Dropsy in Betta after returning from vacation

[Kieflow]

I returned home yesterday from a 4 day vacation to find one of my female bettas had dropsy. She is 1 of 4 in a sorority. They have all been raised together since they were babies and there is little tank aggression minus a few occasional tail nips. Other than that, water parameters are very stable with nitrates never going over 20. I observed stringy poop that started last night, but still hadn’t passed in the morning. Over the course of today she acted more and more lethargic until I finally realized she was pineconing, and her head/mouth seemed kind of deformed. I pulled her out of the tank for now.

my questions are: should I go ahead and pull the plug? She looks bad to me, and if not, how should I attempt to treat this?

should I be concerned about the other bettas in the tank? None of them are bloated and they are swimming around the tank normally.

What else should I be considering as a cause for this? I know it could be a million things, but maybe there is someone on this forum that has had a similar experience. Thanks!

Edited December 26, 2020 by Kieflow

[FrozenFins]

Dropsy is usaully caused by a bacterial infection. Heres what I would do:
-Give her  a salt bath

-Feed her antibacterial food

When adding her back to the sorority, make sure to add more then just her. Get two other females and add them with her, if not there will be a blood bath.

[Kieflow]

13 hours ago, James Black said:

Dropsy is usaully caused by a bacterial infection. Heres what I would do:
-Give her  a salt bath

-Feed her antibacterial food

When adding her back to the sorority, make sure to add more then just her. Get two other females and add them with her, if not there will be a blood bath.

Thanks, I put her in a bucket with aquarium salt, I will probably fast her today. 
Just curious, why do you suggest adding more bettas?

[FrozenFins]

1 hour ago, Kieflow said:

Thanks, I put her in a bucket with aquarium salt, I will probably fast her today. 
Just curious, why do you suggest adding more bettas?

because when you add the betta back, all the females will bully her. Where as if you add 2 more (adding 3 in total) the females will divide their aggression between the three. If that makes sense.