# Feeding Your Betta Fleas!



## SemioticSleep (Mar 31, 2010)

That's right fleas!!! Betta naturally have an upturned mouth to catch unsuspecting bugs in the water. So while playing with my aunts dog I saw a flea and threw it into her tank and one of the fish ate it, So I looked for another one and again the fish ate it. So then I went home grabbed my dog and looked for fleas, found one and threw it in there MY BETTA LOVED IT! So I was wondering if anyone besides me does this? It really can't harm them after all I've been doing this for a while  Ehhh since last february but I only do it once in a blue moon


----------



## SemioticSleep (Mar 31, 2010)

They have also eaten clumsy flies that have fallen into their tank and those small roaches ewww! That would somehow end up in their tank 0.o guess even they get thirsty too.


----------



## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

My biggest worry with fleas would be any flea product on the animal/pet or house...like flea spray, flea collars, spot on treatment...etc......but other than that a bug is a bug.......you would think a fish would know if it was safe to eat as far as digestion goes not poison related.....


----------



## TaylorW (Sep 4, 2010)

I would be worried about the parasites. Dogs get lots of illnesses from flea bites, and I'm sure the stuff they carry could make your betta sick.

Bettas can get diseases and parasites from mosquito larvae, so I bet they can get stuff from fleas... I don't know, but I'm not sure I would trust the blood from my aunt's dog to be clean enough for my fish to eat XD


----------



## Rain Drop (Jul 4, 2009)

I too would be worried about the diseases that fleas can carry. Just like TaylorW said, they can harm cats and dogs, so they can harm your fish too! Plus if you're treating your furry pet for flea infestation, the flea would contain poison which I'm sure is even worse for your betta!

So tl;dr

Don't risk it, no matter how amusing it is.


----------



## Juneii (Nov 29, 2010)

Agreeing with everyone else, you wouldn't pick up a sandwich lying on the sidewalk and eat it, I wouldn't feed my betta bugs with possible diseases.


----------



## ilovebunnies (Oct 11, 2010)

My betta ate a little spider one time. Sometimes, I give my betta a little black ant, he loves them. Gobbles them up like a shark. ;D


----------



## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

I wouldn't feed my fish fleas but only because I spot treat with "Frontline" all my animals (29 cat and 5 dogs) every month and put flea powder on my carpet...but I have been feeding mass amount of mosquito larva, daphnia, seed shrimp, maggots and what ever else appears out in my water buckets for over 20 years and have yet to have any problems related to live foods I grow and culture.........the enzymes in the fish gut should take care of most problems as long as the fish was in good health to start......


----------



## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

Yes many bacteria and viruses are not usually able to infect other species. A bacteria/virus that may be harmful to a dog can be ineffective on a fish, human, bird etc... You do occasionally get a cross-species problem (swine flu, bird flu...) but its not common.

I would be more worried about residue of shampoo and flea killing products.


----------



## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

I feed my betta spiders, he loves em.


----------



## kholder (Dec 2, 2010)

I've dropped a little piece of cooked crab in the betta tank once and he, too, was like a shark. He grabbed it and shook it violently before devouring it. What a kick that was.


----------



## ilovebunnies (Oct 11, 2010)

kholder said:


> I've dropped a little piece of cooked crab in the betta tank once and he, too, was like a shark. He grabbed it and shook it violently before devouring it. What a kick that was.


I wish someone would throw me a crab. I'd turn into a ravenous shark too! :shock:


----------



## DazzleKitty (Nov 9, 2010)

This reminds me of something that happened at my house recently. A whole bunch of little ants got into our house and were everywhere in the kitchen, which is where my betta is.

Some had fallen into his tank and I saw him eating them. My dad gave him a whole bunch of ants to him too. It's a nice and creative way to doom the ants but I was a little worried about my betta. It was too late by the time I found out he did it, but my betta is fine.


----------



## SemioticSleep (Mar 31, 2010)

Naturally what else are they going to eat, they eat bugs all the time in the wild


----------



## SemioticSleep (Mar 31, 2010)

I would hate to be fed the same flakes, pellets, or blood worms all the time. If my Betta's didn't like it they wouldn't eat it. Also I don't treat my dogs for fleas so no poison would harm the fish anyways. And the roaches I never put them in there intentionally my Betta would grab them and eat it until there was nothing left but legs ewwww. What else would they eat in the wild, also they like it when there food is moving. My female Betta likes those ramshorn snails too


----------



## SemioticSleep (Mar 31, 2010)

Juneii said:


> Agreeing with everyone else, you wouldn't pick up a sandwich lying on the sidewalk and eat it, I wouldn't feed my betta bugs with possible diseases.


 It's perfectly fine what else would they eat in the wild. My betta has even eaten snails


----------



## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

yeah only in the wild there are no chemicals floating around everywhere. In the wild people dont wash the furry animals with soap. In the wild people dont feed animals. In the wild, water changes are not required. Besides, domesticated bettas have come a long way from their wild counterparts. They are more delicate. How long do you think a splenden will make it if you dumped one int a rice paddy in thailand?

The whole "in the wild" argument doesnt work.
Sorry for ranting, I mean no offense to you personally, just getting tired of the whole "in the wild" excuses. Like justifying keeping them in tiny cups because thats how they are "in the wild".


----------



## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

I agree with Alex. Personally I'd still be wary of parasites, even IF we could rule out any chemicals or other dangerous residue. Better safe than sorry. 

Anyway, if you want to spice up your betta's diet, you could try giving him different brands. I've got 3 different types of pellet food as well at FD bloodworms and brineshrimp.


----------



## SemioticSleep (Mar 31, 2010)

Alex09 said:


> yeah only in the wild there are no chemicals floating around everywhere. In the wild people dont wash the furry animals with soap. In the wild people dont feed animals. In the wild, water changes are not required. Besides, domesticated bettas have come a long way from their wild counterparts. They are more delicate. How long do you think a splenden will make it if you dumped one int a rice paddy in thailand?
> 
> The whole "in the wild" argument doesnt work.
> Sorry for ranting, I mean no offense to you personally, just getting tired of the whole "in the wild" excuses. Like justifying keeping them in tiny cups because that's how they are "in the wild".


So am I wrong to let my Betta eat things that he likes or things that he catches himself. I don't give him the bugs he catches them somehow. Plus I don't give him fleas all that often I've only tried it and found out They all liked it. This post was to see what other kinds of bugs people give their Betta's. And I have found that some even give them spiders and crabs. No I don't appreciate your ranting at all. If I was a Betta bugs are my natural food in the wild so why can't I eat it just cause I am domesticated a fish is a fish no matter what. If you gave a dog bloody meat it would still eat it even though it's domesticated and not like the ones in the wild.


----------



## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

Sweetheart does your family bathe your dogs? If so them when they bathe your dogs they either use flea shampoo (which is a pesticide which means it's a strong poison), or they use regular shampoo. 

Either way there are chemicals in both that are toxic to small animals like fish. The way fleas live is that they bite the skin of the host that they are preying on and suck their blood. All of the toxins on your dogs fur and skin and in its blood are present within the fleas.

When your betta eats a flea or two it gets all of the chemicals from your dog's shampoo along with all of that protein.

It's the same as the principle of not washing your betta's tank with soap or putting your hand in the tank after you've washed your own hands with soap.

It's poisonous.

Flea shampoo is even poisonous to your dog. It says so on most bottles. You're not supposed to bathe them with it more than once or twice a month because the chemicals are absorbed by the skin and they build up in the animal. It takes a while for the dog to get rid of all of those chemicals. It's even harder and more dangerous for cats.

In smaller animals toxins become concentrated more easily and begin to shut down organs.

We're not saying that you can't feed your betta bugs in general. If you raise some bugs specifically for the purpose of feeding to your bettas and you do so in an environment where you don't use any chemicals then yeah knock yourself out. Your boy will have a great diet.

What we're saying is that in your home there are more chemicals at use than you could imagine and all of those chemicals end up inside you, me, and all of the critters that live with us. This includes bugs. Unless we keep them in a closed system (like we do with fish).


So yes we do have a point and no I personally don't think that you should be feeding your betta fleas because I have animals infested with fleas back home and I know for a fact that whenever they get their monthly bath it's with flea shampoo.

Again even if it's not flea shampoo, regular animal shampoo has chemicals in it that are harmful to bettas and are present withing the fleas that prey upon your animals.

If you wanna feed your fish bugs make sure you know what the bugs are eating, therefore what all is present within the bug. 

If you really wanna give your boy a treat I recommend starting a brine shrimp hatchery or if he really preys upon snails, why don't you start up a 2 or 5 gallon with a few ghost shrimp and mate them? You'd have a great live food supply right there.

There are many ways to get good protein for your boys and great ways to feed live so as to give them a little adventure!

Snails, shrimp, brine shrimp, and farm bugs are some of them.

Fleas are not.

That's my dollar's worth. Take it as you will.

*As a side note I absolutely ADORE your avatar! <3*

XXXHolic right?

I might have something from Yu Yu Hakusho if MTR wasn't such an important cause to me.


----------



## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

I can't get over how many people have fleas & other insects in their homes - YIKES!!!!!


----------



## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

Yep :/ before we got the dogs everything was golden. Then fidos brought the fleas in. 

I love them to death though so I don't really mind. =]


----------



## CrankyFish84 (Nov 5, 2010)

LoL Yeah in FL sooo bugs are everyone's silent roommates... :roll: Unfortunately. 

I saw a spider in a filter once. :shock: Yikes!!! We have brown recluses so that was not cool...

You can leave a slice of fruit outside in a mason jar, then in a few hours you'll have 
a safe live treat of fruit flys! ;-)


----------



## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Thank goodness for insect....not for them..... life as we know it would be no more......


----------



## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

Oldfishlady said:


> Thank goodness for insect....not for them..... life as we know it would be no more......


I understand that's true, OFL, I just don't care to live with fleas & such in the house if I can help it. :-D


----------



## CrankyFish84 (Nov 5, 2010)

;-) That's true...even scary roaches have a place...just not on my bathroom faucet at 3am when I turn the light on LoL :shock: I never kill spiders <3 Catch and release off outside to eat more skeeters.


----------



## SemioticSleep (Mar 31, 2010)

wallywestisthebest333 said:


> Sweetheart does your family bathe your dogs? If so them when they bathe your dogs they either use flea shampoo (which is a pesticide which means it's a strong poison), or they use regular shampoo.
> 
> Either way there are chemicals in both that are toxic to small animals like fish. The way fleas live is that they bite the skin of the host that they are preying on and suck their blood. All of the toxins on your dogs fur and skin and in its blood are present within the fleas.
> 
> ...


 
Ohhh tee hee it's not XXXHolic It's The Bride of the Water God you should really read it. It's beautifully illustrated. And 
My dog rarelly gets a bath or has any fleas so the whole flea think was just an experiment and they happend to like it, my female like snails a lot she won't leave them alone even my mystery snails that are huge so I've had to move them. But I really just wanted to see what other people fed their bettas as snacks. As of now my bettas are in the living room and they don't have access to catching roaches or flies b/c they have a lid over their tank. My female really liked the roaches till the point where I gagged when I cleaned her tank b/c of all the roach leftoevers.


----------



## SemioticSleep (Mar 31, 2010)

CrankyFish84 said:


> ;-) That's true...even scary roaches have a place...just not on my bathroom faucet at 3am when I turn the light on LoL :shock: I never kill spiders <3 Catch and release off outside to eat more skeeters.


 I hate roaches they are my biggest fear! I'm getting shivers just thinking about them. And Sometimes I cry when I kill spiders


----------



## SemioticSleep (Mar 31, 2010)

CrankyFish84 said:


> LoL Yeah in FL sooo bugs are everyone's silent roommates... :roll: Unfortunately.
> 
> I saw a spider in a filter once. :shock: Yikes!!! We have brown recluses so that was not cool...
> 
> ...


Really? I heard if you have a bug problem at your house you can fill a jar with beer and layer the outside with panty house for the bugs to crawl up and lube the inside with vaseline so they fall in and die apparently roaches and snails are attracted to the yeast.


----------



## SemioticSleep (Mar 31, 2010)

Lion Mom said:


> I can't get over how many people have fleas & other insects in their homes - YIKES!!!!!


It's disturbing to think about but according to a study every home has roaches in their walls. Which I rightly believe cause I've been at friends houses at night and they are really CLEAN Asians but when I walk in the kitchen at night there are always small roaches running a muck.


----------



## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

I know that spiders are gopd and all.... but if I see one... well... I either run away or if I'm cornered then it's a dead spider. :/

Spiders are my biggest phobia. :[

I definitely have to check it out! =] I think I've heard good things about it from my friend back home. =]


----------



## SemioticSleep (Mar 31, 2010)

Okay so we can rule Fleas out it was just an experiment

And I'm happy to reassure you guys that my Betta's eat FLAKE food
.
I don't recomend feeding your betta fleas, maybe I should have named this post feeding you betta bugs. But anyways just wanted to see if anyone else's betta has eaten bugs.


----------



## ashleyy (Sep 10, 2010)

I feed my betta mosquito larvae from a bucket I have outside when the weather is warmer. 

A fruit fly/beetle thing fall into the tank once and he just tore it apart, but wouldn't eat it lol.

aquabid.com has a section for live food. They sell certain types of worms in a container where they continue to reproduce for a while for really cheap.

My dad suggested giving him a tiny earthworm, but where we use chemicals in our garden I resisted the urge to give it to him.

But try mosquito larvae when the weather is warmer. My betta lllllooooovvveesssssss it!


----------

