Welcome Back to My Victorian Lifestyle

Sorry for the extra-extended delay.  Life caught up with me after my trip to Europe, then school happened, and school has been happening since.

Today I would like to re-begin my blogging by introducing you to my baby.  He's almost a year old now and he has gotten so big!  He's gotten used to feeding and being cleaned.  Travel used to be an issue also, but he's adapted to that as well.  He's gotten sick a few times too; those were some uphill battles for sure.

So here he is, the star of this post.

He's super photogenic.  Really, he followed the camera around.

Meet Kupfer (Koop-fehr).  He is my beloved little betta fish.  Kupfer means "copper" in German and he's the only betta I have ever seen with these colorings.

I got him last November and he's been my little companion since then.  Here are some pictures from last year and this year.  He's done quite a bit of changing, some good some bad.

(Is it sad that I love a fish so much??)

This is the beginning of what is called a
"Bubble Nest".   Bettas make them when
 water conditions are prime, they are happy,
and it is a sign that a male betta would be
 ready to have/take care of babies.

This is from last year.
 His fins are pretty and long and
vanity is getting to him I think.

If you can see, the tips of his fin are red.  This is the onset of fin rot, a bacterial infection that eats away at bettas' tails.  He has dealt with this at least 5 times in the past year.  What used to be long lovely tail fins are a lot shorter now. 

Before Fin Rot, when I first got him.
Like I said, photogenic little booger. 

After fin rot.  He's also a LOT bigger now.
Little piglet. 

Hee. Cute ain't he?

 Now that you have met him, let me tell you a little more about him.  Bettas are Siamese fighting fish and they are EXTREMELY territorial.  Don't put two in the same bowl/tank together, they will fight, injuries ensue, and you most likely will have one less betta.  Kupfer is decently docile and doesn't flare up at me too often.  He does, however, like to bite my finger, jump out of his water when I feed him (not out of the bowl though, no worries), play tag with me (honestly), and be pet (honestly).

Many people don't think that fish are cutsie, interactive pets, but many fish become conditioned to expect feeding when they see their human come into the room, or their feeding light turned on.  Since mine is used to his water being changed once a week, he is also extremely used to my fingers and hands being in his water often (only after I have thoroughly cleaned my hands).  That is why he is ok with me petting him as well as brave enough to try and attack my finger and eat me.

All in all, I love my fish and so do my residents.  They enjoy watching him be fed, and to be honest, I think he enjoys showing off.  I'll probably post some more on him later and include some tips on keeping bettas happy, because now that I'm back in the states, I need some new material to post on here.  Expect fish related things, knitting related things, maybe some baking or SA related things as well.  It'll be a hodge-podge of things, after all, my life is a hodge-podge of things.

Welcome back to a Victorian Lifestyle.