betta and bunny interaction

[farmhand]

I stopped by my LFS to check on that forlorn Betta I'd seen before, hoping to give it a new home. Unfortunately, it had passed away, so I began browsing the other ones. One in particular caught my eye - its behavior was quite unique, and I'm curious if anyone else has observed this. It would rest on its tail, and whenever it moved, it'd make little hops around the cup. No other signs of stress or damage were apparent to me.

[kingrise]

I stopped by my LFS to check on that forlorn Betta I'd seen before, hoping to give it a new home. Unfortunately, it had passed away, so I began browsing the other ones. One in particular caught my eye - its behavior was quite unique, and I'm curious if anyone else has observed this. It would rest on its tail, and whenever it moved, it'd make little hops around the cup. No other signs of stress or damage were apparent to me.

I've seen bettas exhibit this behavior in big-box stores before, and it's indeed disheartening to see them resting on their tails like that.

When you mention the little hops, do you mean his own tail movement startles him into jumping, or is it when the cup is moved that he reacts this way?

[farmhand]

They're not picking up the cups at all. The movement I'm talking about is when he tries to swim around inside the cup. The display has air tubes going to each cup, similar to what I've seen at my LFS.

[farmhand]

My other LFS used to keep their Bettas in one-gallon jars and I've seen similar behavior in those.

[kingrise]

It's possible the air tubes are startling him when he tries to move around, but I'm not entirely convinced that's the cause. Your LFS has a pretty decent setup, though - those small cups can be a real squeeze for the fish.

[farmhand]

This LFS is really nice, Aquarium Zen is the name and it's all about planted aquariums.

[trailmix]

I stopped by my LFS to check on that forlorn Betta I'd seen before, hoping to give it a new home. Unfortunately, it had passed away, so I began browsing the other ones. One in particular caught my eye - its behavior was quite unique, and I'm curious if anyone else has observed this. It would rest on its tail, and whenever it moved, it'd make little hops around the cup. No other signs of stress or damage were apparent to me.

I came across this thread and thought I'd share my experience, even if it's a bit late. I once adopted a betta from a local Petco that was exhibiting the same behavior - resting on its tail and making little hops when moving. After some research and trial, I suspected it might be a swim bladder issue. Fortunately, I was able to nurse her back to health using a shallow hospital tank, where she could easily reach the surface to breathe and feed. I also used strategically placed decor to create a sense of security as I gradually increased the water volume. To reduce stress, I added aquarium salt and Seachem Stress Guard to the water. I kept feeding light and avoided any medications, as there were no signs of parasites or bacterial infections.