Betta fish eats his tail

I have had my male betta fish for about 2 1/2 years now. He is in a tank by himself. Shortly after getting him, I noticed that his tail seemed “chewed” and I have witnessed him chasing and biting his own tail. Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone else know why he might do this? He doesn’t do it all the time, often he will chew part of it off, and then it will grow back. Sometimes he just bites off a little bit, and sometimes it gets really short. He doesn’t seem sick or injured in any other way.
I have always just assumed that he is neurotic or something… But I was just wondering if anyone else has seen this before and if anyone knows a cause or even a solution.

Thanks!

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Answer #1

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It’s only males that fight to the death.

Possibly at some spot in the aquarium there is a mirror reflection that is causing him to think that there is another male in the tank. In that case he might be chasing his own tail thinking it is part of the other male.

Answer #2

I think betas are weird. If you put two of the same sex together they will fight to the death so maybe it thinks another one is in the tank.

Answer #3

he may be upset or very lonely you can put bettas in with other community fish such as guppies and other tropical fish. he might have some fun… try feeding him blood worms those are usually a nice meal for them and the live ones are all the more better… because they are attackers. try to stay away from brightly colored fish although it depends on the betta. my betta seems to do fine with my brightly colored male guppy as long as he stays out of his way. so itmay just be lonelyness I have my betta in a 20 gallon tank it may be a good idea to look into a larger tank and some more fish. they also like live aquatic plants to sleep in. and you can buy freshwater salt and put a teaspoon per gallon in for stressed or depressed and even sick fish you can buy this salt at you local petco or petsmar or anyother fish market.

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