# Tiny & Sick Rescued Betta !



## BettaDee (Jun 23, 2017)

Hey All,

So I posted for the first time yesterday about my marble-ing Betta named Louis and his tank set up. 

When I was at the pet store there was one other guy labelled the same way. They were both labelled with gold tops and called Premium Assorted Long Fin Bettas (??). Clearly they were marked incorrectly as they both had short fins.

Anyways after getting Louis it didn't take long before I just couldn't help but "rescue" his brother.

He was TINY. Like 1.5 inch if that and way smaller than any of the other Betta available. His fins were all stiff and stuck to his body and he really didn't look in good shape. I had to tell myself he may not make it and was nervous he would die the first night.

He was kind of a gas-looking blue green coloured and rather lifeless in his cup. 

On my way out of the store with the little guy one of the staff stopped me and said "thank you for taking him, he's been here in that cup for 4 months or more." 4 MONTHS!!! in 3/4 of a cup of water, no stimulation, no heater, no swimming. Horrible.

I have named him FOR-MUS (as in 4 months in his cup).

The staff member also said he was very under weight.

At first he was completely stiff and his fins were stuck to his body. He has few rips in his fins (Is it Fin Rot?) and he stayed at the bottom of the tank and hid or slept, not responding to me at all.

He also has a scratch mark on his body and we don't know if he had that when we got him or if it's new. In addition he sort of puked up his food we gave him. 

Ok so these photos are after 3 Days of having him in the 3.5G Top Fin Delight with a Hydra 25W heater (same set up but different decorations as Louie). After about 2 days I saw him begin to release his lower long fins but they are still close to his body. He is eating a bit better and now comes to see me when I visit him. 

I also have a photo of the cup he was kept in and his tank set up 

Looking for any info on this guy, what kind of Betta is he, why is he so small? Any suggestions on helping along his recovery?


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## moodynarwhal (Mar 24, 2016)

He may be stunted. I had a betta who was stunted, he was under an inch not including his fins. It's probably because he was in the cup so long. My best advice would be make sure his water is warm and clean, maybe get some stressguard as well.


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## Tardigrade (Apr 17, 2017)

Aww poor guy. Beautiful color though! 

They were relieved you took him. Reminds me of when I worked at a pet store and there was a little dwarf hamster that no one bought for a long time until he became obese. I said if he is not sold this week, he's coming home with me. But he was sold and I was relieved. Hamsters always bit me.


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