My rescue betta!

Today i nipped into an lfs in Yorkshire to see if i could get a resin stone cave/bridge for the tank and i always look at the fish there.

There where lots of different fish but i always look for bettas even though i generally dont buy them from an lfs like this particular one! I noticed a betta by his self not looking so good at all really scruffy, as i was peering in a member of staff came to me and told me what had happened to him...i couldnt believe my ears.
Someone had brought him in as he had been used in fighting matches...the guy said he had no tail fin when he was brought in and all his other fins where chewed up, so from what i could see he had done well to grow his tail back even though it is very scruffy. The guy said he was free to anyone who could look after him, as he wasnt getting the best of care there, i thought about it as i did have a tank free and thought again.
The guy also said he thinks he may have been a crowntail but wasnt 100% sure as you will see in the photos he's a bit of a mess.

Ok il take him i said...got him home been very quiet though the odd bit of swimming about and he does this funny 360 degrees circle of swimming. He's very friendly.
Iv taken a few photos of him:
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Just look at that face how could i have left him!
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Thinking of maybe calling him...Ragga Muffin!

Oh poor lil guy he has a pretty face.Sure with some loving he will be back to full form soon! x

I have noticed he sits on the floor a lot and kinda slumps to one side but still quite active

Awww poor little man, well done you..
I am sure that in Kel's post about the conditioning of fighting fish, they are made to swim around in circles, maybe thats why he does that

Oh i see, he does it when im looking at him right at the front of the tank!

he might have internal bruising on one side from the fighting

he's also a veiltail def not crown but shredded and battered

high salt level in tank and if poss 'brown tea' level of IAL in water would benefit him loads

his fins were obviously so badly ripped the rays will be wonky and he'll never be 100% tidy again

no signs of rot so fins should heal up well in time, do keep a close eye on his turning thing though... it's unlikey that he's been trained how the thai's do it or he wouldn't have ended up in such a state... sounds more like some silly peeps decided to put to males together to see them fight

Lol I just seen what you said you where going to call him. Thats a great name for the little man

Hey Nataliey ,,

I'd have brought him home to ,,
So good on you ,,
I'm sure he'll reward you for it !
Such is the nature of our precious Bettas ,,,,

Thank you everyone, thank you kel for the advice il do my best for him, his personality is really coming out even though iv only had him since yesterday.
He always comes to look at me through the gap at the top of the tank, he's got beautiful eyes.

He's quite big though compared to my 8 month old Haku...the guy said he'd been at the shop for around 3 months and was quite big then, how old would you say he was anyone???

I rescued a Giant Betta from an LFS at half price. He was literally doing flips. After a week of changing water daily and adding ampicillin it cleared up what ever infection he had but for the rest of his life he would do the circling to the left thing. I can't fathom the reason but he looked pretty rough, like he could have been a fighter. As far as how old your Betta is there is no telling. Mine are generally full grown by 7 or 8 months but some can take up to a year or longer to attain their maximum growth.

standard lfs type bettas here are fully grown at abot 10-12 months

he could just be a big boy or be a lot older

doubtful he's from giant genes in uk just with the struggle we have to get them here

assume he's fully grown around 1-1.5yrs old, if he's been used to fight he's been active enough to not be a pensioner so doubt he's any older than that

poor lil man... atleast he's got a happy retirement home even if he never gets fully back to 100%

Poor thing glad youve taken him home hun. Some people have no morals at all

Ragga muffin, I thoroughly approve

Thanks guys...last night and this morning iv noticed he's started to straighten out his back he does hunch it up as much, hopefully this is a good sign. No 360 swims since i got him on saturday.

Gave him a plant and he looked like he was hugging it as he swam right into it and sat right in it!

Just done him a water change and added the stress coat...going to do this everyother day...hopefully it will help. Gave him shelled pea last night and he gobbled it up like it was going out of fashion,lol! (Maybe he's never tried pea i dont know.)
Maybe give the bettas bloodworm today as their weekly treat...hope he likes them

I think he's enjoying the tlc
And remember Ragamuffin needs bloodclot worm !

Turtle wrote:I think he's enjoying the tlc
And remember Ragamuffin needs bloodclot worm !

Bloodclot worm whats that?

I smile !

BLOOD CLOT = a Jamaican curse word ! With many meanings !

Turtle wrote:I smile !

BLOOD CLOT = a Jamaican curse word ! With many meanings !

MandyD wrote:

Turtle wrote:I smile !

BLOOD CLOT = a Jamaican curse word ! With many meanings !

Funny that, my Grandad never used that phrase and he's Jamaican...il google it!

Ok seen now, no wonder my grandad never said it,

UPDATE

Ragga-muffins body looks a lot straighter today:
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He even flared at me when the camera came out!
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He is looking well ,,
Looks like he found the right human in the end
Nice job ,,,,

Thank you Turtle

It's cute when they flare at something you do lol. Cheeky thing.

Its good to see him do anything other than hunch over and hide in the corner

Look at that face lol how could anyone mistreat him, keep up the good work hun hope his fins fill out again.