Question about my poor oto.

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djk0379

Small Fish
#1
Mar 12, 2005
22
0
0
#1
I have an oto that lived with a female betta for quite a while until one day she decided his EYES! looked like a tasty snack. I'm just kind of curious if anyone has ever dealt with a blind fish (that could once see) and wondering if it's ok if I keep him alive. He seems ok after I moved him out of that tank and put him by himself in a planted 3 gallon. I mean he doesn't act any different with the light off than on, but he does rest still and definetly eats the algae in there. His eye sockets look ok, used some melafix and they have healed up and turning the same color as his skin around where his eyes were.
I just feel so bad for him though and the way she snapped one day like that kind of shocked me.
Well, I guess this wasn't really a question, just more of a WTF rant, but anyways...she ate his eyes. :(
 

phOOey

phOOey

Superstar Fish
#2
Oct 31, 2003
1,741
1
38
35
Nottingham, UK
#2
:eek:his eyes, thats one aggrassive betta. theres another thread about a possilby blind angelfish going on at the mo, and firebug said how most fish have pretty poor eyesight anyway :). so i think you otto should be fine, as long as theres no signs of disease in the sockets or anything, if i were you i'd leave him in the 3g and add two more ottos because they are schooling fish and i think that if he had friends he'd feel more confortable.
 

NoDeltaH2O

NoDeltaH2O

Superstar Fish
#3
Feb 17, 2005
1,873
0
0
52
SC
#3
First of all, I would freeze that betta.

I have a ZERO tolerance policy for crap like that.

Then I would consider what to do with the oto. He'll probably not live very long without eyesight. I had a fish get an eye eaten out by someone. It died a couple weeks later. There were no witnesses, and I had a line-up, but nobody ratted anybody out, so I had to let whoever did it walk, uh, swim.

I know that if I were suddenly blind I would still want to live, so I would be hesitant to euthanize the oto, especially since I like them so much as fish. Again, if it were me, that Betta would be an icecube waiting for a wild party. I've done it before and I WILL do it again if need be.
 

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djk0379

Small Fish
#4
Mar 12, 2005
22
0
0
#4
Naw, I don't want to kill the betta. I know they are agressive but she had been fine with him for a few weeks already.
He is acting normal, so I didn't really want to euthanize him. I figure his body is already fighting the injury by growing what looks like the rest of his skin over the sockets and he has plenty to munch on in this tank and it's not an entirely huge area so he can maybe map it out himself or whatever.
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#5
May 16, 2003
8,589
10
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42
Colorado
#5
Yeah...I think the otto will be fine as long as the injury looks healed up. Ya know...nature has a wonderful way of taking care of itself sometimes, even through things that we think of as "terrible". This morning I was feeding the geese off the boat while dad was fishing and one goose swam up who had only one foot...he was just fine, only missing a foot :) of course mom and I were like "OH the poor thing, how sad I wonder what happened"...but ya know...he didn't seem to care...he just wanted some stale bread like the rest of em ;) Sounds like moving the otto away from the agressor and giving him a SAFE place to live is the best thing you can do for him!
 

Lotus

Lotus

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#6
Aug 26, 2003
15,115
13
38
Southern California
home.earthlink.net
#6
I don't think otos really use their eyesight too much for finding food, I believe they do it by taste/smell. The biggest problem is that if the betta goes for the oto again, it won't even see him coming. Keep a close eye for any nipped fins on the oto. I have a fish with one eye that has been doing very well, except that she can't see other fish or food on one side. She seems to be fine in every other way, though.
 

f8fan

f8fan

MFT Staff
#7
Nov 19, 2004
1,765
8
38
Bangor, Maine
#7
NoDeltaH2O said:
First of all, I would freeze that betta.

I have a ZERO tolerance policy for crap like that.

Then I would consider what to do with the oto. He'll probably not live very long without eyesight. I had a fish get an eye eaten out by someone. It died a couple weeks later. There were no witnesses, and I had a line-up, but nobody ratted anybody out, so I had to let whoever did it walk, uh, swim.

I know that if I were suddenly blind I would still want to live, so I would be hesitant to euthanize the oto, especially since I like them so much as fish. Again, if it were me, that Betta would be an icecube waiting for a wild party. I've done it before and I WILL do it again if need be.
Click to expand...
Once again, I disagree with that utter nonsense type of "advise"!
If fish are incompatible with their tank mates, separate them. Take them back to the pet store. Euthanising them for simply doing what they do naturally is ridiculous feedback in my opinion. Bettas are known to prefer to be alone in their tank. Yes, some people have had success co-habitating them with other fish in a community setting, and some have not. For good reason.
To throw an animal away like trash becasue they didn't meet your expectation of how they "should" behave is a lazy and narcissistic action if you are in this hobby.
And yes, before you go ranting off, Delta, this is just my opinion.
 

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