I don't think this is gonna work!

Uh, I had a moment of temporary insanity and bought a Betta tonight

Hi Fishy fishy
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...hie-fishie.jpg

Excuse me, why don't you answer me? Wanna come out and play?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...esg/youhoo.jpg

Ut-oh, watch out Mr. Betta -- the sharks are circling
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...esg/sharks.jpg

Flutter checking out Mr. Betta in his current home, trying not to knock over his new luxurious accomodations
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...ter-fishie.jpg

Hello? Anybody home? Its the Welcome Wagon!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5.../poke-poke.jpg

Ummm.... do ya think this is gonna work out? Will Mr. Betta make it through the night? The boys have not noticed him yet. dum-da-dum-dum! :eek:

Any ideas where I can safely keep Mr. Betta without becoming sushi for Pouncer? :eek:

Ummm ... weeeeeeeeeellllll ............. maybe a cast iron betta bowl with a lid? :eek: Sorry, that's the best suggestion I could come up with on such short notice!!! :p

I transferred him to his new home and put a plastic lid on the bowl -- one of those lids from deli cups that snap on. It fit purrfectly and I punched holes in it for Mr. Betta to breathe. Pouncer made short order of removing the lid :rolleyes:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...ith-fishie.jpg

Allen's just sitting 4' away staring at it :p

Now -- quick tests -- which of my brown tabbies is which in all these photos? ;) :p

Kim I had a betta when I had my rb gigi, I had to keep the beta in a cupboard in the kitchen, luckily it had a glass door but even with a cover I was afraid gigi would knock the bowl over.

These pictures are just TOOooooo funny! I can't wait to see WHO wins this one.... The cats or the fish!

I thought beta fish had to have a plant in the water so they could survive (food)? Have a plant and it's roots in the vase the furry kids wouldnt see the fish right away but the plant and might leave it alone.

hmm. find somewhere the cats dont go, somewhere unreachable. keep mr fishy there. we all do things on impulse. i hope betta wont become a victim of fish flavoured fish!!! i think you reallyneed to be fair to the fish and get him to somewhere safe away from the kitties.

You could put the bowl in a plant hanger (one of those macrame things) and hang it out of reach. Mr. Betta might have a betta chance of survival! :D

That fishy is gonna be SUSHI! :eek: Your going to have to hang him from the ceiling in order for him to be safe. :rolleyes:

Abby

Flutter

Pouncer !

Mr. Betta made it through the night. They are all still checking him out, but the dippy paw thing is over (guess they decided he wasn't all that interesting to paw at and the wet paw wasn't worth it) ;) He'll be purrfectly fine now that their initial appraisal of him is over. I promise! :)

As for the plant in a vase thing, from everything I've read, that is supposed to be the worst thing for the fish because he needs lots of oxygen and the flower takes up room at the surface, and they breathe through coming up to the surface for air

Hanging plant... sorry but I am almost rolling on the floor over that idea! It would become the world first Fishy Flying Trapeze artist, Right now they are attacking the hanging spider plant for all its worth. No lie!

High place to put him? The only high place where the cats do not go is the shelf in the closet, and then he'd suffocate from all the litter dust covering the water's surface.

Intereting about flower that was how local floral shop did mine. Way it was set up the plastic lid wasnt that tight and air holes were in it. The fish lastest a couple weeks then I got stupid and used fish food along with the plant roots that were already there.

I've been wanting to get a fish so I'm going to use the catnapper experiment as my guide. Good luck Mr. Betta!

Actually I have a small 2.5 gallon octagon tank with a lid that I had in college but it's a horrible bright pink and doesn't go in my house plus it may be too old and weakened after 16 years of storage.

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Originally Posted by Craftlady

I thought beta fish had to have a plant in the water so they could survive (food)? Have a plant and it's roots in the vase the furry kids wouldnt see the fish right away but the plant and might leave it alone.

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NO NO NO!!! Bettas are carnivores!!! They can't eat plant roots. Yours may have died because it went without food for so long and then got a lot at once.

Those vases are VERY unsafe for bettas, as the roots can actually cut off their oxygen supply if they get too plentiful. Keep the roots trimmed so that the fish can come to the surface to breathe.

CUTE pictures! I'm glad mister fishy survived the night!

Maybe a small aquarium with a lid? We actually had Alpha on a shelf that the cats couldn't get onto, but for awhile he was temporarily relocated to the kitchen counter. The cats pretty much ignored the aquarium.

I will have to find the Photo of Pouncer when I visited a Cat Friend of mine probably close to Twenty Years Ago.
I had Two Goldfish Once.
Pouncer had Filet O Fish,Live.

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Originally Posted by CathyBogart

NO NO NO!!! Bettas are carnivores!!! They can't eat plant roots. Yours may have died because it went without food for so long and then got a lot at once.

Those vases are VERY unsafe for bettas, as the roots can actually cut off their oxygen supply if they get too plentiful. Keep the roots trimmed so that the fish can come to the surface to breathe.

CUTE pictures! I'm glad mister fishy survived the night!

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It turned out to be a real pain to keep clean etc. Sorry to say I wasnt sad to see the fish die, I'm not a fish lover.
I've had the plant for 8 years in the water. Hubby got me the fish/plant for our 1st anniversary.

Funny pics!!!
My RB-Sydney loved to "go fishing" too ;)
http://users.pandora.be/bernardgabri.../firstSydn.jpg

This fish was staying with us, while his humans (our neighbours) were on vacation!! We had to put it in my daughter's bedroom, as Sydney didn't give up fishing one second :eek: :rolleyes:

I just wanted everyone to know that Mr. Betta is still alive and well. Funny thing is that 3 other people who bought Bettas the same night had to return theirs because they died! :eek: and mine is living quite well despite feline intervention! Actually, they completely ignore him now, its no longer exciting :)

:D :D Love the paw dipping. :D

Betas breathe like other fish through their gills. They are comfortable in small bowls as their natural habitat is puddles and small ponds. A plant will consume the oxygen in the water starving the fish. The bubble nest they create at the top of the water isn't an effort to breathe but instead trying to attract a mate. Go to the pet store and get beta food. They are tiny pellets and feed him carefully so as not to overfeed him. Too much food is deadly to a beta.

My brothers betta lived for a veeeeeery long time, 3 or 4 years I believe (betas often live at least 3 years), in a vase with a plant topper. But I do believe he got the betta already in the vase and didnt have to transplant a fish or the plant. And in the end he was shocked that it lived so long.

I had a betta that lived in a small bowl, and he lived for a good 8 months before hurling himself from his bowl in a desperate cry for attention and commited suicide on my birthday. A very sad little 19 year old I was that day.

One thing to remember is that Walmart fish will general go belly up much quicker than fish from pet specific stores where they take better care of them, employ staff which are interested in animals and not just assigned there for Thursday night shifts. Imagine buying a cat from Wal-Mart from a 17 year old who is disgruntled and hates his job and isn't interested in scooping litter or helping them learn good cat skills.

I would advise you to spend a little time surfing the internet...check out this site... http://www.betta-fish-care-breeding.com/ and consider checking out a book on betta care, if not at the library, I'm sure you can find one where you got Mr. Fish.

All animals deserve a good shot, great and small.

Oh...and...forgot....a good cat pet is a turtle. We put our turtle on the floor with the cats and he charged the cats and scared them half to death. There was mutual respect after that and Dodger and Teirza spent plenty of time just watching him and Speedbump (yes my husband picked the name) didn't have to worry about being bothered.

ahhh those pics are so cute!!!

My cat tried ONCE to get the fish with her paw adn the betta attacked her!!! :rolleyes: She hasn't gone back to that tank sence.

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They are comfortable in small bowls as their natural habitat is puddles and small ponds.

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This is a HUGE myth. Bettas live in rice patties. If you've ever seen a picture rice patties don't have small puddles, they are flooded! Tons and tons of room for them to swim. However their gills have adapted to allow them to survive during the short periods when the patties are drained. Just because they can survive doesn't mean that is how they should always live. I would sugggest getting your betta something larger, they really need at least a gallon. A 1 gallon tank with a light and fliter runs around $12 at Petsmart.

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Originally Posted by catnapper

I just wanted everyone to know that Mr. Betta is still alive and well. Funny thing is that 3 other people who bought Bettas the same night had to return theirs because they died! :eek: and mine is living quite well despite feline intervention! Actually, they completely ignore him now, its no longer exciting :)

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Maybe it's all the exercise Mr. Betta is getting... :D

Liz

We have had our Betta for over a year now with the 5 cats. They pretty much ignore him now for the most part. Every now and then they will watch him for a while and Trouble will dip his paw in the back of the tank near where the filter is. We have a 2.5 gallon tank with a light and filter for him. I would suggest getting something heavy enough that the cats couldn't push it off of whatever furniture it is sitting on. Ours is named Stick. It was when Brian was working at the bank and they all had bettas. The customers would ask what his fishes name was...he would reply "Stick". Some would get it right away and some would start to walk off and then get it....Fish...Stick. :rolleyes: :p

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Originally Posted by Uabassoon

This is a HUGE myth. Bettas live in rice patties. If you've ever seen a picture rice patties don't have small puddles, they are flooded! Tons and tons of room for them to swim. However their gills have adapted to allow them to survive during the short periods when the patties are drained. Just because they can survive doesn't mean that is how they should always live. I would sugggest getting your betta something larger, they really need at least a gallon. A 1 gallon tank with a light and fliter runs around $12 at Petsmart.

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I agree 100%, that betta needs a bigger tank, hopfully one with a lid to keep him safe from those cute sharks!

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Originally Posted by jackie

I agree 100%, that betta needs a bigger tank, hopfully one with a lid to keep him safe from those cute sharks!

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Then you've never met Pouncer. Those will remember my last attempt at a fish tank with him. Lets just say he's smarter than the average cat because he got the lids/hoods/tops off the tank within seconds. He got the lid off of this new bowl in half a second. The more I put up to deter him the more he's going to be determined to get at it. Trust me on this one. He's a stinker!

As it stands, everyone is quite happy to leave Mr. Betta alone. He gets fresh water and food per instructions. He's got lots of swimming room and is probably the most active Betta I've ever seen. They watch him swim but no longer poke at him, but they do occasionally stick their heads in for a little drink :rolleyes: Its big excitement around here when I give him fresh water :rolleyes: but other than that they ignore him

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Originally Posted by Craftlady

I thought beta fish had to have a plant in the water so they could survive (food)? Have a plant and it's roots in the vase the furry kids wouldnt see the fish right away but the plant and might leave it alone.

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That is a big myth and actually will end up killing the betta since Bettas are carnivorous and not omnivorous at all :o

They CAN, however, live in a vase with a plant so long as the plant does not cover the entire surface of the water because Bettas are surface breathers :)

Looks like Mr.Betta is going to do fine in your home :D We had fish in a big tank when we lived in Ma. and the cats didn't even look at it after a while.

Suggest you buy the fish a guard dog ;)