# What type of Veggie food will Betta eat?



## 4everaspirit (Dec 19, 2011)

My adopted girl, Melanie hasn't really been eating. Well I give her a few betta pellets but I notice that she spits them up. That and she will come back to the dispersed food and taste it again and still spit it out. >.> I don't know if maybe she is still not hungry because of that plastic container she had previously been in that had food or if she is just still adjusting to her environment. 

Should I let her go without eating for a few days? 

I also worry that maybe she doesn't like the type of food. The pellets are "Top Fin: Betta coloring enhancing pellets." I think they also might be a bit big for her, since she nips at them but can't seem to gulp a pellet fully into her mouth.

So...should I try some different food? Are there any type of vegetables that she could nibble on? Can they live solely off veggie food (doubt it, but thought I would ask because I'm a vegan and it would be great if she could.)


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

Bettas are carnivores, so veggies or vegetable-based fish foods won't work. Sometimes it takes a new betta a little while to start eating as they settle into a new environment. Since your fish is trying to eat, that's a good sign, and I would think that your guess that the pellets are too big is a good one; often when pellets are too big the fish will spit them out to try and break them up. I'd try a smaller pellet. I use New Life Spectrum betta pellets; they're very good quality, and they're pretty small. You could also try crushing her current pellets, if you don't want to have to buy new food.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

when i had a tiny betta(there was the small Ct girl, and a fry i raised), i had to crush the food. if you can get to a pet store that sells New Life Spectrum grow pellets, those are perfect for small bettas, and smell so rich, that most bettas eat them up. most betta food has insect and fish bits in it, because they eat bugs in the wild. x: veggies could hurt them, since they can't digest them very well.


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

I would try cutting the pellets (very carefully!) in half, or get smaller pellets- usually repeatedly spitting the food in and out is a sign of them trying to "chew" food that they don't feel comfortable eating whole. They have teeth, but they aren't for grinding the food like ours.


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## 4everaspirit (Dec 19, 2011)

Thanks LoLa, Myates, and Luimeril! I wasn't sure about the carnivore thing because I have heard of people giving them peas o.o

But yes, I plan to break the pellets up some.


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## Bambi (Sep 11, 2011)

Haha yeah, they're insectivorous. They eat flies/worms/larvae/brine shrimp.

you can try buying some frozen foods. I always have some frozen brine shrimp around that my bettas adore. They come in little cubes and generally i can cute one of the mini-cube in half and have enough for all 4 of my bettas to have some.

Hehe as for the morals thing, some animals have to eat other animals ~shrug~ a lion doesn't do very well on a vegan diet does it? Think of bettas as little bitty fishlions(especially when they flare and have those beards).

if you can't get the frozen bugs or don't feel comfortable just try crushing the pellets or buying small ones.  My younger VT girl cant eat/digest whole pellets so I rock a knife over them once to break them but not turn them into dust then i can just press my finger down on the bits and they stick and i can sprinkle it in her tank.


EDITED TO ADD: The peas are for when a betta is constipated. Because they can't digest them they just go right through the betta and push out whats in there, basicly.


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## 4everaspirit (Dec 19, 2011)

Cool Bambi, thanks for letting me know the peas are for when they are constipated.  

I think she is a rather tiny beta so yeah, she probably does need her pellets crushed. Will do! Hehe I know some animals have to eat other animals (However, I do remember reading a story about a vegetarian lioness and some people have vegan cats. They just gotta make sure they get their "Taurine" which is typically from animal tissue but can surprisingly be produced synthetically and put into vegan cat food o.o. But that's another story.) This is why I would have preferred adopting a "rabbit" lolzz but I wasn't gonna turn any creature in need away. I think when I start to get low on Betta pellets I will ask my friends for their leftovers betta pellets that they can't use anymore. I'd rather use up food for her that someone else had left over than buy some more from industries that I don't agree with o.o Whatever I have to do though, I'll make sure she is fed and happy ^^ She is so sweet <3


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