My constipated fish
George the betta spars with his reflection in better days, before he got constipated and started The Pea Trick I found via Google
This is George the fish and right now he’s (hopefully) recovering from a bout of constipation.
He’s a betta, also known as a fighting fish, and his kind are often on display in tiny containers, in unfiltered water, at room temperature. Compared to most of his peers, George has an amazing life – or so I imagine – living in his version of a mansion, i.e. a 20-gallon tank with a filter and a heater.
Two days ago I noticed a problem. George looked bloated and lighter in colour, where his fishy skin had grown taut – and the poor thing had a big, long piece of poo billowing from his fins.
A Google search confirmed my suspicion: constipation.
The Pea Trick
According to Constipation Information and Symptoms, an article at petfish-dot-net, a tiny piece of pea is the solution for helping a fish poo. (There’s a reason I’m referencing the link as I am – spare you the details.)
"The Pea Trick" brings relief to constipated betta fish. Pictured here are pea pieces that were chopped further into quarters, shown beside a teaspoon for scale
“Take a frozen or fresh pea (you can used canned peas if you don’t have access to fresh or frozen, but they do contain a lot of salt and the others are really preferable), and cook it until it’s squishy,” read the article. “Peel the skin away, and break the ‘meat’ into small, Betta-bite-size pieces.”
In the spirit of “fact-checking,” I checked to see if other websites recommended this practice. Sure enough, several did, and I decided to give it a try. He gobbled it instantly.
Got a whole lotta poo
Since then he seems to be crapping constantly – and I can tell it’s not the same turd because the protrusion varies in length at different times I observe him. I can’t really identify anything “crapped out” floating around, but it’s really small poo and might just get sucked into the filter right away.
This prolific pooing is good news, according to petfish.net. They advise: “If he ate some of it just sit back and watch for a bowel movement in the next day or so. You can repeat ‘the Pea Trick’ as often as he’ll consume them (just don’t go overboard with it).”
He seems to be in decent spirits – as far as I can tell. In any case, now it’s time to wait and watch – but not too much because that would be a bit weird if I spent too much time tank-side, wringing my hands. Stay tuned for an update – and let me know if you have any advice.
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