# Betta fish personality



## DNangel (Aug 11, 2011)

*Well i don't really believe fish have emotions, but now it's been a while sense i have had my betta and i do think he has habits/ emotions... to me my betta kinda has an attitude i: i mean like seriously talk about selfish with sharing food (ah community tanks). Basically i wanted to ask if anyone else thinks that their betta has emotions or your opinion on that topic about betta personality.*

*my betta is selfish with his food, and has a hard shell. in his shell their is warm mushy CARAMEL! in my community tank he LOVES my neon tetra*.


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

It depends on what you consider 'emotions'......true human emotions, no; just like most animals(dogs, cats, the like)they do not feel or understand human emotions like we do. 
But, also like dogs and cats and such, they do 'feel'(pain, stress, you know), and they do have their own unique ways of going about life, giving them their own little personalities. Some are more active and like to explore, some are more chill and are content lazing around their tank, some will eat anything you give them, some are picky and will only eat certian kinds of pellets.....They learn to recognize their owners(assassinating them with food of course), the container their food is in, what the net and the cup mean, and are usually curious about what your doing(probably hoping you'll feed them). Some are even more outgoing and seem to enjoy being watched and paid attention to, others could care less.....
I could likely go on and on 

So....in short...
Human emotions? No.
Personality and 'animal emotions'(a little more simple-minded then a dog perhaps; but bettas can actually be trained to do tricks such as swimming through hoops and such)? Yes.


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## Jirothebetta (Jul 15, 2011)

DragonFish said:


> .....They learn to recognize their owners(*assassinating *them with food of course), the container their food is in, what the net and the cup mean, and are usually curious about what your doing(probably hoping you'll feed them).


Assasinating them with food XD XD XD ...I think you meant associate, cause that would be wierd if animals started assassinating their owners with food  XD XD XD(I'm not being grammar nit picky or poking fun, I just thought this was a pretty funny word fail XD XD)

and yes, I agree, animals do have their own emotions(usually focused around food, fun, sleeping, and basically being happy and content and having a place in this world) but I do not believe that they understand or see things on the same level we do...


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

-facepalm-
I keel my spellcheck >.> Seriously, this is like...the millionth time its done that too me :/
....And its totally a hilarious fail, I completely agree xDDDD


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

Emo used to sit up all night watching us terrified that we were gonna drown... he'd come up all happy and joyous if either of us sat up.

Once I put some tetra in his tank so he could see that not all things had to come up for air every so often he started sleeping at night and playing with us during the day.

He thought we had to come up for air!


Goat is a narcicist... he'll play for the mirror just so he can stare at himself.


Before I put her down for too much damage to heal, Emerald was knocking other girls away from the cat's paw when kitty decided to go fishing.

Cocoa would herd all the new girls up into the corner until she learned their names. I could then say "cocoa find teal" and cocoa would go find teal; but only if she thought I couldn't see teal. 

Did you know they can hear our voices rudimentarily? They can. I teach the girls names all the time and most my boys recognize their name too.

Just tonight Splotch flared for the first time because Glee turned away from him and went to sleep. Fishter McGlee, don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.
Then splotch ran off and hid, scared himself when his fins pushed him up!


Moon spent nearly 30 hours awake keeping Clowntail at the surface so she could breath. Moon went insane from lack of sleep, driving all the other girls into the bottom at the opposite end and bludgeoning Clowntail back to the surface. I took Moon out, Clowntail passed by finally going to sleep and when I put moon back in she started tearing into the rest of the girls.

Betta have emotions, the girls will try to push each other to the surface, they respect the pecking order and they often get mopey when I put a boy in the breeder for a visit and they get ignored.


Or when they realize they're looking at themselves in the mirror then jiggle, wave at themselves and swim around the tank real fast.

Did I ever mention girls wave? They bring their tail around and then close and spread their tail fin a few times.

Every minute of running my sorority has been worth it.
Even when little tiny apparently died of depression. She just went to sleep and never came up, perfectly healthy.


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## Aquarianblue (Aug 26, 2011)

*Blue KNEW me.*

When I had first bought Blue. he was meant to keep me company while I worked in the office. He learned rather quick his name was Blue. It seemed if work got stressed, he'd be as close to me as he could be. And if he realized I stared at him, he'd play "pretty fish" meaning he'd flare up, and swim all pretty. he would even sometimes grab the small rocks I had as substrate and toss them at his aquarium to get my attention. On my days off, right before I'd leave, I'd let him know I'd be gone a few days, he'd be bummed. (he had a well trained co-worker friend who looked after him those days) I would come back to work, he'd be STOKED to see me back. he'd swim up and down, and all over his tank really fast. 

Now, Red. his later on tank mate. He was a cranky, mean guy. He'd always flare at Blue. Blue would ignore him lol. I liked Red, but he had a mean attitude. He didn't seem to like me as Blue did.


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## DNangel (Aug 11, 2011)

DragonFish said:


> It depends on what you consider 'emotions'......true human emotions, no; just like most animals(dogs, cats, the like)they do not feel or understand human emotions like we do.
> But, also like dogs and cats and such, they do 'feel'(pain, stress, you know), and they do have their own unique ways of going about life, giving them their own little personalities. Some are more active and like to explore, some are more chill and are content lazing around their tank, some will eat anything you give them, some are picky and will only eat certian kinds of pellets.....They learn to recognize their owners(assassinating them with food of course), the container their food is in, what the net and the cup mean, and are usually curious about what your doing(probably hoping you'll feed them). Some are even more outgoing and seem to enjoy being watched and paid attention to, others could care less.....
> I could likely go on and on
> 
> ...


 LOL nice thanx...that actually opened my range of understanding an animal xD!!! The way you said things was funny XD


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

DNangel said:


> LOL nice thanx...that actually opened my range of understanding an animal xD!!! The way you said things was funny XD


I'm glad I was able to provide some help/amusement xD Thats what I'm here for


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## hmckin20 (Jul 30, 2011)

ohjeez, yes, my fishies have different personalities.

pierce is young and optimistic.. and impatient. he's usually jumping before i can lift his pellet above the tank. he likes swimming around and showing off his fins that are gorgeous despite seemingly perpetual fin rot.

flair loves attention.. he's always swimming around the side i'm nearest. he LOVES chasing my finger and like pierce, tends to jump for his food.

hippie is a little laid back, except when i come around to take pics/ play. then he's constantly swimming. it's weird cause i can tell the difference between my fish's swimming patterns. 

caspian thinks he's the king of everything.. flares at everything. usually at the camera. most of my boys have stripes of submission around him. he is the biggest, so. he's still a little scared of me when i come around, (omg giant lady coming to move my plants! must hide!) proving he's not ~that~ brave afterall. 

demi is a confident little girl. sassy, more like. i feel like she has big expectations. she likes the boys and likes flirting with them- even the baby- and is usually always sticking her nose in whatever i'm doing with the tank. if i'm moving plants, she's watching; if i'm pouring water in or taking it out, she's over there swimming against the current. i've also noticed that she's big for a female.

shasta is usually pretty chill... he loves attention though, and always swims out of his plants whenever i come around. recently he got a little more hyper and is always chasing my finger. he has almost a smug attitude about things though.

bangle is just gentle.. he doesn't flare, he doesn't nip, doesn't jump.. he swims and hides and wiggles about. probably the most polite of all of the fish. he loves him some attention too.

viper is usually the sulky, angsty teenager but he's lately perked up a bit. he spends a majority of his time under his rock and will swim in impatient circles whenever i fish him out into his cup. he refuses food sometimes just because i'm around.. i'll leave it there, let it sink, and he'll eat it from there. 

jericho.. is naive xD he's the smallest (being the baby) and he thinks he's just as threatening as the others. spends a lot of his time flaring at his reflection. he's a sweetheart too, always happily swimming around even when he didn't have a heater. if he was a person he'd probably be the one saying "hey don't worry about it, it's not your fault!" got him a heater though :3

soldier is a sweetheart.. been through stuff but he's young and optimistic just like pierce. he wouldn't have pulled through all that he did if he didn't have such a good attitude. he's attached to his thermometer and likes blowing bubbles all the time. 

harvey.. he's rambunctious. he recovered in a day and has been blowing bubbles in his tank since. he likes swimming around and parking it in his red cup. 

florence i haven't known for long but so far she seems like a shyer female.. hasn't taken to the guys yet. she's always thrashing about whenever i get her into her cup and usually hides when i come around, but i did play chase with her last night, and she seemed to like that. quirky, i think.

navajo is a little scaredy cat but it seems all betta are when you first get them. so far he doesn't like me being around and hides at mostly everything.. but i bet he's playful when he gets adjusted.


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## Dragonlady (Nov 29, 2010)

There was a research study awhile back that revealed that fish have distinct personalities. I am glad that this study confirmed what most many fishkeepers already know.


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## Alethia (Sep 8, 2011)

Of my current bettas I've had Shiven the longest and she's very laid back most of the time. I think she's a bit bummed out that I went and bought 5 other bettas recently though, now she has competition. Every time I turn to look at her she rushes over to me. She also knows the food lid and get very excited over it.

Zoot likes to follow my finger around and might know her name already. I go to her house and say ' hey Zoot Zoot'. Nothing much riles her up yet. Every time I go say hi to Zoot, Shiven swims over to that side of her bowl to stare at me.. I think she might be a lil jealous

Vargus is my showoff. Other than his coloring his spunkiness made me want to buy him. He's always on the move and he flares up at everyone as much as he can..being a short finned boy.

Mizgarth is a bit shy. He spent a few days hiding from me when I got him and is only starting to swim around more and come look at me when I got near his house.

Shelia is feisty and inquisitive. I'm pretty sure she'd be the dominant female of the sorority I want to set up. I put Vargus' holding cup near her house for a bit and they flared at each other right away.It was kinda fun to watch. All my other girls are pretty mellow, but not Shelia.

It'll be fun for me to see more of their personalities the longer I have these fishes and when I can get them all properly set up in nice big houses.


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