My betta has never flared, ever......

[Lethe]

In other respects he is a pretty normal betta. (male) But he refuses to flare up at anything. Every other betta I've had loves to flare, lives to flare at anything and everything. This guy, not so much. He just swims away quickly and hides in the rocks.

I think he is depressed and has low self confidence.

[Shine]

1. What the hell is a betta? A fish, a turtle, a salamander??

:shrug:

things that "flare" sound :scared:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

4. A fish, I think.

No idea what the "flare" business is, though. :scared:

[Lex]

5. Betta fish "flare." Pic.

[SPKrazy]

6. maybe it's a Beta fish

:shrug:


I wondered too.

[Shine]

9. does that mean there's an Alpha, too?

:D

[Lethe]

10. yes, they fight to the death to establish that fact

the alpha betta male lol

[SPKrazy]

12. ...

:rofl:


yeh, the one with the longer fin is the alpha


:hug:

[Lethe]

16. funny, but probably true

a male with bigger fins is probably more likely to scare off smaller male

[Shine]

17. what is it with males??? It's always about SIZE!!

:rofl:

[Lethe]

18. You should watch a smaller male try to mate with a bigger female

If the male isn't big enough the female will totally kick his ass. (i'm talking bettas here of course :P)

Poor guys....There's no way I would try and mate my betta Tokey, he would get his ass beat down LOL.

[Shine]

22. LOL!! that reminds me of a boyfriend I once had.....

I kept worrying that I would roll over in the bed and crush him to death, b/c he was so slightly built. :eyes: Ultimately of course, it didn't work out. I like a man I can hold on to! :D

[SPKrazy]

24. bigga is betta

or the alpha beta

:rofl:

[Lethe]

7. a siamamese fighting fish

they open their operculum's wide open and puff up their large fins out as much as possible when a possible threat, male betta, or female betta is near

[jmowreader]

8. A Betta is the fish once known as the Siamese Fighting Fish

When they flare, they puff up their prodigious dorsal and ventral fins to maximal dimensions.

[tandot]

2. get him a mirror

:evilgrin:

[Lethe]

13. tried it.....no flare

he just swims away....

maybe he is just really smart

[jmowreader]

3. Get him a friend...

Throw about a dozen more bettas in your tank and he'll flare.

I wonder...everyone knows you're not supposed to put two bettas in the same container because they'll kill each other. They are massively territorial, but these fish live in great numbers in Thai rice paddies, where they're not in there by themselves. How much water does a betta need to fulfill his territorial needs?

[Lethe]

20. Good question

I have tried to put two normal males in the same aquarium before with a opaque divider in the middle. It was a 20 gal aquarium i think. All they did night and day was sit at the divider in the middle and flare at the wall wanting to kill each other. They must have sensed each other by smell or other means.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

11. Try Viagra

:evilgrin:

[Lethe]

14. I think the Betta viagra is mosquito larvae

man they get extremely horny when u give them live food

[WritingIsMyReligion]

15. ...

:rofl:

Sorry, this whole thread is just cracking me the hell up. :D

:hi:

[Kali]

19. how long have you had him (and you are sure it's a him, right?)

did he flare wherever you got him? (did you check him out at the time?)

[Lethe]

21. I've had Tokey for about a year now

no has never flared, ever, since I got him.

In other respects he is pretty normal and healthy, but he doesnt make bubble nests either.

Can bettas be gay?

edit: yep he is male

[Kali]

23. More likely there are,

developmental/hormonal/environmental explanations, but sure there could be homosexual individuals. Anybody that thinks homosexuality doesn't exist in "nature" doesn't know much about nature. In the case of such pugnacious species as bettas I would expect not too many survive or develop more "feminine" characteristics such as duller coloring and the behaviors you are describing. Maybe try getting a female and see how he reacts.

[Deja Q]

25. No, he's only got fin envy...

:hide: