesting experience, just ask and I can link or post more.


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## onekatietwo

Aww, poor cute little tadpoles. There are few things cuter than a tadpole, in my opinion. Haha.

But wow. that's really cool that they both kind of attacked in the same way. And wow. They're big! I never would have guessed the Betta could have gotten them!

I'd like to feed my Betta some live food just for the show, but I'm really worried about parasites and diseases and other stuff like that.


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## Nataku

Its interesting to see how different people find different things cute.
...I always thought tadpoles just resembled oversized sperm. But I guess I've seen way too many anatomy and physiology films. 

I have pictures from a third betta that I tried it with who also attacked in the same manner. He was just so fast that most of the shots turned out terribly blurry. They all seem to attack in the same manner, perhaps its just how their programmed genetically? I honestly didn't think when I threw the first one that he would be able to eat him. At first I figured they would just ignore each other, but then the tadpole started wiggling around and that apparently just set off the hunting instinct in the betta.

I'd also be concerned about parasites and other things the tadpoles could be carrying. However these tadpoles came from the backwash tank at one of the water plants my father works at, so I'm not concerned about there being much in them. The backwash tank is where already treated water is dumped when they use it to clean out the filters, skids and such. So the water in there has already passed bac-T tests and everything else, it's drinking water. The little tadpoles have already been "chlorinated" if you will xD


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## MrVampire181

I wouldnt feed live food to my bettas, but Im sure the tadpoles are safe.


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## Twistersmom

I always heard frog legs are good, but them frogs didn't even get a chance to grow them legs!
I did not know bettas where that tough! I have mine in with some snails and red cherry shrimp, with no problems. I must have one of the nicer ones or frog just taste a lot better.


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## onekatietwo

Well, not to make myself sound like a TOTAL freak... 
but I've always found sperm to be kind of cute too. Basically any flagellated cell is cute to me. I just usually try to keep my "aww, cute!"s to myself. Because, you know. People who do that are kindof annoying. 
But this is the internet. I'll just do whatever I want. 

Haha. I guessed your live food probably came from a safe source. You seem to be pretty careful and knowledgeable with your bettas. 
Maybe someday I'll have access to something live that I know is safe/clean.


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## crowntail lover

That is totally rocking it out dude!!!!


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## AngelicScars

That's pretty interesting.


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## crowntail lover

I know....I am totally going to use it


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## dramaqueen

It was kind of gross but interesting.


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## Campbell

I would fast them for a few days...


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## tnicholas1970

yeah they dont need to be fed for a couple days now lol...


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## IonBaller07

Ohh, now Im scared, I was just telling drama how my new little cories looked like tadpoles :shock:

I was trying to find that chart that showed the protein value of each live food. I think frog was one of the best.


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## dramaqueen

I didn't know there was a chart that showed the protein value of live food.


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## BettaSquirt

Aww poor froggys! haha, its okay. Its for the bettas sake, Eh?


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## Scienceluvr8

Wow, that is really interesting! How could you get such good pictures like that? I guess you can never be amazed at what a betta can do =)


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## LiyahsGrandma

All I can say is wow:shock:


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## Luchi

My betta attempted to do this to a female betta, but I rescued her and found her a good home. The neon tetras however met the same fate as the tadpoles... =/


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## fishyinpa

Wow...I was debating on scrolling down to see,but I did anyways lol. I will agree on cute tadpoles haha. Kinda nasty how they do it,but eh if it makes the betta happy.


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## thebee01

I have a male beta and he's the sweetest, I put him in with some algae eaters and other things and now they're all inseparable... I tried putting my other fish in a different tank side by side but the beta just sat there staring at the other tank, so I put them back and now they swim like a school of fish, I put a tadpole in and he chills with the algae eaters and the beta...maybe mines super chill, or yours is super aggressive


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