Beano Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 I read something once about an angry stick for bettas, which a breeder used to keep their betta "angry" and flaring. It was just a black stick. Now I sometimes hold up the end of a black pen to the tank and some of the boys just go nuts!!! Others don't care that much. I also frequently hold up my finger, but they don't go nuts over that. My marble monster plakat boy is the best at it. He stares at my finger when it's in the tank, he even lets me touch his head, but the pen he goes nuts over. Do bettas hate the colour black? If so, are Melano bettas more aggressive toward each other? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 OH MY GAWD!!! I can't believe that works. I got a black pen and just put it in front of my boys and they flare straight away!! Well, they flared to varying degrees. Some immediately raise their gill flaps, some did the whole waggle display. Amazing. A couple of them seemed scared of it. They looked at it warily then if I moved it they swam away in fright. This is going to be so useful for taking photos. And when you visit a shop you can just carry a black pen with you to make the fish flare. Although I sometimes take a mirror with me. And also if you're setting up a barracks system. You can leave the males carded permanently and use the angry stick for exercise instead of uncarding. I wonder if it's because the wild betta has a dark/black head and even though they'll flare at white bettas, they're programmed to view something black and pointy as another male. Maybe that's why white bettas are less aggressive? I think this is really cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 Interesting hypothesis Mike. Yes I just tried it and a couple of my males responded with gill flaring. 1 of them did a bit of dancing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y2jdaze Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 I got some dances and a couple of gill flaring... very interesting theory... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste84 Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 o.o i so gotta try this!! and yeah, i'd agree it's probably an instinctive reaction! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat92 Posted March 22, 2008 Report Share Posted March 22, 2008 wow it actually works! ...but then again my betta seems to flare at ANYTHING, even when i walk past him he flares..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappy Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 I tried it, not with a pen but a dark grey texter (cheapo one) One of my males flared and looked all big and tough, My new one looked at it.. swam backwards a bit.. swam foreward again... stared at it and then flared his little gills off beofre taking off .. so cute Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beano Posted March 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 Sometimes they swim away as though they're scared! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeletalgirl Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 Black reflects, so maybe its dimensional in the water to them??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 I like the black head idea, interesting. So c'mon, we need to test if this is a colour thing or just shape and movement. Someone try a red or green pen (mine are free-range, I could drop in my whole top drawer and they'd barely care ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beano Posted March 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 If it is black, I bet mine felt so safe being chased by my black net... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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