Thursday, June 28, 2012

Bettas Boring? You Just Haven't Met Em Yet

  So many of us have this perspective where Bettas are beautifully colored but awfully docile and dull

fishes.

Boy, you are so wrong.

  If you have kept Betta's before you would know that each one of them has their own unique

personality. Therefor, I'm proud to introduce to you, Bill the most boisterous Fighting Fish I ever had

the pleasure to meet




  So this is Bill. I named him after my dad, William. I was feeling really down and lonesome  from a

break up, so I decided to break the dorm rules of not having pets and bought Bill! Because of his

white coloration and breed, he cost me around RM35. Usually, Bettas can be purchased for roughly

RM5 to RM15 for males and about RM1.50 per female.

  Supposedly, Bill is a half moon betta, I'm not really sure but one thing rings true, he's a beauty. It's

really fitting that the species is called Betta Splendens, because it sure is splendid looking! I have

 come to understand that white bettas are pretty rare and can fetch up to a hundred bucks a fish.

  As I mentioned earlier, Bettas have unique personalities. Bill can only be described as having

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) !He NEVER stops moving! And he thinks he's the

king of the world. If you stick your fingertip in the water, he will bite or nibble it aggressively. He

circles and paces his tank nonstop and finds ways to entertain himself like playing under the filter

current, searching for nonexistent food bits between rocks and staring at me while wriggling

incessantly. This hyperness of his is what drew me to him initially. When I was in a pet shop, and I

 notice that people are really cruel and put them in containers that are hardly any bigger than the fish

 itself, Bill was the only one trying to move about even though there was virtually no space to move

 about in.He was agressive even in such a close confinement. The other fishes looked half dead, the

poor things.

  When I come back from classes everyday, he swims up and down excitedly. Put a mirror in front of

 him and he puffs his gills like a pufferfish!Yeah, he's the boss!

 I noticed though that they can get depressed if left alone for too long. Once I left Bill in the care of a

friend whilst I went home for a week long study break. When I came back, he seemed to have been

traumatized or something. His wouldn't come and greet me and he didn't seem as cheerful or active as

usual. Even his coloration seemed different. Bill is mostly white but he's speckled lightly with blue

and red, however this is hardly noticeable. When I came to take him, he had changed to a really

reddish tone! I admit it did scare me for abit. After cleaning his tank and spending a few days talking

and looking at him, he went back to his pale white, energetic self. Thank God..

  It seems that Bill doesn't have a particular liking for my brother. When Daniel came to have a look

at him, he merely turned his back to him! And refused to greet him. Somewhat annoyed, my brother

leaned close and yelled "BWARGH!" which startled him a bit. Still it was funny.

  To show you how diva-ish this lil fella is, here's a video clip of him. At first it seems like he's having

 fun by himself but when he notices me filming him, he stops and rushes at me with his gills flared as

 if saying, "Watcha looking at PUNK?!" before he gets bored and swims away. Sorry for the lopsided

 video!


I LOVE YOU BILL!













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