The 2 hour Fish "Coma"

[akathleen1]

It was a snowy day in January....

All of the pet stores were closed today because of the snow. So we went to "Pet City" and finally found a beautiful teal and pink betta. I decided on a name, got him home, put him in his tank and he subsequently went into a coma. I whigged out and called the petstore guy who was convinced he was in shock. However the sideways floating thing didn't look promising. So I took him back to the store which was closed EARLY. Found one other petstore PetLand which was closed but they were nice enough to open the door after I nearly beat the door down. They then informed me that I bought a bloated fish. THe whole way home, poor "Coma" layed on his side on the bottom flipping his little fins and attempting to breathe and twitching every now and then. Now poor "Coma" has passed. And I'm going to the pet store first thing in the morning to scream about "Coma's" condition.

God bless your little soul and your short two hour of pet store freedom. May you blow those cute little bubbles forever. Your death will be avenged...

[Leigh]

You mentioned in your memorial page that you took the fish home while it was snowing. Bettas can easily go into shock in freezing weather. Even if you thought his exposure to the elements was limited, he probably was below 76-78 degrees longer than is good for a Betta.

You might want to wait to bring another Betta home until the weather has improved or make sure that you have provided some type of steady heat source for the trip home.

Once home, you will want to adjust him to his new,warm, conditioned water gradually (please read other threads on this subject)so that he doesn't go into shock.

[palepinkvase]

I am sorry poor 'Coma' didn't make it. It is important to remember the stress our Bettas experience moving from pet store to a new home. Even coming from good care, your home water is bound to be different from the water at the store. I always slowly introduce my water my using a plastic tablespoon to scoop out old store water and scoop in new home water. Once again, I am sorry about 'Coma', may he rest in peace.

[abm]

I also express my condolences for the loss of Coma However, I strongly agree with Leigh - you can't overestimate the importance of keeping your betta's water and temp as constant as possible. I know you didn't intend to hurt him, but you need to understand that (a) taking him out in the freezing cold probably stressed him a lot, and (b) just dumping/placing him into new water at your home without getting him used to it slowly was also a huge shock.

You don't say whether Coma was your first betta or not; nor did you mention how you conditioned his water to remove the chlorine etc. If the water wasn't treated properly, or was the wrong temperature (bettas are tropical fish and need warm water, around 80 degrees), that also played a part in his suffering.

None of us can judge for sure whether your fish was ill when you got him - but next time I hope you take time putting him into new water, and maybe you could wait until the cold weather eases up a bit before trying to get a new fish.

Good luck.

[akathleen1]

Thank you for your concern about Coma's treatment. However I think you may have a few miconceptions.

1. Yes I have owned Bettas before my current, Maggie, is one that I rescued from Walmart.

2. While it was snowy outside, be assured that Coma was kept warm from the store back home, He was alive and active from the store and the whole time he was in his bag.

3. I made sure the water was room temperature and it was dechlorinated and treated with water conditioner.

4. Coma was introduced to the new tank water gradually. I assumed this was something that most people know. I was unaware that I needed to post it in my memorial.

Finally I felt that this was one of the weirdest occurances I have seen where a fish is fully active and then suddenly keels over within moments from no mistreatment. I just wanted to share my story of the 2 hour fish, my sad little "Coma" as this is the memorial board and I was not looking to be chastized and lectured.

[akathleen1]

I would also like to say that Coma was in fact NOT bloated as the second pet store said he was, and that he did not "come out of it" as the first pet store claimed. He was in fact comatose. I therefore suceeded in yelling at them enough as to finally get a new happy fish who made it from the bag to the tank without a loss of consciousness at 1:00 this afternoon.

Yet Coma in his 2 hour splendor will be greatly missed.

[abm]

akathleen1,
I apologize if you feel you have been picked on in your confusion over losing Coma so abruptly. If you'll re-read your original post, there was very little information in it to indicate your level of understanding of the needs of betta fish; of course, you were upset, but since the purpose of Healthy Betta is to educate and encourage proper care of these wonderful friends, I think that's where most of the "chastizing" comments originated - we are just concerned for the fish .

It's fantastic to know you're an experienced betta owner and I do hope you'll be able to adopt again soon. If you do ever learn exactly happened to Coma - shock, or some illness he had prior to purchase - please do post the info as it may help another betta owner here to avoid a similar painful experience.

Obviously a picture is not possible, but his coloring sounds beautifully unique

Oh, sorry, didn't see your second post there - what's the new guy look like? And if it wasn't a bloating situation, what did they say Coma died from?

[Emerson]

Please don't feel that you were being attacked by the responses here....we all hate to hear of a Betta's passing, and we are very sorry for your loss. But you are new to the board and we know nothing about your experience level. We try to help all new owners avoid mistakes that might cause illness or loss, and that was the intent of the replies here.

Without actually seeing your Betta, my hunch would be that cold weather was at least a contributing factor. I try to advise people not to buy Bettas (or any other tropical fish) in cold winter months, because the sudden changes from store temperature, to outside temperature, to car temperature, to house temperature, can indeed cause shock.

RIP, Coma.
sef

[palepinkvase]

No one wants anyone to feel attacked or chastised. All, myself included, were hoping to share our knowledge and experience to help avoid another unfortunate experience, like Coma's. Many people come to this forum with little or no experience. It is not my goal, nor I believe anyone else's, to hurt or insult. I am sorry about Coma and his mysterious death, and I am happy that you have a new fish that is doing well.

[Rielle]

Sorry to hear about Coma. It's amazing how fast we get attached to our little finned friends.

I wish you better luck with any future bettas you may have.

RIP Coma

[Rachel - old]

I'm so sorry to hear that Coma did not make it for you.