What temp. do bettas like?? do they need a heater at all? Is there a preference for any particular PH?

Yes, bettas are tropical fish, so they need submerable heaters to keep the temperature high and stable. They favor steady temperatures around 77-80*F.

pH does not matter so much. Bettas are versatile and as long as the pH is stable, anywhere from 6.0-8.5 is fine. Do not ad pH down.

Our Beta's are just out in unheated tanks in the family room, and we've had them, one for about 2 years, and the other for half a year. Loki lived to a ripe old age of 3 1/2.

Thanks for your replies.
Slappy is in the kitchen and it is cold in there. He wasn't moving around much, and I looked at the temp. It was 50 degrees! So I figured he was cold.
I put in a heater and now the water is about 69 and he is moving around much more but is still hanging near the top of the water by the heater so I will turn it up to the mid 70's or so and see if he doesn't improve. He is eating more now too.
Poor Slappy. He just has to put up with me while I learn about Bettas.

Yikes, 50*F! I'm sure that slowed his metabolism wayyyy down. Watch for poop to make sure he doesn't have any problems "unconstipating".

It is so hot here. It reached the tripple digits yesterday and today, and we finally put the AC on. It was 90*F upstairs and my animals were not doing well, especially my poor little mice

Wow! what do you do for your poor fish when it gets that hot?

Oh, and Slappy's been pooping all along. no constipation . It's kinda funny...my honey call him " the corpse in the kitchen" he wasn't moving around much. He said he was going to put a little chalkline around him, and some crime scene tape.

Slappy is fine really.

Honestly...there isn't that much I can do. Keep the hoods up, attach a mini fan to blow across the surface... for short term heat spells you can put in a frozen water bottle, but that isn't really a long term solution. My dad finally turned on the AC so it's cooler, but in a month or two it will get back up there.

I'm glad he's doing a little better.

thanks,
Slappy is feeling good. His temp is about 72 degrees and he must be liking it because he started beating up his reflection this morning. As I understand it, that's a normal Betta thing to do.

Pics please!

yup where are those pics. And Kissy is correct anywhere between 72-80 degrees us right.