Pregnant guppy?
- Thread starter Jimmy120883
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Yep, she's gravid (pregnant). Often happens that pet store guppies arrive "pre-loaded", so to speak!
It's really hard to tell how long it'll be before she births the fry. Guppies can and usually will have a batch once a month. Looks like a young female, she's not huge yet from what I can see in the photos, so I'd guess another couple of weeks, but it's not a precise science, only a guestimate based on breeding guppies for a few years. If you can add some more live plants, especially floating stem plants like elodea, hornwort, or guppy grass, then the female will feel safer giving birth to the fry, and the fry will stand a better chance of surviving. They tend to head to the surface, so if there's floating plant there, they'll hide in that.
It would be worth checking if the store you got them from will take guppy fry from you once they're large enough to sell. When each female guppy can produce batches of fry every month, the numbers can get overwhelming very quickly! But they're easy to care for an raise.
It's really hard to tell how long it'll be before she births the fry. Guppies can and usually will have a batch once a month. Looks like a young female, she's not huge yet from what I can see in the photos, so I'd guess another couple of weeks, but it's not a precise science, only a guestimate based on breeding guppies for a few years. If you can add some more live plants, especially floating stem plants like elodea, hornwort, or guppy grass, then the female will feel safer giving birth to the fry, and the fry will stand a better chance of surviving. They tend to head to the surface, so if there's floating plant there, they'll hide in that.
It would be worth checking if the store you got them from will take guppy fry from you once they're large enough to sell. When each female guppy can produce batches of fry every month, the numbers can get overwhelming very quickly! But they're easy to care for an raise.
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While I haven't raised guppies since I was a teen I would agree that it will probably be a couple of weeks.
This can be a problem with guppies as I swear that they are born prego and can soon over populate a tank unless you can out source the young. When I raised, which was in the late 1960s, I was lucky enough to have a local K-Mart as a customer for the young. I actually probably got ripped off for what I sold but I was in junior high and happy to be making any money. They paid me $3.00 for each male and $2.00 for each female. I've tried to look up images of the beasties but it seems that they no longer exist. They were Black Delta Veil Tails. The mating pair cost me $60.00 but they were awesome with the males having a jet black body with a heavy and long orange and yellow streaked tail.
Anyway... if just left alone the adults will eat a lot of the fry so a population outbreak isn't normally that fast. There are really three options.
1) If you can find an outlet for the young but don't really want to sell just have a lot of floating plants with fine leaves and a decent number of fry will probably make it.
2) If you don't have an outlet for the young and don't care that they are free food for the adults have no floating plants and the adults will eat most.
3) If you just want pretty beasties with no fry get rid of the females and just keep the males which are always prettier. Even if you just kept the females they would still end up prego for at least 2 generations as they 'store' sperm.
It MIGHT be possible to have both male and female in a tank without fry but I doubt this would really work as I'd bet dollars to donuts that the females would still figure out a way to get prego. Still this is the only way I see that it might even be possible to have both sexes in a tank without having to deal with fry. Get a thin piece of plexiglass that will tightly fit and segregate each half of the tank with a whole lot of small holes to allow water flow. While this might just work I think it would sort of be cruel as these critters are designed to breed and being next to each other but unable to interact would likely cause stress.
This can be a problem with guppies as I swear that they are born prego and can soon over populate a tank unless you can out source the young. When I raised, which was in the late 1960s, I was lucky enough to have a local K-Mart as a customer for the young. I actually probably got ripped off for what I sold but I was in junior high and happy to be making any money. They paid me $3.00 for each male and $2.00 for each female. I've tried to look up images of the beasties but it seems that they no longer exist. They were Black Delta Veil Tails. The mating pair cost me $60.00 but they were awesome with the males having a jet black body with a heavy and long orange and yellow streaked tail.
Anyway... if just left alone the adults will eat a lot of the fry so a population outbreak isn't normally that fast. There are really three options.
1) If you can find an outlet for the young but don't really want to sell just have a lot of floating plants with fine leaves and a decent number of fry will probably make it.
2) If you don't have an outlet for the young and don't care that they are free food for the adults have no floating plants and the adults will eat most.
3) If you just want pretty beasties with no fry get rid of the females and just keep the males which are always prettier. Even if you just kept the females they would still end up prego for at least 2 generations as they 'store' sperm.
It MIGHT be possible to have both male and female in a tank without fry but I doubt this would really work as I'd bet dollars to donuts that the females would still figure out a way to get prego. Still this is the only way I see that it might even be possible to have both sexes in a tank without having to deal with fry. Get a thin piece of plexiglass that will tightly fit and segregate each half of the tank with a whole lot of small holes to allow water flow. While this might just work I think it would sort of be cruel as these critters are designed to breed and being next to each other but unable to interact would likely cause stress.
They still exist...
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Odd then that I can't find an image that fits.
I still see them at shows.Odd then that I can't find an image that fits.
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Nice to know they are still around.
The problem is mostly because new strains have been developed, certain older strains will be less visible on the market even though they're still around.Nice to know they are still around.
Jimmy120883
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Just a quick update after two and half days she's given birth too 6 fry so I've scooped them out and her and separated for a day or so just in case she delivers any more. And will keep the fry separated for a few weeks.
LOL, I did say that it's not a precise science!
But it's definitely sooner than I expected from looking at the pics. But the female knows when she's ready, and if the fry are active and eating, then no problem about her having them now! She might pop out some more, but it's also not unusual for a young female's first few batches of fry to only have a few. Straight from the store, so she's a young female, not a lot of room yet to have huge batches! Which is good, gives you time to get used to raising baby guppies.
For future reference, it's best not to move the gravid (pregnant) female while she's heavily pregnant, while in labour, or too soon after birth. Being netted and lifted out of the water can damage the female and fry, and certainly the stress of that and being relocated isn't good for any animal when they're at such a vulnerable time as when they're in labour/heavily pregnant/have just given birth. Best to leave the female where she is and let her birth in the main tank. If you want to save as many fry as possible (and not all adults are fry eaters anyway) then adding live plants they can hide in will give them the best chance of evading any hungry adults, and help them feel safer.
If you really want to save as many fry as possible, then wait until she's given birth, then collect the fry and move them to a fry tank, or a breeder box as a short term solution. After around two weeks, the fry will be large enough that adult guppies won't be able to eat them, and won't consider them to be food, then they can be returned to the main tank. A fry tank, or leaving them in the main tank, is better, since they have space to swim and grow strong. Breeder boxes aren't the best thing, and definitely aren't good for an adult female to be moved to in order to give birth, it only stresses them out. No need to move the mother to the tank with the fry, they don't mother or raise them in any way, the fry are pretty independent right away, and begin eating in about 24 hours.
Enjoy your first fry! It's always exciting, especially the first few times!
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