# My betta is VERY shy... is this odd?



## Starbright (Apr 26, 2009)

I got a blue/white hm male yesterday and noticed he's extremely timid and shy. He hides behind plants all day, never flares or shows his beautiful fins and gets freaked out when I approach. He turns away when he sees me and is absolutely scared of his reflection when I held a mirror to him. He tried jumping out of the tank and started crashing in to walls when he saw himself... =/

He also just idles near the top of the water. He doesn't have SBD because he swims perfectly fine.. he just chills there... not moving. 

I really don't want an anti-social betta 
Is there something wrong with him?

I have two other bettas right now that were spunky from the start. I just now took a picture of him and he got FREAKED out by the camera and spazzed out... running in to walls ;_;


Him facing away from me towards my wall









Him getting freaked out, running to the other side and idling on top again... =/


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## Vikki81207 (May 27, 2009)

He'll probably be like that until he gets used to his new home. Give him some time, then start worrying.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I agree with Vikki. He's just getting used to his new home and will probably act that way until he gets used to everything. Mine were that way for a few days until they realized where the food was coming from. lol


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## AngelicScars (May 5, 2009)

Yep, I think it's all normal. He needs to get used to his home, lights, sounds, you. After he realizes you are okay and you feed him, he'll definitely perk up!


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## Starbright (Apr 26, 2009)

Bad news. He was face down in the middle of a plant. When I touched the plant, he sunk lower.. Unmoving. By now I faced the fact that he was dead so I got the net. When I got him in the net, he began moving again, but just barely. I'm pretty sure he's going back to the store tm


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## bettalover3000 (Jul 18, 2009)

hes not flaring because it not another mzle and since he shy try to put a female in the tank


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## BakaMandy (Jun 16, 2009)

Do you have a heater in the tank? Cause he looks perfectly fine, although his belly looks a little big... '' Compared to a previous picture I saw of him in your "New Betta " thread, he defiantly looks more bloated. Perhaps he's constipated? If not, maybe look up other fish sickness that associate with bloating, or if anyone else might have an idea...

Btw, those plants look like they might do some damage to betta fins D: I had those and they majorly ripped up my betta's fins.

D: He's a beautiful betta, don't let him go to waste ):


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I would most definitely NOT recommend putting a female in the tank with him!


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## sweetviolets (Jul 14, 2009)

That is a beautiful blue fish!


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## Starbright (Apr 26, 2009)

Thanks for the advice guys! I have one of those sticky thermometers on the outside of my tank and it says the water temp is 81F without the heater. My room is constantly stifling in the summer. I had to unplug the heater in my other two tanks as well  I had those plants in my other betta tank and no damage was done =/ Thanks for the advice about the plants though, I'll get rounder leafed plants today ^^


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

That's the same tank Kong (my King betta) has except his is blue 

It's not unusal for him to do this. They get stressed when purchased so it's normal.

Very pretty blue butterfly delta tail )))


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## Starbright (Apr 26, 2009)

Is he a butterfly delta or a half moon? :0
I got him from Petco labeled under half moon but they're pretty infamous for getting breed types wrong...


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## Starbright (Apr 26, 2009)

I feel horrible! :[
I was (kinda) fed up with my half moon betta so I returned him. I looked at the other bettas there and non of them caught my attention so I went a few streets down to Petsmart. I didn't find any that stood out either. It was then I started to really miss my returned betta. I started to freak out, thinking that some snot nosed kid would get him and dump him in a 1/2 gallon tank and never clean it... so I rushed back, crossing my fingers that he wasn't sold (since he was the prettiest one there by far).

I went there (and after getting strange looks) snatched him back! I felt so sorry for him that I bought $21 worth of new stuff for him and took out the bubbler he hated. >_<

So here he is! Name: Jihu (Pronounced Gee-hu) He's named after a hot guy in a famous Korean drama who has a gentle character... >u<d

Btw he's suddenly more active now! 

























I cut off 20 of the hard, pointy strands on the hair grass plant and replaced the other plant with the round edged one 


And here's my dog.. lol.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I'm glad you decided to keep your fish. Your dog is cute! Is it a Maltese?


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## Starbright (Apr 26, 2009)

dramaqueen said:


> I'm glad you decided to keep your fish. Your dog is cute! Is it a Maltese?



I'm glad I decided to keep him too! And yep! She's a Maltese.. but smaller than normal. Runt of the litter I guess


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## BakaMandy (Jun 16, 2009)

Awww! I'm really happy to hear that you kept him too! 

The little house is so cute! ^o^ Maybe he just wanted more places to hide? Betta fish get less stressed out when they have more places to hide


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## BearFish96 (Jul 17, 2009)

BakaMandy said:


> Awww! I'm really happy to hear that you kept him too!
> 
> The little house is so cute! ^o^ Maybe he just wanted more places to hide? Betta fish get less stressed out when they have more places to hide



He seems to have caught a mild case of the Betta Fever! :-D


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## Starbright (Apr 26, 2009)

Thanks guys! Going through all this has made me love him even more! I'm so happy to have him ^^ and he loves his home! He can't stand a filter so I suppose I'll be doing frequent water changes... But that's fine by me


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## ltshinthebetta (Jul 16, 2009)

I'm glad everything worked out and that you got him back. 

My fish has the same problem, except its been like that since I got him.
I got him 3 weeks ago, and he freaks whenever I'm around and always hides at the bottom. He hasnt eaten either, since I got him, so I'm not expecting him to live much longer.


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## neenjar (Jun 19, 2009)

Starbright said:


> Thanks guys! Going through all this has made me love him even more! I'm so happy to have him ^^ and he loves his home! He can't stand a filter so I suppose I'll be doing frequent water changes... But that's fine by me


Even with a filter frequent water changes are highly advised. Both of my tanks are filtered and get 25% changes twice a week. One is just scooping water out and adding fresh treated water, one is gravel vacuum siphon of 25-30% of the water.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Starbright said:


> I'm glad I decided to keep him too! And yep! She's a Maltese.. but smaller than normal. Runt of the litter I guess


I have a maltese  There are Tea Cup maltese though.

I'm glad you got him back ))


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## Starbright (Apr 26, 2009)

ltshinthebetta said:


> I'm glad everything worked out and that you got him back.
> 
> My fish has the same problem, except its been like that since I got him.
> I got him 3 weeks ago, and he freaks whenever I'm around and always hides at the bottom. He hasnt eaten either, since I got him, so I'm not expecting him to live much longer.


:[ My betta is actually still shy... but is a pig for food. He just hides in the hut's roof all day so I can't see him but will come up for air and food. If you want your betta to live, I suggest dropping in one of those vacation betta tablets so at least he's getting his nutrition. ;[ Good luck with him though! Hopfully my betta will perk up too >_<


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

my betta is shy too... I got him at petsmart.... my husband and I think he was tortured at the store and that's why he's shy, our other betta is active and will even come up to your hand and follow you around the room... he even comes out of his hiding place when we walk by.... and at feeding time he'll eat the pellets as you drop them in.... our veil tail hides everytime we come near but he does eat the pellets as they sink, he's always building a bubble nest so I don't think anything is really wrong with him other than just being shy he swims around and doesn't act sick sooooo I'm not too worried... he just has to get out of his petstore trauma funk


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## cesitlie95 (Dec 27, 2010)

He's beautiful! I love his finnage!


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

Um this thread is two years old.


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## MelKurtonic (Feb 16, 2011)

and you are an extremely lonely pet person... what's your point?




turtle10 said:


> Um this thread is two years old.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

It's not good forum manners to update and revive long dead threads because it pushes more important and recent threads down and further out of view. That's all Turtle was trying to say.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

MelKurtonic said:


> and you are an extremely lonely pet person... what's your point?


Wow… that was really offensive, and that actually hurt my feelings. JKfish was right, all I was trying to do was keep the new, most important threads at the top.


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

Your betta will adjust. He was probably used to a dark container during shipment and still getting accustomed to humans. Place your tank in a social area you will spend the most time at so he gets used to your presence. Eventually they willl come around.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

scootshoot said:


> Your betta will adjust. He was probably used to a dark container during shipment and still getting accustomed to humans. Place your tank in a social area you will spend the most time at so he gets used to your presence. Eventually they willl come around.


This thread is really really old, so please try to read through before posting so that newer, more relevant threads don't get pushed down


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

turtle10 said:


> This thread is really really old, so please try to read through before posting so that newer, more relevant threads don't get pushed down


Sometimes old posts get bumped because some posters actually use the search function and reply as opposed to starting a new thread. There are several threads here that I come across daily that is quickly answered by reading the sticky or using a simple search.

To each their own. :lol:


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

scootshoot said:


> Sometimes old posts get bumped because some posters actually use the search function and reply as opposed to starting a new thread. There are several threads here that I come across daily that is quickly answered by reading the sticky or using a simple search.
> 
> To each their own. :lol:


What? I didn't really understand what you said lol


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

turtle10 said:


> What? I didn't really understand what you said lol


I will give you my personal example. Was on the hunt for plants in my 5. Rather then start a new thread, did a search on this forum. Came across a thread that was 5 pages in length and replied to it, thus bumped a thread that was 5 months old.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

scootshoot said:


> I will give you my personal example. Was on the hunt for plants in my 5. Rather then start a new thread, did a search on this forum. Came across a thread that was 5 pages in length and replied to it, thus bumped a thread that was 5 months old.


OH I see lol


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

BTW the girl in your avatar is SO cute!


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

turtle10 said:


> BTW the girl in your avatar is SO cute!


heh thanks, I see you removed your avatar of that cute chihuahua :-(

We used to have a Miniature Pinscher, boy I miss him to this day. Lived over 17 years with us before he passed.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

scootshoot said:


> heh thanks, I see you removed your avatar of that cute chihuahua :-(
> 
> We used to have a Miniature Pinscher, boy I miss him to this day. Lived over 17 years with us before he passed.


Yes he was being particularly grumpy today so I changed it to his sister's picture lol. 

I have never seen a min pin in person, only from a distance and on TV but they are so cute. I'm so sorry he passed but it is amazing that he was with you for so long.


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## Goomba3 (Jan 20, 2011)

I'm glad you had a change of heart and took him back. Just a little more TLC and he will warm up to you in no time. Good luck!


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

Goomba3 said:


> I'm glad you had a change of heart and took him back. Just a little more TLC and he will warm up to you in no time. Good luck!


This thread is very, very old. Please people read through the thread first before posting. The issue has already been resolved long ago.


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