Betta Fish That are Tail Biters

Helpful Advice for the Lovable Betta Owner

You purchase your new Betta and bring him home from the store. You set up his new home and stand back completely proud of yourself. Once the conditions are right, you add him and come back a few hours later to find his long, lovely tail with bits missing. What happened? What can you do to prevent that in the future?

If your Betta's tail was perfectly fine one minute, and the next pieces were missing, more than likely you are dealing with a tail biter. To be sure of this, watch his tail for a few days and observe any signs of blackness around the tail edge and for fins that begin to shred and fray. If that occurs, you are dealing with fin rot and will have to read one of my other articles for help. If shredding and fraying does not occur, you can be sure you have a tail biter.

First we're going to discuss its causes. No one is really sure what causes a Betta to turn on its on tail as if it were lunch. Some suggest boredom. Betta's are smart fish and without adequate attention from you, or things that they can play with and hide in, many Betta's will become bored and this leads to them taking their aggression out on themselves.

Other Betta's seem to use tail biting when they're nervous or scared. Seeing another Betta nearby might cause a Betta that's never resorted to tail biting before launch a full out attack on his tail, and his long beautiful fins are gone before you know. It's important to watch your Betta and understand his habits and personality before you can decide what treatment is best for your finned friend.