Is My Molly About To Give Birth?

[st24rsap]

That can actually be a sign that she is in labor. Did it look like she was breathing hard?

i didnt notice anything unusual with her breathing to be honest

 

[5teady_2012]

If you want to save babies I would put her back with the cories. I had a female platy die of stress just from being in a breeding trap for a day. I don't risk it anymore. Other people have had luck with them but I haven't... You could watch her like a hawk and try to scoop up babies that you find. It's hard with balloon mollies to know exactly when they will drop since they are so fat already...

Going years of experience with mollies of all kind... its always best to put them in a trap if you want to save the fry..

Putting them in with the corys is maybe fine to you but, this will not stop the mother eating them, so a trap is the best way to go if you want to save them..

As for a fish dying from stress being in a trap, yes there is a possiblity and every individual experiences diffrent, although i have never had a fish die in a trap in all the years of breeding livebearers.

1 day in th trap (well more like 1 night) is fine...

2 is the maximum i go..

If your fish has died from stress of the trap, thats unfortunate especially from 1 day..

Balloon mollies fry do tend to be bigger than for example guppy fry and have more chance of not being eaten by thier mother, but they can and will eat them... after giving birth, the mother is very hungry and if it fits in her mouth, she will eat it..

This is my personal opinion and its up to you if you want to take my advice, but traps are not a bad thing, they save lots of lives. If not abused by keeping the fish in to long, you will be fine.

 

[tidytourniquet]

I'm pretty new to balloon mollies myself (only around a month now) but 2 fish gave birth already. I have had guppies for a few years now, also live bearers and in most cases the female likes to hide and sit near the bottom when they are about to give birth or already started giving birth. That was actually how I knew that my first balloon molly was having babies, I saw her laying near the bottom not acting like herself.

I thought I would add that for both of the mollies I used a breeding net but that was because I didn't have any place else to put her and I wanted to keep the babies. I only kept them in there long enough to have the babies and when I thought they were done I let them out.

 

[st24rsap]

shes in a breeding trap at the mo and seems fine, ill leave her in over night and see what happens and take her out tomorrow or before if she seems to get stressed

heres a rescent pic of her

 

[Lindsey88]

Good luck!

 

[5teady_2012]

shes in a breeding trap at the mo and seems fine, ill leave her in over night and see what happens and take her out tomorrow or before if she seems to get stressed

heres a rescent pic of her

The best way to know how far on balloon mollies are is by looking at them from a overhead view rather than a side view simply becasue of there pot bellys its hard to tell for someone who knows not much about them, can you post a pic from overhead while she is in the trap plz?

btw, dont know if you have seen this but, here is my balloon mollies when they was pregnant (bare in mind these are extra large ones)

Note how theier bellys are squared off at anal fin area

My balloon mollies before giving birth

 

[st24rsap]

wow your mollys were massive

mine doesnt look that big from above

 

[5teady_2012]

From that view she is definitly pregnant, but does not look like she is ready to drop, it wont harm to leave her in for 1 night though, tomorrow morning if no sign of fry, then just release her and try again in 3-5 days

Exellent quality pics though

 

[st24rsap]

From that view she is definitly pregnant, but does not look like she is ready to drop, it wont harm to leave her in for 1 night though, tomorrow morning if no sign of fry, then just release her and try again in 2-3 days

Exellent quality pics though

cool i shall see what happens over night

 

[5teady_2012]

Good luck with it, aif you need any more info just ask

 

[st24rsap]

Good luck with it, aif you need any more info just ask

cheers, much apreciated. one thing i did wonder was about the white patches on her head, looks almost like scabs. was there when the misses bought her and has never got any worse or better

 

[5teady_2012]

Good luck with it, aif you need any more info just ask

cheers, much apreciated. one thing i did wonder was about the white patches on her head, looks almost like scabs. was there when the misses bought her and has never got any worse or better

I had 2 black ones like that, they did eventually fade after time but was still visible slightly..

All mollies get them when they are a bit stressed, its just more visible on the black ones.

Another thing mollies get a lot is stress lines, its like 3 lines across thier body, only seen this mainly on females that are heavy pregnant.

 

[st24rsap]

nothing majorly to worry about then which is good

 

[5teady_2012]

nothing majorly to worry about then which is good

I wouldnt of thought so no, if it got worse and it effected others then yes, but this seems like the common thing im on about in mollies

 

[st24rsap]

hasnt got any worse since ive had her so ill keep an eye on it , cheers 5teady