[Beyondanytherapy]

All my Delta tail fish seem to have tail biting issues. The first one I ever had do that would Cloud.

He Started out looking like this-
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b199/twilightcompanion/Bettas/cloudcopy.jpg

Then came this-
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b199/twilightcompanion/Bettas/IMG_3695.jpg

And then, we went downhill from there -
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b199/twilightcompanion/Bettas/c339ade0.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b199/twilightcompanion/Bettas/IMG_4092.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b199/twilightcompanion/Bettas/Cloudtail.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b199/twilightcompanion/Bettas/Cloud6.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b199/twilightcompanion/Bettas/Cloud7.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b199/twilightcompanion/Bettas/IMG_4209.jpg

My apologies for the picspam. He was my first biter, so I took alot of pictures...

So, how do I know he was a tail biter? I got pics to prove it!
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b199/twilightcompanion/Bettas/IMG_4212.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b199/twilightcompanion/Bettas/IMG_4211.jpg

I tried everything. Finally, putting him in a divided tank across from a sweet female he liked seemed to work!! His tail had grown to a beautiful length and most importantly, he left it alone!

Until this week. I just found 2 spots in his tail that the freaking turd bit!! :firefurious: Gah!!!! :BM: I don't have pictures of the tail when it was pretty or the new bites. Grr.. I've been fighting this little monster's biting for over a year!!!

It's enough to make me wanna reach in there and smack him and say "DON'T YOU GET IT?!?! You were finally looking nice again!!" AUGH!!!

[sunshineBetta]

Wow! Great documentation for tail biting...such an unfortunate case, cos he's such a beauty :(

Those caught in the act pics...you wonder what they are thinking at that point..."I have this thing attached to me??!" :(

[Jols]

I have a boy, he will go into his Barrel cave and nipnipnip. >.< His tail was looking great until I changed his *bleepn* water!

[Eudie]

I'm going to pin this if it's okay with you. Sometimes it's hard for those who haven't dealt with a biter before to know the difference in tail biting and other fin problems. These are excellent pics of tail biting.

[Zenabob]

I wonder, if fin regrowth will itch or cause certain discomfort to the bettas, because in my case, my bettas are fine and normal until their tails get damaged at some point (either through spawning or finrot), and then next thing you know, they turn themselves into biters, and won't give their tails a second chance...

[Beyondanytherapy]

Not all biting looks the same apparently. I'm used to Cloud, who takes massive chunks out at a time. Yet there are other fish who can get between the individual rays (Lanel and Spaz, both Deltas, are like that).

I'll try to up date today with pics of Cloud's new damage.

[LittleHippyGirl]

Nice photos. I had a betta that was a tail biter too. When I brought him home, he had some fin rot, but his fins were still long. After he healed, he took up tail biting! Back then I had not heard of it and I thought it was some sort of vicious fin rot. Mine usually took out more even large portions at a time, and I'm so glad it never got infected. I never quite caught him in the act, but he was in perfect health and the tissue regenerated so quickly that it couldn't be anything else. I situated a female next to him and he calmed down mostly. I have a ton of photos of his tail if anyone would like to see.

[Sicy]

Poor guy.. maybe he needs some therapy :stars:

[KKat]

I never knew they would do that! Why in the world would they bite their tails?? You'd think it would hurt. Self-mutilating fish....go figure...

[sunshineBetta]

This is Edmond who decided that long finnage is overrated.
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g49/bettaSunshine/DSCN5091.jpg

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g49/bettaSunshine/DSCN5090.jpg

He's been doin it as a monthly thing...kinda coincides with my monthly thing....the water is kept pristine, he's got a girlie to impress next to him...he's in a much smaller tank (I was thinking all that space in a 5g freaked him out)

Went for dinner and came back to this yesterday. Methinks deep inside he's aspiring to be a CT instead -_-

[RandomWiktor]

KKat, on Oct 18 2006, 04:45 PM, said:

I never knew they would do that! Why in the world would they bite their tails?? You'd think it would hurt. Self-mutilating fish....go figure...

Its because they listen to too much emo music and shop at Hot Topic; the subculture sucked 'em in, man.
:lmfao:

Anyways - great photos and documentation. I deliberately seek out fin-biters since they never seem to get purchased, and thus get sick in the stores from the low temps and dirty conditions. Right now I have... whooo... 6 confirmed, and one suspected (can't tell yet if he's a biter, or if he keeps blowing his re-growth). Though, it is notable that of those six, two bite only rarely. Both were more "boredom biters" than stress biters, so keeping them highly stimulated stops the behavior almost entirely. The stress biters are tougher... things as minor as a change in feeding schedule or dropping a sock near their tank can set them off.

Has anyone noticed it seem to be more common as the betta fad wears on? When I first started rescuing, I *never* saw a biter. The first time I observed the behavior I was shocked. However, the last two VTs I adopted were both fin biters, and I even encountered my first crowntail finbiter. Now, practically every time I go to the pet store, I can find at least one suspected biter, and 15 min or so of observation confirms it. Is breeding getting that bad? Yeesh.

Also - anyone every heard of or had a finbiting female? I mean, I've seen some pretty long-tailed VT gals, and based on how close to the body the males can bite, it seems like girls could reach at least the tips. Yet I've never seen it before in females.

I wonder - could bettas biting their fins be a behavior developed to cope with their heavy finnage? I mean, has anyone ever observed this in a plakat, even an attempt? One of my males has chewed his fins - which were quite huge - so often they will not grow back. They look horrid, but he is so much more active and mobile now, and doesn't stress out from the current or swimming distance. Perhaps this is a mechanism to cope with heavy fins? It does seem to affect mostly HMs and VTs...

[sunshineBetta]

I kinda had the same thought as you Random...maybe they are just playing barber on themselves. Unfortunately the result tend to look terrible to us keepers. Edmond is quite an active/nervous fish. I'm thinking both combined causes him to bite, though I can't find the trigger yet. :(