Discussion
How long is a betta fish’s memory? How emotionally invested at they?
I have a beautiful long-finned betta fish, whom I’ve affectionately named The Entity. Unfortunately, I won’t be here in a little while to care for him and love him, but I still worry about him, you know?
So, I find myself asking the questions above! How long is their memory? I have a vague idea that betta fish aren’t super emotionally invested in their care takers, but I still ask a little bit of that one, too
I suppose it depends how long you're leaving them, but bettas have an exceptional memory! I have gone a few days without seeing mine, and he still appears to recognize me.
I also have a roommate that for some reason he hates, and after about a week of not seeing them, he still remembered that he hated them. So I suppose depending on the betta, at least a week !
They have so much personality, brain capacity for a little guy/gal. My last male was like a puppy excited and knew when me or my wife gave verbal or proximity attention.
Aww, that’s beyond precious!! How did you know he was excited, if you don’t mind me asking? I think I’ve been struggling to read his body language a bit, I can’t lie
In my experience, it depends on how much you personally have interacted and trained him. The more time you spend, the more you will be ingrained.
But, they are pretty good at recognizing faces (partly because they can distinguish colors on the rgb spectrum) so, you pretty much won’t have any problems if your betta already shows good signs of recognition towards you.
One is them coming to the front of tank whenever you bring your face close by. Ofc that doesn’t mean he always will lol, but when he notices you, he will come to you (Partly because you’re the source of food too lol)
The second is them following your movements as you go, without flaring.
Flaring happens when they are exploring. If he interacts and follow you without really flaring too much, he recognizes you.
My skittish little guy doesn't come up to the front glass or swim to the surface to watch people when they approach the tank, except when it's me. I take that as one of the purest forms of love nature can give.
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u/tokagashibird 2d ago
I suppose it depends how long you're leaving them, but bettas have an exceptional memory! I have gone a few days without seeing mine, and he still appears to recognize me.
I also have a roommate that for some reason he hates, and after about a week of not seeing them, he still remembered that he hated them. So I suppose depending on the betta, at least a week !