Is She Ready?

[ricko10]

Can anybody tell if my girl looks ready to breed?
thanks

 

[nemosworld]

picture is a little bit on the blurry side. is she plump? does she have vertical bars when she sees a male?

 

[ricko10]

she is very plump. hard to tell with the vertical bars as she is a very pale colour. She has been well conditioned. They are together, and he has a big nest but she doesn't seem interested. He is swimming past her and showing off but she wont follow him. He is starting to get a little annoyed but so far has been peacefull with her, just the odd chase around the tank?

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

She doesn't look very pale in the pics.
Here's one of my naughty girls (she was 4 months old at the time) showing her stripes. To give you an idea.
P.

If she has horizontal stripes then she's stressed but the vertical ones are breeding stripes. If she has neither but is acting ok with the male and he's not trying to attack her then leave them alone.
P.

 

[Lynda B]

It's really hard to tell with those pictures, but she doesn't look very eggy to me. How does her ovipositor look?

And, is she in a bag? If so, why?

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

You're right Lynda, she's in a bottle! Can't believe I hadn't noticed that earlier. *doh*
Are they not in together? Have you tried them?
If they are living together with nothing between them, then you can leave them together for up to a week. If, by then, they still haven't spawned then take her out and recondition her for a few weeks.
P.

 

[ricko10]

She spent 2 days in the bottle in with him so they get used to one another. They are in together now but she isnt very interested and he just carries on building his nest. But they havent been fighting or anything.i will try and post some better pics.

 

[Lynda B]

Dib Dabs, just wanted to comment and say your female is just gorgeous.... love that coloring!

Rick, many people may not agree with me, but, if you see no aggression between them, I'd leave them together. I had a male and female and they got along beautifully, before during and after spawning. In fact, until "I knew better", they lived in the same tank together. But, I was blessed with them. It doesn't happen often.

However, I'd like to see further clear pictures of your female to see if she's actually ready to spawn. Don't forget that the male will build a nest any old time, not just to breed. He usually does it because he's content. I wouldn't leave her in there forever. Just until we see what her story really is.

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

Awww thanks Lynda. She was born here just before Xmas. Her sisters are marbles and BFs. All are lovely. Even the tiny runt whos' only about a cm in size! Obviously not a breeder but sweet nontheless.
Pics, right now, are the only thing that will tell us whether she is most likely to get down and dirty with the fella.
P.