I wanted to post this on the net in as many places as I can, and I'm starting here, as this is one of the first places that "betta won't eat" turns up on google. My wife and I bought a betta about three weeks ago for our son, who just turned four. The fish was happy when we put him in his ten gallon filtered tank, with two guppies (both female) We were told that this was the max amount of fish to cycle a tank with. Within twenty four hours, the guppies died (aww... poor pippy longfinnies...) but the betta (Elvis) made it just fine. However, he wouldn't eat. We kept putting in food, and he wouldn't eat. After a week, I was beginning to wonder how long a betta could go without eating. After two weeks, I bought these betta pellets to put in the bottom of the tank which would fall apart, and the betta could nip at, at his leisure. He still didn't eat. These pellets turn to dust, and the dust wasn't even remotely disturbed. At two and a half weeks, I did a 10% water change, just to try to get rid of all the uneaten food in his tank. Also, at this point, I was giving him only one pellet a day, just so he would have SOMETHING to eat. But after the pellets became water logged and sank, I counted them. He was literally eating NOTHING. Or maybe just a quarter of a "betta bit" a night? At three weeks, I assumed that Elvis was going to die. He looked healthy, the acid, ammonium, nitrite, and nitrate, were all fine, he was totally active, but he absolutely WOULD NOT EAT! I looked up every fish disorder I could find, and it wasn't Tuberculosis, ich, fungus, parasites, dropsey, or anything else I could put a finger on. He looked like a perfectly healthy, remotely active (which I hear is somewhat common for a betta) somewhat depressed, betta. I even got him some blood worms to try. He watched me put them in, followed them to the bottom as they sank, and stared at them for a minute or two, before swimming away. Finally, (yesterday) I got him some friends. I wanted a good clean up crew for my betta, since I KNEW there was tons of uneaten food in his tank, and I was fighting the ammonia BIG TIME! I got him four loaches (these are supposed to be nearly neutral on the ammonia impact, since they eat uneaten food) as well as 15 ghost shrimp (I REALLY don't want to deal with algae at all) two "glofish" otherwise known as extremely altered zebra fish, (my son really likes the color pink right now, so we let him pick two fish, and he got the pink "glofish") and one german blue ram (I like cichlids, and this is the only one I've heard about getting along with bettas, about 50 percent of the time) So all of a sudden, Elvis got 4 loaches, 15 shrimp, 2 zebras, and a ram!!! If he wasn't eating because of loneliness, that was about to change! And guess what... IT DID! He still wouldn't eat, after my son fed all the fish. He did his typical *stare at the food until it gets water logged, then watch it sink to the bottom, then swim away* But then the ram, zebras, and loaches gobbled up all the food. It took about 12 hours before I discovered a ghost shrimp's eyes, and face, sticking out of Elvis' mouth! The creature hadn't eaten for three weeks, then he goes after the largest living thing in the tank! He couldn't get any air by swimming (his mouth was full of shrimp) so he stayed by the very top, gasping for breath every 20 seconds, trying to swallow the shrimp. It took him over 30 minutes to get that shrimp down, and then my male betta looked pregnant! And I'm pretty sure that now he thinks he's wild. Elvis wouldn't flare before... at all. Even when I put a mirror in front of him, he would just swim away like he was scared, then stay in a little cave that I made for him of slate. But that shrimp totally changes his attitude. He's chasing the german blue ram (a cichlid!) around the tank, and flaring at it like crazy! I'm actually a little worried for the ram, which I never thought would happen, since Elvis has been the (as my wife and son put it) "the most boring fish EVER" So a tad bit of advice for all you betta keepers out there who are doing everything right (one betta to start a ten gallon tank with filter, heater, three plants, and places to hide) your incredibly boring betta might just be... well... bored! Get him a buddy or two. My betta wouldn't even eat blood worms (which I hear are their favorite food) but after the extra fish, and eating that shrimp, I also found some mosquito larvae in a five gallon bucket in the yard. I scooped them out, filtered them several times, (got all the extra plant and dust matter out of the glass) when I plopped the netful of them in the tank, every fish in the aquarium went nuts! Even the (pregnant looking) Elvis! So, if you don't want to get him any tank mates, try some live food first. And remember, my scrawny little betta went 3 weeks in a filtered, heated tank which was going through it's initial cycle, without eating one little thing. And then, with friends, and live food, he went NUTS!

I am not there so I can not make the decision nor do I necessarily have all the facts. But when my pets become terminal I do what Sammy said. Most vets, in my experience will dance around the question, or if they do tell you often people will hear only the parts they are comfortable with. These are the rules that work for me. Think of your pet's 3 most favorite activities. When they are down to one it is most likely time to let them go. If they are down to none you may have waited too long. Too early is always better than too long. Food is a big motivator for most animals. When they will no longer eat they are telling you something. Either they are ill or they are dying. That is how nature works. I give my animals the best last days or day possible. I do not expect them to "tell" me. It is my responsibility to live up to their trust in me to follow through in their best interests. On their last ride they get a whole bacon cheeseburger. I am always with them when they cross that bridge. I prefer them to walk in under their own power. To leave this world happy, not frightened, confused or in pain. I am so very sorry you are going through this. It is never, never easy.

Jello. Only eat it now on that day before one of those procedures we must get every 5 or 10 years. Packaged pizza mix. It was all we had in the mid 60’s small town, and we teenagers thought it was so cool to make and press out dough on an pan and have pizza at a sleep-over. iceberg lettuce. I’m sure I have had it as an adult, but I try to avoid it. Thankfully my mother was a wonderful cook, my dad hated casseroles and lunch meat, so we avoided a lot of really bad stuff. He did eat sardines and saltines once in a while, and he had the kitchen totally to himself when he ate them. Canned LeSeur baby peas. One of the only canned foods my mother did buy other than tomato paste or sauce. I still like them on occasion. Loved them with her homemade mashed potatoes with butter. I would mix them together on my plate.

"To me, when anything is deep fried and crispy, and greasy, my first thought would be the person who did the frying doesn't know how to do it." Thank you, Marilyn_c, I was thinking exactly the same thing! I hadn't thought about the possibilities of a medical issue, but thanks to jkayd, I can understand how that could be a problem. But I know this person well enough to be quite sure she doesn't have any such issue. Mainly I was just wondering if there is a 'proper' way to eat such foods. And I've come to the conclusion that 'proper' depends on the person mainly, also the location and maybe the occasion, too. As for me, I will continue to eat them with my fingers. as long as they are not greasy, overly large, or dripping juices. Lars, knowing you are originally from Texas, I thought for a minute that you were talking about Castroville, Texas. That would be kind of an out of the way route to Monterey for you. LOL. I've never had fried artichokes, but I'd surely try them if I ever saw them offered anywhere. Not likely around here, though. :^) Rusty