# New Addition! Many pictures as well as a few questions on my new boy.



## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Ok, be prepared for the story  The questions are at the end of the story before the pictures btw, if you'd like to skip to the questions. With the recent passing of my beloved Banana, I was still in the mourning process of her death. She was my little baby and when she lost her battle with fin rot I was devastated. I knew there was going to be another betta filling in my empty vacant tank but I wasn't expecting to get another one till a few weeks. But I got quiet a shock after a routine trip to petco for some dog food. As everyone usually does I went to just go and look at the bettas. I also got some nice news while I was there, my petco has stopped carrying baby bettas, yay! Back on topic sorry lol, but I was just looking at all the bettas, the occasional frustration as I saw a few dead in their dirty cups, but then I kinda heard a little thump that drew my attention. I looked over in one of the bottom cubbies to see an eager little Dragonscale Delta Male who had bumped his head on his cup to get my attention! Either that or he bumped his head just for the heck of it lol :lol: It was one of the most odd things I had ever seen a betta do. It was a pretty loud thump as well cause I heard it pretty clearly... So I picked his little cup up and he greeted me with a lovely little flare. Not a threatening one at all, but more of a flashy show off flare. It was absolutely adorable and it made me giggle in the store. Was the first time sense Banana's passing I had smiled. I set his cup back into his little cubby and my goodness he looked so sad when I did that, it broke my heart. It was as if in the short 4 minutes I was holding that fish he brought me such joy. So I picked him back up and kinda whispered to the little fish, you wanna come home with me? And that was it! I took him and showed him to my mother who willingly approved as she was just happy to see me happy again. And that's the story of my newest addition, Mushu! Named after the little dragon from the animated movie Mulan.  Him and TyeDye are not very fond of each other... Or at least Mushu doesn't enjoy TyeDye being in sight but TyeDye is a lover and didn't even flare once at Mushu :lol: Ok, onto a few questions, Is that a hint of fin rot or just his coloring? On the outside of his fins there is a thin line of black. Don't know if it's normal or not. Second question, as he is a Dragonscale Betta I have heard they are prone to something called Diamond Eye? Which causes them to go blind. Is there any way to prevent that? Andddd that's about all the questions! Below are the pictures starting from the store all the way home! 

In petco









On the way home in the car, he kept staring out the window :lol:









When I got home I tested the water in his cup. It was full of yucky ammonia! 









The outside of his cup had dirty finger prints that were sticky from what looked like a childs fingers after eating candy, so I had to wash the outside before acclimating him. He showed a grumpy face cause he didn't like the towel. 









Acclimating to the tank.









After getting released he attempted to eat his thermometer 6 times.









And also attempted to eat his heater 3 times.









And he's all set now! Was promptly fed after his release and he gobbled up 7 pellets. Good to know he's not picky  Any help on my questions is greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading :-D


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

He's beautiful! Very beautiful find skydye !! Or is it more like he found you?! Haha! He's beautiful either way!!!!


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## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Thank you :-D Yes technically he found me lol, cause if it wasn't for him bumping his little head on his cup I don't think I would have saw him :lol:


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

Lol, what a odd/cute thang ain't it!? A Fish getting your attention?! Someone's got a crush!!!


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## sharkettelaw1 (Mar 6, 2013)

he's totes cewt! Mushu suits him


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## aquagreen (May 2, 2013)

He's super gorgeous.  Not sure if it's fin rot. Looks like to me there could be a little bit, but after being in those dirty cups that's no surprise. Clean water will help him along.


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## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Thanks everyone  I am really hoping it's not fin rot. Just gonna have to wait and see I guess? Anyone know what diamond eye is? :shock:


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## blueridge (Jul 1, 2011)

It does look like he has some slight fin rot but some nice clean, warm water will get that healed up right away so I wouldn't worry too much. ;-) As far as diamond eye, from what I understand (I'm not a expert so hopefully someone with more experience will come along), it is when the dragon scaling starts to grow and covers their eyes leaving them blind. As far as I know there is no cure for it, just accommodating the betta the best you can is about all you can do. I've had bettas with dragon scaling before and I've never had a problem with it happening unless when I bought them they already had it covering their eyes. Mushu looks like he probably won't have that from what I can see. Very cute guy by the way and can't wait to see him all healed up!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

No fin rot to be seen! That's all natural coloring ^_^

And blueridge is right, Diamond Eye and Snake Eye both are the same, the extra pigment of the scales ends up going over the eyes, there is absolutely no preventative (unless you are the breeder, just don't breed heavy scaled fish! lol) and no cure.


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## Seki (Jul 10, 2012)

He is absolutely gorgeous, congratulations!! I looooove the deep bloodred of his fins. What a handsome boy!


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## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Oh good, glad it's not fin rot! I hope he doesn't form Diamomd Eye in the future. And thank you Seki! I love his fin color as well. His looks we're just a bonus  Got him for the personality :lol: He's doing wonderful. Woke up this morning and ate his breakfast right away, very active, and he loves the air bubbles that come up from his filter. So far so good! He's enjoying the warm water with no ammonia


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

+1 Lilnaugrim looks like natural coloring to me. My boy Oliver is a similar color only not full dragon scale and his body is dark blue but he has the red fins with the black banding around them. He's a gorgeous fish


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## Fawnleaf (Aug 31, 2010)

Mushu is adorable!!  I love his scales! Don't worry too much about finrot, his fins look great to me! They will probably lengthen too with the clean/warm water  That's an adorable story too!!!


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## Anne713 (Jul 18, 2014)

He is so pretty!


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

He is so freaking adorable! He has a forehead line which means he wont develop diamond eye, that coloring is natural, my goodness mushu is a perfect fish! I am so happy for you!


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

so if they have that line they won't get diamond eye? and if they don't they might develop it? That's interesting and good to know that my Cas won't get it


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

Yeah the dragon scale will grow over the forehead line before itgoes over the eyes 99% of the time


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

cool


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yeah, unfortunately that's not always true Sayla, they can get scaling over the eyes even if they have a skunk stripe.


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

Aww, i thought you were supposed to make sure they had the stripe when buying for that reason, sorry


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

That's okay! No worries, it is less common for one with a skunk stripe to have scaled over eyes but it can still happen. I just wanted you to know that it's not impossible, less common but not impossible at all.


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

I knew you could get random patches, also ive only seen boys with grey/white dragon scaling cover the eyes, just to clarify it can happen to any/all dragons?


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## Alaura123 (Jul 4, 2014)

:shock2: He looks like exactly like my boy Rocket (possible siblings?)


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yes, any and all Dragons. Partial Dragons are not at risk though.


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

Lil I have a question about my Oliver, I'm thinking he might be partial dragon if I post a pic can you tell me?


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## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Shoot, well fingers crossed he doesn't get diamond eye. That wouldn't be fun... Thank you everyone for the compliments on him :-D Alaura, I think they are siblings :shock: I just saw a picture of rocket in your photo album. Gorgeous boy! 

Just a little update, Mushu got his first ever taste of frozen bloodworms today, and he liked them! He didn't devour and attack them like TyeDye does but you could tell he enjoyed them more then his pellets like most bettas  I got Mushu to flare today, he moved to fast for me to get a perfect picture mid flare with beard and all but I got some pretty nice tail shots. His tail is very big when he flares :shock: I was expecting him the have more of a smaller tail. Here are some pictures:



















And this is a picture that really shows his tail 











So far so good with him! I love him. He has declared his tank thermometer his enemy. He flares at it, tries to eat it, has a stare down with it, he just doesn't like it lol :lol: First 50% water change for him will hopefully be on Friday  Wanna give him one more day to settle in.


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## rhapsodyqueen (Jul 12, 2014)

Wow, he is a gorgeous little fish!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

BettaStarter24 said:


> Lil I have a question about my Oliver, I'm thinking he might be partial dragon if I post a pic can you tell me?


Just looked at your photo album, he's a full dragon ^_^


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## Jonthefish (Jun 16, 2014)

Awe that's so cute !!! Love him ! +1 for the mushu fanbase xD


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## TCas0318 (Jul 1, 2014)

Aww he's adorable! Love his coloration! Congrats on your new betta!


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## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Mushu is still doing great! Him and TyeDye were helping get ready for first day back to school this morning. He's still eating like a piggy hasn't missed a feeding yet, and is still hating his thermometer :lol: But it's not like a stressful kinda hate it's more of a "What you looking at?" Kinda thing which is pretty flipping cute. And thank you again everyone for the compliments on him  He is truly a great fish. He has no issues, not a picky eater, very active/not lazy, no fears of anything, and no health issues that I can spot  Here are some more photos taken today  He's quiet a photogenic little fish. 

What you looking at o.o










Squaring off with the thermometer again :lol:










Don't look at me that way Mr.Mushu, it makes you look too cute :lol:










And that's Mushu's update for the day


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## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Hello everyone! Mushu would like to give an update  He is doing fantastic! He is very active, healthy eater, colorful, and just all around turning into a great fish :-D

He would like to say hello by giving his little happy look.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

lol, he's a real cutie! I'm glad he's doing really well for you!!


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## BlueSky99 (Aug 7, 2014)

He's a looker  His name fits him nicely.


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## Alaura123 (Jul 4, 2014)

aw I love his face xD


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## sparrow317 (Jun 16, 2014)

That red is gorgeous! I'm glad you picked him up.


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

If you find him and his tank gone...*whistles innocently*


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

oh wow what a pretty Dragon scale! 8D I have two Dragons of my own and they are so cool looking.


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## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Thank you everyone!
Another update: His colors have really brightened up sense I got him. His tail is brighter then ever! The red is nice and bright, and he is doing great. Him and TyeDye just got a food switch to Omega One. He's enjoying it  And all around he's enjoying life beyond the yucky ammonia filled cup!


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## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Ok everyone! An update as well as help needed for my boy. Mushu is alive, and active. Healthy eater and always active but he is having some changes going on that I am unsure of. First off something got his tail, now whether it was him tail biting or a decor I don't know. But now the scales on his head are either coming off or changing color and I really need help with it :-/ they have gone from metallic blue to now sort of a brownish color. Is this something I should be worried about? Any tips on both his tail and his scales would be greatly appreciated! Here are some pictures of both his head and his tail. If you compare them from the past pictures on this thread you will definitely see the change.


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## farmgirl82 (Jul 30, 2014)

I would switch back to whatever you were feeding before omega one pellets since his colors do look more washed out than a few wks ago. Don't have much advice on his tail. I will leave that to the experts. Hes a very pretty fish.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

On the tail, that's from decor, they aren't wide enough for his mouth so it's not biting thankfully.

On his scales, personally it looks like he's marbling. I thought long and hard on it, the brown patches are not missing scales, they're still there but a different color. As they lose the copper pigment they may seem to decrease in size wise because copper is such a heavy color so if he changes to black, that's not thick but thin, it may seem like he's losing scales but he's really not. I can't say this for sure but the fact that he's gained white scales on his head suggests that he is marbling to me at least. If he's still active and eating then that seems most logical


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## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Ok, so it's nothing to be worried about head wise? I didn't even know dragons could marble o.o


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Lol Dragon's are the best marbler's half the time! All those Koi's and Fancy's you see on AquaBid are all Marbles or Marble-based at least! 

But as I said, I'm not 100% sure on it but that's what it looks like for now but definitely keep an eye on him and update us when things change, if they do.


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## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Alrighty! Here is a much needed update on Mushu. He is healthy, and has the same spunky personality. While I was away for 7 days for Christmas in Arizona however, he decided to... Take a chunk out of his tail... And I mean, a VERY large chunk... He took one step forward in his tail condition and 5 steps back. I Did the leggings test on his decor back when it first started and it wound up being that flower ball, so I sanded a few edges down. This time, I'm pretty sure it's him biting. Any tips?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Oh that's absolutely biting, no way around it. He's still a gorgeous little guy though!


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## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Yup, he's still very healthy! Guess I'll just have to deal with the tail. Any thing I can do to get him to stop? I don't really know what it is caused by... Stress? Or too heavy of a tail?


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## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

Oi! That's quite the, uh, "chunk" there. Yep, totally a biting habit. Really, there's nothing you can do about it. I guess he just wanted a hair- er- tail cut.


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## Greenapp1es (Dec 4, 2014)

If that chunk came out while you were gone, it *might* have been in part due to the fact that you were absent. He could have been bored and missing the interaction he had with you.

That said - it might not be. Really hard to tell. Sometimes you can find what's setting the biting off (my guy stopped when I quit messing with his tank and upped his food intake), but I think just as often it's a guessing game and\or just a habit he's got.


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## gracem2002 (Dec 27, 2014)

He is a gorgeous fish! And he sounds extremely playful. Just bumping his head, wanting to scream, "LOVE ME!"


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## AAquarist (Dec 3, 2013)

He's gorgeous!! wow! Congrats


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