The Fish Needs a Rest

The Least Visible Member of Our Family Takes the Spotlight (Day 57)

You know, I haven’t talked about Shadow Fin much in these journals and that’s mainly because, well, he’s just a tiny one-inch blueish betta fish, Little Bean’s first stab at pet keeping. He’s been with us a long time though, over a year, which mean he’s, what, 200 years old?

I really should talk more about him because he’s by far the most calm, least troublesome pet in our house and easy to forget about. He just swims around and waits patiently for his daily food pebbles, and poops. That’s about it.

Even the cat ignores him.

So I thought is was hilarious when my wife bought Shadow Fin a Christmas gift. More accurately, Santa bought Shadow Fin a Christmas gift in order for Little Bean to feel good that Santa thought about every creature in the household. Shadow Fin even had a tiny Christmas stocking.

His gift? A Betta Bed Leaf Hammock; it’s a small plastic leaf with a stem and suction cup to attach it to the bottom of the tank. The fish can, presumably, then take a nap in the comfort if its own leaf hammock.

Little Bean unwrapped the present and appeared pleased, so I guess that was a success

Shadow Fin and Little Bean

And before you go around thinking, like I did, good grief a leaf hammock, as it turns out, betta fish actually use them! Fun fact: betta fish are surface fish that spend most of their time hanging out near the water line. They also require oxygen from the air as well as through the water, so having a little rest leaf near the top is a pretty smart sort of gift for them.

As for Shadow Fin, he’s been silent about the whole thing. But I can’t imagine he wouldn’t like to just lay back and take a load off in his little hammock. We could all use a rest.