Bettas won't eat bloodworms...what am I doing wrong?

[bassbonediva]

Okay, I'm trying to get my two CTs (one male and one female) to eat bloodworms to condition them for breeding, but they consistently turn their noses up at them. They'll attack brine shrimp like they're starving (regardless of when I fed them last), but when I put the bloodworms in their tank, they're just like "Eh, whatever" and swim away. I have tried both frozen and freezedried. With the frozen, I do the same thing I do for the brine shrimp. I put a small chunk in a plastic cup, add a little warm water, and then let it sit until it's room temperature before feeding it to them. With the freezedried, I do basically the same thing, but I wait a little longer so they get softer. Am I doing something wrong, or do my bettas just not like bloodworms?

Just for kicks, here's Al and Alice:

 

[Newman]

are you using tongs to put the bloodworms into the tank, or are you just dumping them in?
if you use tongs, bring the dangling worms up to the betta's noses and see if they "Bite" lol.

If this fails, you can just use the live brine shrimp to condition them instead...it should do the same job.

Whats funny is that my plakat Betta female attacks and eats Spirulina flakes meant for vegetarian fish like sword tails...but my male plakat, since being removed from his breeding tank has refused to touch any form of bloodworm just like your fish. He was a regular eater of them before, but now he just attacks betta pellets -_-
Bettas sure can be weird...

 

[bassbonediva]

Haven't tried the tong trick. I used a turkey baster and put the bloodworms in the tank right in front of the bettas (made them "dance" by aggitating the water with the baster a little bit). I'll try the tongs.

I can't find live brine shrimp to save my life around here! Seriously! No one carries them! (and I couldn't get that little kit I told you about...didn't have the $$).

 

[bassbonediva]

Crisis averted thanks to Newman! They loved the bloodworms once I dangled them from my pliers (don't have any tongs small enough...gonna get a set of tweezers today).

 

[Newman]

whew! glad that worked out

 

[bassbonediva]

They're little piggies now! Every time I walk by, they're both at the front of their tanks like "MORE?!" I fed some to one of the other males (there were a few left in the cup once Garrett and Alice got full) and he ate them just straight out of the water, no dangling required. Weird fish!