betta stripes/colors

[ValRasbora]

ok my male betta imbellis' stripes\colors having been rapidly changing, like he can change his colors in 5 minutes- I named him Chameleon because of that and he always kinda sits on the heater suction cups, and he always does this cute little thing with his eyes, he looks around and he looks kinda cocky.
anyways, his stripes have been going weird- he can change from just normal stripes (horizontal BTW) and sometimes he'll have his normal stripes and he'll get mottled spots too, and sometimes he'll be 80% stripes! Currently Chameleon is fine, his stripes have been the same for several hours, I'm not one to worry, but I'm curious WHY? My female's stripes have stayed the same the whole time.

 

[Newman]

stripes are a good way to tell what they are feeling. Although my following info may be inaccurate becuase 1. I have not kept imbellis, and 2. i dont know if imbellis and splendens will have similar indications with their stripes, so I am basing everything on splendens which is the only species I have experience with.

horizontal stripes across the face and the front part of the body can indicate stress and fear. for some bettas that are closer to the wild type the horizontal stripes are actually a natural coloration. they probably become more pronounced if the betta is afraid.
on the female, vertical stripes around the belly and ventral side of the fish indicate breeding moods. this often is visible when the female is reaction to the presense of a male betta.

females also get these rosy patches on their gills when they are seriously pissed off.

If any of my info is incorrect or inaccurate, someone please correct me

 

[ValRasbora]

ok well I do know that these guys are as close as you'll even get to a wild betta, so yes, they always have horizontal lines naturally, but they have been going deeper or lighter or whatever- I guess Chameleon has been feeling a bit stressed. All part of moving into a new home, I suppose.