Betta Fish

How to Play With Your Betta Fish

Bettas are remarkably curious, sociable fish. They are fun to play with and teach tricks to.

Steps

1See if he/she will follow your finger or back away from it. Bettas will follow food, especially if it is his or her favorite food. See if you can train yours to follow you around, to come up and see you when it's feeding time, or, if you feed your Betta blood worms, to follow the tweezers you use to handle them.
Betta may jump if you hold blood worms or insects another favorite food up above the tank a bit. If you enjoy that, make sure they will land back in the tank. If you don't wish to encourage that behavior, don't hold food over the tank.

2 Experiment with different objects. Bettas are very curious and love new things. If it's small enough and clean enough, you can put it in the bowl/tank. If not, try moving it around the bowl and see how fishy reacts!

3Feed your Betta live food now and then. Fish/Aquarium specific stores offer live worms that most Betta will chase with zeal. Always feed your Betta a balanced, varied diet.

4Try petting your Betta. Always have clean, well-rinsed hands when reaching into your tank and respect your Betta's preferences if (s)he doesn't seem to want to go along with petting. If (s)he's curious when you reach in to clean or do other things, though, try touching him back, very gently. Reward the Betta with food if you want to encourage the behavior.\

Tips

1. You must not wash your tank with soap. The chemicals will more than likely poison your fish.
2. Don't pet your fish too much or else it's slime coat or it scales might come off!! This might kill your fish.
3. Even though pet stores will tell you that bettas can live in very small amounts of water, you will watch your betta play more if it has room to move around. See this article for more information. Bettas especially do NOT want to live in a cramped little vase with roots of some plant to eat! Betta fish are carnivores/insectivores, they cannot survive by eating plants and will slowly starve in that kind of set up.
4. Betta fish should rarely, if ever, be petted. It's not good to pet them, as doing so may remove their natural slime coating, making them prone to certain diseases. Also, never touch them with bare hands, as bacterias can easily be transmitted through direct contact.
5. Always take care of your betta and let it bond with you. This will make the betta happier and easier to train.
6. If the Betta's color changes over time, do not worry; this is normal.

Warnings

Betta fish do jump. Make sure their tank has a secure hood, or tall rim 2.5 to 3 inches above water line

Betta fish may bite if they are feeling territorial. But not usually.