Christie, I’m leaving town for four days and am afraid to ask a friend to feed my bettas for me. I like to feed a combination of live and frozen foods and I think it might be too much to ask of any of my close friends or relatives. Will my fish be ok if I don’t feed them for that long? I haven’t ever gone more then 2 days fasting them. Thanks for all your help.
A: Most adult aquarium fish, including bettas, will be fine without food for 4 days or more. Unlike many warm-blooded animals they are able to store energy a lot longer. Not feeding them while you’re away is probably a safer option then asking someone unfamiliar with aquaria to do the feedings for you.
For my personal peace of mind, four days is about my cut-off. Sure the fish would probably do fine for 5 or 6 days but if I’m going away that long I like to solicit the help of a professional. For extended vacations you might want to turn to your local aquarium club or hire a professional pet-sitter with experience in tropical fish care.
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Hi Christie,
Great Blog and great site! Thanks for hitting my blog and leaving the great betta species link. It’s always great running into fellow betta lovers.
From your blog it looks like I can learn a lot from you ;)
My blue betta (I call him red =P) survived about 8 days on his own. Probably not the best idea, but I didn’t have much of a choice at the time. He’s a fighter for sure. Although he’s currently still a very happy and healthy betta, I do recommend taking Christie’s advice on this one.