# Spitting out FOOD!



## Rubyred91

Hi everyone! I'm basically a newbie in bettafish.com And I have a question. My betta always SPITS OUT HIS FOOD after chewing it for awhile. Does anyone knows what is wrong with my betta? Does he simply just not like the food I gave him (in pellets)..or is my betta sick? PLS & TQ!!:-(


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## small fry

Welcome to Bettafish.com!:-D

My betta, Tony refuses to eat betta pellets. He spits them out after chewing on them. You can just switch him to flakes. You can find BettaMin at walmart if you have one near you.


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## bettakeeper91

Yeah, mine does that too! But sometimes he looks like he is choking!


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## small fry

Nothing to worry about (unless your betta is chocking), just switch them to flakes.


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## Shizuka Mori

As everyone else said this isn't anything to worry about. I noticed that Genji doesn't like pellets that great either so I switched him to flakes and he loves them. Now everyday he waits for me at breakfast time to give him some. :-D


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## Luimeril

my new girl, Caroline, does that. often when she doesn't like the taste of pellets, or if they're too big. i solve it by offering her crushed pellets of a different kind(i have six different variety of pellets laying around), and she usually gobbles them up. :3 they may be too big for him. try crushing them up and offering them, or switch brands. flakes can be bad for bettas(they often swell up in their tummies, so make sure you soak them before giving them to him if you decide to go the flake rout), or, if you can, offer him live or frozen foods. :3 variety is good in a betta's diet!


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## Rubyred91

Thanks a ton for your post reply! It helps a lot! :-D

But, JUST ONE MORE QUICK QUESTION! Is BETTA GRANULES also considered as PELLET? :-? Or is it more like FLAKES? Please & TQ!


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## Kitdae

Kai used to do that. I went back to the store and asked what they fed their bettas. After I got those pellets, no problems.


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## small fry

I'm not sure, but I think those are like flakes designed to sink, so I wouldn't feed my betta granules.


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## bettakeeper91

My betta doesnt mind pellets, but I don't want her eating the same thing over and over. She does seem like she is getting bored of them. Is there anything that I can feed her, like from the fridge?


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## Grundylady

My Betta used to spit out her pellets. Then I switched to the brand the pet store used to feed him and he gobbles them up. (He loves his Betta Banquet pellets so much that he nearly jumped in the air this morning when I fed him the first one.)


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## ChicagoPete

Top Fin Freeze Dried Blood Worms are what I feed my Boys as a treat.


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## Rubyred91

For your question here, honey...I'd suggest you try read the previous comments that other BettaKeepers have kindly replied to me. I hope these will help you!


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## PinkPoodle

Hi, just joined. I got a blue betta two weeks ago but he died after cloudy water - water changes. So the new one I'm calling Bluey2.0. He is smaller than the other one who ate 2-3 pellets 2x a day. The lady at the Petsmart said feed 2-3 pellets every other day but Bluey2.0 keeps spitting them out.


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## Grundylady

I was told the other day that the 2-4 pellets every third day. And rotate. one feeding pellets, next feeding frozen bloodworms. 

She told me that if they are not really hungry they will play with the food by spitting it out and grabbing it again.

I personally feed my boy 4 every other day and 1X a week with blood worms. But my girl can only handle eating every third day or she gets symptoms of SBD.


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## PinkPoodle

OK, you think he was playing with it? The fish lady at Petsmart said I was feeding the 1st one way too much food that is why the water was cloudy. On the back of the feeding thing it says 2-3 2x a day so I trimmed down to 3-4 every other day. Sometimes a few more come out than I planned.

What is SBD? Overeating?


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## Arashi Takamine

*Whistles* Hey you guys Petstore employee's don't always know what their talking about. You need to feed your betta's every day at least four pellets or a pinch full of little pellets twice a day. If your betta's are spitting out food their mouths might be too small. Try getting a smaller brand like Tetra Betta mini pellets or New Life Spectrum Small Fish Formula. (NLS is a bit pricey but it's enough to last your betta's whole lives.)


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## Grundylady

The girl currently has 38 bettas at her home, the fish store she works at doesn't sell Bettas. Her advice saved Princess from SBD. (Swim Bladder Disease - when they float on their side and have trouble staying under water) (She CLAIMED - and I take this with a grain of salt - that people are told to feed so often so they will need to buy medicinal products for their fish. IDK - Not my theory)

Bo never spits out anything. And if Princess eats more then she gets sick. She is prone to tummy trouble, and was sick when I got her.


I'm not arguing with you mind - just passing on the advice I was given by someone who helped save my Betta.


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## Arashi Takamine

Okay, okay I understand. Just I also know petstore employee's also say things with intention to make customers come back. I got conned into buying two 21 dollar heaters that the next day went on recall after he said the other one would shock my betta's.


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## PinkPoodle

Grundylady & Arashi Takamine,

Thanks for the help. I just want Bluey2.0 to live. I just gave him another pellet. He went after like he was starving then ate and spit it out 7x before I grabbed it and threw it away. He was spitting out part of the ABC "already been chewed" tiny pieces also.

I don't have a filter but just read to do a 10% water change every day if no filter and I got a little plant for each container. They said that would help with the cloudiness although this guy's hasn't gotten cloudy like the other one. I changed 50% water and he really perked up so maybe that was the problem.


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## PinkPoodle




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## Arashi Takamine

...He's beautiful but how big is that tank?


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## Blazer23

Your betta may be spitting food out because it is to hard. Or you are not letting your betta chew then give the rest.


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## Blazer23

Yeah how big is that tank? Look really small bettas need at least 2.5 gallons. 5 gallons preferably so that the tank can cycle.


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## Silverfang

My boy rejected the first kind of pellet I gave him, he would eat crushed up flakes. Eventually I got him eating frozen (not freeze dried) blood worms (which he noms like a fiend) and a different kind of pellet, I believe omega one. Just some general advice on pellets and other betta food, look for at least 42% protein, the first ingredients should be fish, not wheat or other such fillers.

Also if he's a new fish it may take him a while before he will start eating. They can last a long time without food. Frozen foods, or live foods are supposed to be extremely appealing to them. I can verify that they love frozen blood worms. Before I bought some the girl at the pet store showed me just how easy it was, and how much all the fish loved them.... You think bettas are carnivores? Try watching the angels or chicilids go for those suckers, they were jumping for it.


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## inkrealm

mildly late but lol, my little buddy does that if I soak them >.<; 
if I leave them dry he'll jump for them, sometimes he gets my finger instead though x3 <3 
try flakes like they said, or different pellets, 
since flakes can be a pain >.<; 
yur don't leave uneaten food D: 
and freeze-dried blood worms are nice in moderation.... one container lasts ages so it's a cheap treat ^-^ don't handle them bare-hand though, apparently they can make you itchy.


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## inkrealm

also that does look small, how much water is in it and how often do you change it? ><; 
as far as pellets go I give mine two in morning and two at night with one day a week in which he gets no food at all to give time for digestion. 
but some are more prone to certain disease than others ( some styles of tail get swim bladder more etc. ) 
so you may have to ajust that. 
they can go without food for quite a bit so it shouldn't hurt him to do every other day or every three. 

I'd be watching the water though, as the others said it looks like an awful small space with very little water ><;
if it's as small as it looks it looks you should be changing the water 100% every day and they really do need more space ad water than that D: 
2.0 at the ABSOLUTE least, 2.5 at preferred least...


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## Kitdae

kai did that when i got him. i had to buy smaller pellets and hes fine now ^^:


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## PinkPoodle

It's a 1/2 gallon. I'm sorry the picture is so huge I was trying to figure out how to attach a picture. I'll do 100% water changes and get some flakes.


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## inkrealm

best wishes 
and if you remove him with a net remember to be SUPER gentle. 
he's a pretty blue boy


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## mwc

just about ever betta dose that .mine do it all the time .


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## Blazer23

Remember to do 100% water changes everyday


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## PinkPoodle

Thanks for your help. I did a 100% water change today and moved him with a little fish net into my extra tank then back.


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## BruceWayneBetta

I'm extremely thankful for these boards already. All 3 of my new Bettas spit out the pellets today. They all attempted to eat them and then spit them out over and over again. I guess they're either too big or they don't like them. I tried flakes and 2 out of the 3 ate those right away. Trial and error...


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## Pilot00

If they spit them, try, spit, try, spit then it means they do like them but cant gulp them for some reason (usually due to them been large). As far as i can tell they gulp their food whole and not chew.
You wouldn't believe how a betta can frown if he/she doesnt like his/her food if you haven't seen it with your own eyes. 
I gave mine some tetra pond sticks i used for my tropical fish after i crashed them (just to check), he tried them, spat them came on the glass gave me a look that made almost piss myself and got away in a snobbish swimming pattern. And i was like: 'What the hell just happened here?' 

If he doesnt like the food he will 'tell you'.


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## BruceWayneBetta

Yeah, I gathered maybe the pieces were too big right now for them to ingest. They keep trying to eat them and spit them back out each time. One of the three will carry around a piece in its mouth for a while, look at me and spit it out.

So far, two of the three are eating flakes great. The third fish hasn't eaten a thing since he was put into his tank two days ago. He's making bubble nests though. Ha!


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## Pilot00

That means he got acclimated. Perhaps he is a gourmet.


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## PinkPoodle

I switched to flakes a few months ago and have had no problem since.


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