where do i go from here?
i hate to post something like this, but i'm kind of at a loss for what to do.
a few nights ago i brought this baby home. he's been suffering like this for over a month in the pet store i work at. he lived in a small cup, and was isolated from the store shelves due to his declining condition. i've been begging for my team at work to get him checked out, or to administer a clove oil euthanasia to put him to rest; but i've been ignored since the week before christmas. they finally let me take him home for free earlier this week, and i know it's because we had our audit the next day and they didn't want to get a strike for this level of neglect.
i'm assuming he has SBD, he primarily lays on his side gasping. the rare times he does move, he does what i captured in the video; he'll get bursts of "excitement" and race around the glass, struggle for air, then lay down again. he'll often curl his entire body to one side as well. i've not had a lot of luck with feeding him. i've tried tweezer-feeding him extremely small bits of soaked betta pellet and blood worms. he'll inhale it, struggle to swallow it, and then spit it out; but he's very adamant on continuing to try and eat.
currently i have a 5 1/2 gallon cycling for him, i'm just waiting for the pH level to be brought down to a safe level. he's been living in a glass container, 80 degree temp. and daily water changes using already-cycled water from my other betta tank. i'm constantly monitoring him and staying next to him so he's not alone. i'm just afraid i'm prolonging the inevitable and making him suffer more, since he's been like this for so long now. i have clove oil arriving this weekend in case there's nothing else i can do. any advice would be greatly appreciated, i'm really trying everything i can think of.