Bolivian Ram Owners

[Alps]

- I am having doubts about my sexing skills and was wondering what differences you noticed with your pair(s) of bolivian rams. I tried sexing by female=ovipositor male= no bump/ovipositor but even the ?females? with ovipositors were sparring.

- also, would a 3 inch male get on with a 2 inch female, or would the size be a problem?

Thanks for the help

 

[africantigerfish7]

I think the male is supposed to have yellow or more yellow at the belly. As for the sizes, I keep blue rams, and the dominant male usually chooses the smallest female.

 

[Alps]

I think the male is supposed to have yellow or more yellow at the belly. As for the sizes, I keep blue rams, and the dominant male usually chooses the smallest female.

Thanks for your reply. What about identifying them? Do all your males have yellow bellies whereas the females don't? - what ovipositor difference do you see between your pair?

- what I thought were females were "kissing" a lot and chasing also so am trying not to id by behavior.

 

[Ripley]

Okay, I'm a complete idiot about sexing rams. But I had some people who were really helpful. I'll post a couple pictures of my females and my male (yes, I have three rams - two females [whoops] and one male).

Females:

Male:

I have no idea if those can help you at all, but that's all I can give you!

 

[KathyM]

I have a pair of Bolivians (I think *lol*). The female hasa visible ovipositor and shorter tail filaments. The male has no visible ovipositor and much longer tail filaments. Saying that, they have a go at each other, but only at feeding time.

Male at front - note his tail filaments. Female behind - can just make out her ovipositor.

Hope that helps

 

[Alps]

Final ? - do you think size difference between M and F will matter much as my F will be about an inch smaller to 3 cm smaller.



Many thanks to both of you. I am not going to go by yellow bellies, but these will be my definite sexing criteria:

Ovipositor
Tail filaments

Bad Criteria:

behavior (last resort)
yellow belly

I really appreciate the great pictures, this thread should be useful to others trying to sex their rams.

 

[KathyM]

Glad to be of service!

On the size side of things, mine are roughly the same size, and are both adult. They're the only Rams I've had, so I can't say size is a good way of telling them apart, but maybe other people have had different experiences.

 

[Alps]

Glad to be of service!

On the size side of things, mine are roughly the same size, and are both adult. They're the only Rams I've had, so I can't say size is a good way of telling them apart, but maybe other people have had different experiences.

oh no I'm wondering if size will be a problem as one might bully the other/ not breed - more like behavior problems not sexing them.

thanks

 

[Captain Retardo]

Are fighting males a serious problem? because my dominant male keeps biting my other male when he gets close. My non-dominant male has a ripped up "tail" fin (geez, I forgot the name of the tail fin or whatever). So now I want to give him to my friend and try sexing at the LFS again and this time hopefully I'll get a female!

Seems like I'll go this time with:

Yellow belly
Tail Filaments
Ovipostor



Last time I got my Bolivians I only checked the tail filaments and I didn't check very deliberately, so that's why I have 2 males

 

[KathyM]

Glad to be of service!

On the size side of things, mine are roughly the same size, and are both adult. They're the only Rams I've had, so I can't say size is a good way of telling them apart, but maybe other people have had different experiences.

oh no I'm wondering if size will be a problem as one might bully the other/ not breed - more like behavior problems not sexing them.

thanks

Ahhh right, I get you! Well good luck with it - and remember to post pics

CR - I would reckon ovipositor is the best bet for sexing - the yellow belly won't do it (my rams are identical in colouring).

 

[Alps]

Glad to be of service!

On the size side of things, mine are roughly the same size, and are both adult. They're the only Rams I've had, so I can't say size is a good way of telling them apart, but maybe other people have had different experiences.

oh no I'm wondering if size will be a problem as one might bully the other/ not breed - more like behavior problems not sexing them.

thanks

Ahhh right, I get you! Well good luck with it - and remember to post pics

CR - I would reckon ovipositor is the best bet for sexing - the yellow belly won't do it (my rams are identical in colouring).

will do. thanks

 

[Alps]

Uh oh.... My female is attacking my new male eventhough she is 2/3 his size and after putting him in a small see through container at the bottom of the tank for half a day. He doesn't even do anything to defend himself so I turned off the tank light early to let him settle down even more.

Is this normal? What can I do?