Speaking of relationships, another one that's going really well is with the chinchilla. That persistence and effort to get her tamed down during those first few months paid off. She's really friendly now. I don't pick her up much anymore: she doesn't like it and I don't like fighting with her over it, but now that I've stopped picking her up she doesn't run away anymore when I reach into the cage, but just hangs out to be petted. And she does the cutest little chin tilt to help you hit just the right spot. She's got these big fluffy cheeks and this teeny tiny mouth that's just adorable :)

Things are also going well with Josh the fish. I can see why Betas are winners in the fish pet evolution wars. They're so beautiful, like leaves or fire with all the fins rippling. Not bad for a little critter that costs a few dollars. Josh has been much happier ever since switching over to his 3 gallon tank, thanks to everyone for the tank size advice.

Joshua the fish is doing great. He's very happy in his 3 gallon fish tank, which I just changed, and his fins are pretty and healthy.

( rambling about Lucy the chinchilla )

Joshua looks gorgeous now. His fins are entirely unclamped, fuller than even when we first got him, and today he ate without any problems.

I'm actually a bit wistful that I didn't get a bigger tank. He's so gorgeous when he swims! I wish he could go longer stretches. That said, the shelf he's on is not sturdy enough to take much more weight, and I don't know where else we'd put him.

As soon as I'm over my webpage creation crunch I'm going to go get him some plants and tank buddies :)

Josh is doing better! I'm concerned about him, because he's having a really difficult time eating right now, but he did manage to get down a few pellets today, and his fins are unclamped. He's really beautiful to watch, especially now that he's in a big tank where he can swim around and his fins and body ripple as he goes.

This evening he started sticking his gills out in a really odd way. After the initial worry blew over, I realized that it probably wasn't bad, since under the gills he had some pretty material that stuck out which was of the same texture as his fins.

Basically, his face looked like a lion. This matched my understanding of betas as fierce fish warriors ;) And omfg, betas are gorgeous when they're pissed off!! In addition to his face looking like a lion, he fanned all of his fins to their full extent. It was a sight to behold!

A google search for "beta gills lion" turned up this very insightful best answer.

After reading about it I realized what was going on with Joshua. I'd just turned off the lights in the living room, but had left Josh's fish tank light on. This probably created a mirror effect for him from inside the tank. I turned off his tank light and he deflated and is now asleep in the corner :)

I get what the author was saying about betas being interactive. I mean, I'd figured I was imagining it, but I do get the sense that he recognizes and trusts me, and is even happy to see me and playful. After all, I sat there today giving him one pellet at a time and watching with concern as he kept trying to eat it and spitting it out repeatedly. We're buds ;)

I had hoped that the cute burrowing thing wasn't so bad, since he still looked fine for the most part when he was doing it. Sadly but not unexpectedly, his condition started deteriorating after about a week of said behavior.

( Read more... )

I went ahead and picked up a three gallon tank with filtration to give Joshua a nicer home that I won't have to clean so much, so, we'll see how he does. If nothing else, Joshua should have a great respite home for his last few days.

Our new beta, Joshua, has the strangest behavior I've ever seen in a fish.

When he first started hanging out very stilly at the top of his bowl, I figured he was a goner. But he has lived on, and now spends most of his days burrowed in the rocks at the bottom of his bowl. He looks like some sort of plant with his head in the rocks and his pretty fins sticking straight up. In fact, he resembles the tree/bush that is in the Starry Night painting. Whenever we move his bowl or come by with food he swims to the top and moves around like any other healthy fish.