Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Squirt Updates!


So, I have now had Squirt for almost one month. He seems to be doing really well now. His "popeye" was merely a figment of my imagination. His fins aren't clamped anymore! He got some fin rot a week or two ago, but I medicated him for that, and that is pretty much all gone. He is a very active. He is constantly swimming around and periodically examining his gravel. He finally tires out about when I go to bed. I turn off his tank light and he goes into his cave or his favorite plant for some rest. He is very friendly and swims right to the front of the tank whenever anyone walks by. He loves feeding time and his new trick is to bite my finger when I give him his food. Which is tricky because sometimes he thinks my finger is the thing to get, and doesn't remember the pellet. He has even jumped out of the water to bite my finger. He also seems to recognize my finger. For instance, he won't bite my sisters finger, he will only bite mine. He is a very cool fish.


Note: Squirt's biting doesn't actually hurt or anything! Since it doesn't hurt at all, I did some research to see if betta fish actually have any teeth. (since he is so tiny, I obviously can't just look in his mouth). There seems to be some difference of opinions on the anatomy of a betta's mouth. About half of the places I looked said "no, bettas don't have teeth only little lumps", and the other half said "yes they have sharp grinding teeth and it hurts when they bite". Well when Squirt bites I don't feel anything, but maybe the sharp teeth are to far down in his mouth for me to feel them. So I don't know. I guess it is a mystery. Maybe some betta's teeth are just sharper than others. It amazes me that humans can fly to the moon but seem to be confused about whether some fish have teeth or not. I am going to have to research further because I am hooked now!

Update: After doing further research I have come to the conclusion that bettas do have teeth, but they are so tiny that they don't hurt something as big as my finger.

Note: The water in the picture looks cloudy, but that is just from his fin rot medication, the water is actually very clean.

2 comments:

  1. Glad to hear that Squirt is doing so well. He is a beautiful fish. When I saw him, I loved watching him swim around - looks so elegant. His teeth must be quite tiny since he is so small! Very interesting.
    -Animal Gram

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  2. That's great that he's doing so well! The biting thing is very interesting. Wouldn't it be cool if he really did recognize your finger?
    Sarah :)

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