Female Bubble Nester?

[leefergran]

I just bought a beautiful female betta yesterday and I have her in a 1/2 gallon bowl right next to the boy betta's 1/2 gallon bowl. I thought it would be fun to watch these two interact between the glass but I'm not sure if it's a good idea (but sure has been interesting to watch!) please let me know about that. My main question is that I thought only males made the nest? My new female has started a mini nest of her own. Is this because she can't get to the male? Let me know, I'm baffled.

 

[clover]

females can make nest but you may have a plakat male they ahve short fins like a female

 

[leefergran]

Here's a picture of the betta, can you tell me if it's actually a female or the plakat male? I think plakats have rounder tail fins so I think it's a female. I'm no expert though so let me know.

 

[red-devil0602]

that is a male maybe a delta or veiltail
not a lady or a plaket, i agree with lifebear looks like slight fin damage but should heal just fine

 

[LifeBear]

I could be wrong but that doesn't look like a girlie or a plakat to me, looks like a young male. How big is it? Looks like he could grow into more tail. Or he could have had some fin damage, which will grow back if you take good care of him.

It could be a female. Can you see an ovipositor? A white dot/tube on the underside of it's tummy? I think I see something in your photo, but other than that, I would say it is a young male.

In my (limited) experience, girls usually look like this (photo not mine, obviously)

 

[leefergran]

How can you tell? I'm not sure what all the different bettas are, I'll have to do some research.

 

[red-devil0602]

male plaket

male double tail

 

[red-devil0602]

this is what ladies look like

 

[red-devil0602]

this might help better
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=62711

 

[leefergran]

I just took a quick look at her and she has the white spot under her belly, so I guess mystery solved! lol Maybe she's some kind of long finned female strain? She does look very different from the girl bettas in the photos.

 

[Synirr]

Hmm, she does have particularly long fins for a female, but that's definitely an ovipositor.... She probably has some kind of hormonal imbalance or something that caused her to develop fins like that. Way cool!

 

[Kiarra]

Young males often have ovipositor-like white spots under their bellies. Most lose it by the time they reach adulthood.

 

[red-devil0602]

my crowntail male has this white spot and is deff male

 

[LifeBear]

I read on another post (or maybe another forum ) that breeders sometimes dose their fry with male hormones to increase the male to female ratio. Could be a girl baby got too much betta "testosterone" and grew long fins. I noticed that spot on the belly when I was giving the pic the "hair cut." You could give it a name like Chris or Terry or Pat.

 

[leefergran]

Hmm I think the hormone thing may be the case, all of the females @ the pet shop looked like this or similar. I don't think she's a young betta, she's almost just as big as my adult male so I don't think the ovipositor will go away. I doubt I'd ever breed her but I figure I'll ask, would she be able to breed with all that betta "testosterone" in there? If she could I wonder if her females would be born like her or regular types. Thanks for all of your help everyone!

P.S. Synirr your bettas are beautiful!