# Training Betta Fish



## onefiveoneone (Nov 6, 2011)

Hello everyone!
I've had my beautiful female Betta named Shinny for almost a year now and I can honestly say she's a strong girl.

I was thinking that it would be fun to try and train her to do tricks like following my fingers and jumping for food. Do you think this is possible? People are really sceptical and telling me that I'm crazy :roll:

Has anyone had any luck in training their fish? :-D

Thanks in advance.
Stephanie.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Training bettas is easy, and those nay-sayers have obviously never tried.  Google R2 Fish School - it's about a goldfish, but it works just fine and dandy for bettas too. However, you don't need it.

It is extremely easy to train your bettas to jump for food. Use treats like bloodworms. Put the bloodworm in the water and wave it about, then release it when the betta gets close. Keep doing that until the betta will actually take it from the tweezers (or your finger). Then, day by day, raise the tweezers a little higher until they are above the water entirely. They catch on pretty quickly. 

You can use a similar method to get them to swim through a hoop.


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## onefiveoneone (Nov 6, 2011)

Aw! The goldfish is so cute.

I tried training her to jump for food today! I tried it with her favourite pellets because I ran out of bloodworms last week. I dangled my finger in the tank and when I least expected it, she jumped and nipped me. Missed the food but close enough!

Thank you for your tips, 
I'll post up a video if I can get her to do other tricks!


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Hey, just noticed your location! The Australians are slowly taking over.  It's good. 
Isn't it the cutest when they jump!?


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## onefiveoneone (Nov 6, 2011)

Oh! Just out of curiosity, what state are you from?

They are adorable!
My Shinny jumped a lot when I gave her food but I thought it was just instinct. I didn't know you could actually train them like other pets.

Just last week, I put her in a shallow bowl to clean her tank and found it empty when it returned. Naturally, I freaked out and went looking all around the bowl. Turns out, she jumped out, fell onto the table, flopped around and fell onto the floor. I felt terrible! It was worse knowing that she was there for a good 5 minutes while I was cleaning.

I scooped her up though, even though I was convinced she was dead, and put her back in water. Miraculously, she survived with no bruises or broken bones. Well, I learned my lesson.

She's one hardy fish! Survivor of Dropsy and a nasty fall.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

I'm in the ACT, but I used to live in NSW. I've been to Adelaide a couple of times - beautiful city! I confess I'm not a true Aussie, though - I'm British really. I'm a citizen now, though!

It's amazing how well bettas survive their jumping escapades. They can survive out of water much better than other fish due to their labyrinth organs allowing them to breathe some air rather than just taking it through the water. Incredible fish. I'm glad she was ok after her escapades - it sounds like she's really been through the wars!

Capitalise on that jumping instinct and teach her to jump through a hoop.


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## onefiveoneone (Nov 6, 2011)

Ooh! I was planning to live in Sydney once I was finished with school. It's funny how so many people just assume that living in Adelaide is the equivalent of living in the country.

Wow! I love the British accent, it's so sophisticated.

Oh, she stirs up so much trouble this one. She seems to be fine but the thing is, her fins look a bit clamped up. She extends them while she swims but it just seems odd. Also, before the fall, her spine was sort of bent in an L-shape but now it's straight. So I guess things worked out better than I had hoped.

Jumping through a hoop would be so cute! Have you trained any of your fish to do any tricks?


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## freeflow246 (Jul 24, 2011)

I've trained Jalen to jump for food, follow my finger, and swim into my hand for food. Just take baby steps, and they'll catch on in no time.
Sushi nipped at my finger and would swim into my hand the first day I got him, so I've got a feeling that he's going to be a pretty outgoing guy. 
Right now I'm trying to train Jalen to flare at this garish purple highlighter that I have. Mildly successful so far.


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## Gamma (Oct 25, 2011)

my betta can swim through a hoop, flare on command, jump for food and follow my finger. I taught him that in a month


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Gamma, that VT in your avatar is gorgeous!


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## Gamma (Oct 25, 2011)

Bombalurina said:


> Gamma, that VT in your avatar is gorgeous!


Thank you! That's late The Baron. He was the smartest Betta I ever had. Like I said above he could do alot of tricks and I could get him to blow a bubble by making a popping sound..... I miss him so much.


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## onefiveoneone (Nov 6, 2011)

Wow! That's amazing. My baby Shinny likes to eat off my finger now! What did you use for the hoop? I've heard that people have used a pipe cleaner but I'm worried because of the metal wire.


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## Neelie (Feb 18, 2010)

ghost used to swim through a hoop too  so cute!!


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