The Most Amazing Survival Story of All Time

[mrbonzai211]

My had a beta that he told me died well over three months ago. Today I went into his room and I see the bowl is still there. It's completely covered in algae and the formerly one gallon bowl had evaporated to just barely an inch of water at the bottom. I see this and ask him why he hasn't thrown it out and he tells me he just keeps forgetting, so I walk over and grab the bowl to help him throw it out. Before tossing it, I take a peek into the bowl because I suddenly wondered why it didn't smell like decomposing fish. What did I see? A perfectly healthy beta curled up in the corner of the tank trying to stay submerged in the shallow water. Needless to say, I took it home and I'm currently taking care of him. He's completely healthy, not too thin by any means, his fins are still in tact, and his color is still vibrant. I don't know how he survived all this time because, as far as I knew, betas were largely carnivorous. He must have survived though on either the algae or the clump of java fern that was in the bowl. Needless to say, this lil guy is tough as nails and one heck of a survivor.

 

[Bird Man]

Yep bettas are very hardy and can go long periods of time with out food. Most people who I know that have had them and gotten bored with them just stopped feeding them for long periods and some are still alive, and others were rehomed.

 

[mrbonzai211]

I love the little guy. I'm very happy to have him and I'm spoiling him with high quality fish food (omega one fish food) and blood worm 3 times a day until he fattens up. Hopefully I can breed him sometime soon if I can find him a female equally as beautiful as he is.

On a personal note.... whiskey is my best friend and happy holiday to all my Irish brethren out there!

 

[RoachGirlRen]

It's awesome that he survived, the poor little chap. Glad to hear he's being spoiled now. I love Omega One, great food for them.

Though, as a note, if he is a veiltail or crowntail betta purchased from a pet store, he is probably a) past the prime breeding age for healthy offspring already since stores tend to sell older bettas for their larger finnage and b) probably not going to have easily sold/placed fry since the market is FLOODED with veiltails and lower-quality crowntails. Something to consider should you breed as these guys produce a very large number of offspring. If you do breed, you might want to restrict nest size or cull the fry down to a small, managable number by feeding them to mom and dad while they are still tiny. Obviously you'll also need a much different set-up and a tank for the female should you breed - definiely check out the betta care sheet and breeding info on http://www.ultimatebettas.com for ideas.

 

[Fyreflye]

My four-legged 'son' finds himself

Wow...that was supposed to be a new thread.

Looks like i win the fail award for the day.

I do have a fish story though! I had a common goldfish as a child, and my family decided to move cross-country in the dead of winter one year. Well, being a young child i obviously had nothing to do with packing the moving van, and did not notice that my mom put my fish's tank in the back of the truck. Seriously, what was she thinking? Two days later she breaks it to me that my fish was frozen in a block of ice. I cried, and brought her inside to thaw out so i could properly take care of the body. Sure enough, as the ice melted she started to wiggle her fins and eventually was swimming around again! She lived for another 2 years or so after that incident.

 

[Snuggles]

VERY COOL STORY, mrbonzai211!!! I love bettas, too.

Once a customer returned a very chewed up betta that she had in with another one. She was sitting on the counter and I asked the fish specialist was she going to do with her. She was going to euthanize her.

I took her home. She looked bad, but I medicated her, she has 100% fin regrowth and she is GORGEOUS again. Amazing fish. :worship:

 

[dtknow]

Wow fyrefly that is quite incredible! I suppose that the block was not completely frozen through.