Green pea, either fresh or frozen, is often used by betta keepers to alleviate mild constipation sometimes caused by flake, pellet or freeze dried fish foods. While it does little nutritionally for bettas, it is high in fiber and contains added moisture which often lacks from commercial dry fish food.
Serving Size: 1/4 – 1/2 Pea per Betta.
To prepare, take one pea and blanch it by dropping it into boiling water to soften it. After cooking for 30 seconds for fresh peas or 1 minute for frozen, remove and drop into ice cold water until cooled. Peal the skin away and feed a small portion of the inside to the betta.
To save time and keep things simple, I have found that using very hot tap water works fine too, however cooking time should be increased to two minutes or more depending on how hot your water is out of the faucet. Be sure the pea is fully cooled before feeding to your betta.
Pea can be used in moderation to treat mild bloating due to constipation or once per week to add fiber to your betta’s diet as a preventative measure. Most bettas will readily eat the pea but occasionally a individual fish won’t take it. Check back later this week for an article on alternative constipation treatments.
View Comments (62)
How can you tell if your Betta is constipated?
The most significant way of telling is if your betta has a swollen upper belly, resulting of lack of moisture in certain fish foods, such as pellets and bloodworms. I never knew what was wrong with my fish before researching, and thought it might have been pregnant! Stupid me!
Because the poor fella hasn’t “been” for a while. But if he was a mathematician, he could it out with a pencil.
Here’s what I found concerning the matter.
http://abettablog.blogspot.com/search?q=constipation
Peace! Or should I say Peas.
how do you get the betta to eat the pea since it doesn't float?
You can try hand feeding with a toothpick.
I'm going to answer my own question in case anyone else is having trouble. just now I finally got my betta to eat a piece. He had to first get hungry enough to give in and eat it. my strategy was to hold a small piece with tweezers and swoosh it around in the water. I also tapped on his tank. After getting his attention, I held the pea right by his mouth and he finally ate it. It has taken several days to get to this point. I've been giving him periodic epsom salt baths too. he is still lying on his side, but we'll see.
“Straw Method” – I mushed the pea up with my fingers and put a small piece on the inside end of a straw. then, held the straw just above the water until I could tell the fish was paying attention. Then I dipped the straw and the tiny piece of pea would drop in front of the fish. And my fish would suck it up. I resorted to this method because I was wasting so many peas because they would just drop to the bottom of the tank.
i decided to fast my betta for two days, I gave her a pea today and she ate it first try!
just put the pea into water with the betta pellets so the peas will taste like betta food.
So my betta, Dragon, has been in a hospital tank taking epsom salt baths. He is no longer floating on his side and swimming around some. But I can’t get him to eat the damn pea. I’ve tried everything! He’s so stubborn!!! Anyway, I’m gonna give that tweezer trick a try, I just don’t want him to hurt himself. On another note, his belly is still white from being now only slightly constipated and his color has paled some. Is it because of the fasting? Or is it something else? Should I worry?
Pea is just an aid in treating constipation in bettas. Don’t drive yourself too crazy trying to get him to eat it. The important thing is making sure you don’t overfeed. If the bloating is going down, then that’s a good thing. Color loss could be a sign of stress caused by the salt baths or possibly the fasting if he has gone a long time without food. How long have you been fasting him?
I hv fasted fish for 4 days now, still pretty bloated and belly white. Dont knw wht to do. Going to try the pea thing again with tweezers see if he will eat. Very worried dont know what else to do. Wht goes into a hospifal tank?
Get garlic juice extract, bettas LOVE garlic and soaking the pea in there for like 30 seconds gets it all nice and garlicy for them. I never fed my newest betta a pea before because he is SUPER bloated and not going down any, after not feeding him for over 5 days. He ate it with no problems, other than the pea sinks so finding a method for them to see it first before you put it in the tank is ideal
I just feed my betta a 1/4 of a pea and now he is acting like he is really sick, floating near the top?? what is wrong with him I am really scared now, he acts like he is out of it, what should I do???
I went on vacations and told my brother to give my betta 3 pallets on the morning and 3 at night.. >: / HE DIDNT LISTEN!!.. he gave him more and when i came back i saw he has a big belly not to big but he wasnt like this when i left…. i don’t know what to do, should i stop feeding him or take him to the vet I DON’T WANT TO SEE HIM GET WORST!… please help me!… :’(
If he was just overfed a little I’d recommend simply skipping a meal or two. He’ll likely poop some time in the next 24 hours.
well, he was overfed like for about 4 days i think he gave him 6 pallets in the morning and at night… :( i’m just guessing the num, because he said it just what ever came out in the square… so i just leave him without food for about 2 days..??…
I can’t buy peas. Can I just stop feeding her for a few days?
My betta fish still have the belly and i haven’t seen him poop.. I saw that there is like something yellow like pus at the bottom part of the tank its a small piece, does that mean something is wrong?…. :(
I’m not sure what the puss-like thing is. Are you sure that he is bloated because of constipation or does it look more like fluid buildup? Have you ruled out Dropsy?
Yes, he looks kind of bloated not huge but a bit! I don’t think he has Dropsy, he doesnt look like the fish that has dropsy…. here are some pict, hope you can see them ….. I really dont know how he will look if he is just bloated because of constipation or fluid buildup…. I will buy the epsom salt today in case you do recommend me to add it to the fish tank. Thank you !… :D
He looks only mildly bloated. I can’t yet tell if it is constipation or Dropsy. He doesn’t have the pineconing that bettas often get with Dropsy so that’s a good thing. I suspect you are correct and he just has some very mild constipation. I’d try fasting him for two days to see if he poops. It’s good that you have no substrate. You’ll be able to tell if he goes.
How many days can i feed my betta fish with peas?? twice a day for a week, or how???….
thank you !
Feed pea once or twice per week. Daily feeding is not recommended as peas do not contain the nutrition bettas need. (Think of it as adding a little fiber to their diet.)
Dear Christie,
My fish bubbly is swimming on his side & i don’t know what’s wrong my fish i am scared that he might die.What i should do about him swimming side ways?Is that normal?Please help me save my fish