# betta missing an eye



## rubbie5837 (Dec 22, 2014)

So the girl at petsmart caught me while I was returning Jade today and begged me to take this beautiful halfmoon male betta because she was worried about it going to a horrible home. He is gorgeous and my two favorite colors (burgundy and black) but I think he is also a marble. Anyway, I was first concerned about him having Popeye, because it appeared that his eye was bulging a little. So get him home and in his 2 gallon kritter keeper and got a good look at him only to find out that his eye isn't bulging, the other one is missing. I am qting him for a minimal of 2 weeks then if everything works out I will be trying the divided tank again (a completely new tank) with my other new halfmoon male named Brady (Tom Brady that is). As I was wondering if there is anyone who has experience with a special needs betta such as this and would have some advice as to how to make him comfortable? He seems to not be very coordinated with swimming (possibly sbd) or it could just be his missing eye. I just want to give him the best possible quality of life. I will attach a link to a picture of him. 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxHgU1KmpXnlbDNsV3FiX01NVXM/edit?usp=docslist_api


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Betta do fine with one eye. They even live adequately when blind. If he's healthy otherwise, and is the color you like, then good for you both.

Fast him for a few days, then feed him only high-quality pellets (New Life Spectrum or Omega One Betta). Frozen or (soaked) FD Daphnia sometimes helps for roughage. Flaring is good. Feed sparingly and see if his floatation improves.


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## FishyWater2525 (Jan 28, 2014)

Hello!
My betta, Primrose, lost an eye to popeye a couple months ago. She is in a 2.5g and living happily and quite normal! The only struggle I had at first was feeding. I had to train her to come to the surface when I blew/tapped on the surface. She would come to where the surface was agitated, and wait. I would hold the pellet in my hand and then drop it on the side she could see. I still do this, and it works perfectly for her situation. Sometimes, she even jumps up and takes the pellet straight from my fingers!
Before she lost her eye. My dad would put his finger on the glass and have her follow it. After she lost her eye, he was doing this as usual, but she wouldn't follow his finger. He simply couldn't figure it out! Then I told him she was looking at him from her blind side and couldn't see him at all.. Lol
She's a feisty little bugger, and I'd say losing her eye hasn't affected her badly at all!


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## rubbie5837 (Dec 22, 2014)

He also looks like something tried to cut his mouth off. But I trained my other betta to come to the top when I feed him by dipping my pinky into the water and move just a little bit. I'm working on getting Picasso and Brady (my other new guy) used to that as well. He gets a bit freaked out during wc, but I don't have much of a choice as he is qting in a 1 gallon kritter keeper. And I float both of them in separate tanks of course, in a big tub with a heater to keep them warm. Just trying to make due with what I have as I wasn't prepared or really wanting any more fish after what happened with Jade. But my heart wouldn't let me say no. I didn't find out about the missing eye until after I put him in his qt tank. But he is pretty laid back and doesn't flare YET. But he is beautiful. He is just a little bit more excitable than Rubbie. But my other new guy hasn't really stopped flaring. I definitely get to see that he is a halfmoon. Lol.


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## cowboy (Apr 14, 2013)

I had a baby turtle once who was missing an eye. Like people they adjust


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## Wolfstardobe (Jan 28, 2010)

Had a Betta with one eye he had lots of other issues when I got him as well. He recently passed but when he was at his peak he never had an issue with only have one eye. He bumped into things for a while and I had to make sure I put the pellets on his good side or he wouldn't eat them because he couldn't see but he did great.


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## rubbie5837 (Dec 22, 2014)

Well he is proving to be a very intelligent little fish. It has only taken 2 feedings for him to get the picture that pinky in the top of the water means food is coming. If only Brady would catch on so quickly. I put a couple of extra pellets in there for him because he does have just a tiny bit of trouble locating them on his bad side. And btw, I feed all three of my guys omega one betta Buffett pellets. Tried to find nls but only found flakes. When Picasso is out of qt and in his tank, I will be trying to put some kind of cleaning crew with him as some people have had luck with that as far as extra food. I also plan on having his tank npt as I really love the results of Rubbie's tank. And that way I don't have to worry about him getting injured from bumping into fake plants. Even though he has settled down quite nicely in his qt, it's just too small.


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## renatabalmeida (Dec 19, 2017)

Hi! I think my Betta came home with only one eye too. I thought the left had popeye but then realized it was the other one that was maybe missing. Does it look similar to yours? If so, is there anything you had to do to make his life better?


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## blackbirds (Oct 4, 2017)

renatabalmeida said:


> Hi! I think my Betta came home with only one eye too. I thought the left had popeye but then realized it was the other one that was maybe missing. Does it look similar to yours? If so, is there anything you had to do to make his life better?


Hi @renatabalmeida, it kind of looks like your betta only has one eye to me as well, but you'll probably get more help if you post a new thread since this one is a couple years old.


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## renatabalmeida (Dec 19, 2017)

blackbirds said:


> renatabalmeida said:
> 
> 
> > Hi! I think my Betta came home with only one eye too. I thought the left had popeye but then realized it was the other one that was maybe missing. Does it look similar to yours? If so, is there anything you had to do to make his life better?
> ...


Hi @blackbirds thank you! I had started a new post earlier but then saw this one and thought I’d give it a try with someone who went thru a similar experience. Thanks!!


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## Veloran (Jun 28, 2014)

Feel free to start a new thread. This is an old thread.
I'll be closing this.


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