Pregnant Molly?

[Coco the Clown Loach]

Hi,

I need another opinion on whether my molly is pregnant! I am new to keeping mollies, and have had these ones for about 2 weeks now. Here's a couple of images to get the idea.

I believe she is pregnant, but my dad is telling me she isnt so i'm confused and need help from the experienced here





Hope you can put my mind at rest! thanks

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Of course she's pregnant... Looks like another 4 days to a week to go.

 

[OldMan47]

My guess is a little longer than Ludwig's but she is probably not much more than a week away.

 

[Coco the Clown Loach]

ah thank you for confirming! How exciting, i'm paranoid she is going to have them when I'm not there or ready. she seems to be gettin bigger by the minute.

The male i have wont leave her alone and keeps shimmering up against her bump, is this anything to be concerned about or is he trying to inseminate her again?

thanks

 

[OldMan47]

Shortly before a female gives birth, the male will start to follow her more than he has been and will, of course, be courting her. She will never be more likely to use his sperm than if he can catch her right after she has given birth so he will be there if he can for that. The drive to breed is about self perpetuation in most species, not some abstract like love. His genetic material is more likely to survive if he can be the first to mate with her. Your observation about the male's action makes me ready to revise my time estimate to something shorter than it was.

 

[Coco the Clown Loach]

Thanks for your help thats really useful information, she seems to be getting squarer now too so i'm keeping a close eye on her

Another thing, when would be the best time to put her in the hatchery? I dont want to put her in there too soon as I've heard she can have them prematurely? And obviously I dont want to keep her in there for more than a day,
Thanks

 

[Coco the Clown Loach]

Just to show you progress:




Any closer to putting her in the hatchery yet do you think? shall i leave it for another day or so? she's still rather active and excitable.

Thanks

 

[OldMan47]

My female looking much like yours does.

My female 2 1/2 weeks later when she was about to deliver

I am not sure where your female might be based on her appearance but the squared off look of my female in the second picture is much more important than mere size. I have a link to a thread that I created to track my female from one drop to the next in my molly. The link in my signature is called Molly Progress but it is intended to show what the stages of molly pregnancy look like and to give pictures to compare to what you see in your own tank. Each molly is somewhat a case unto herself but the basic concepts seem to never change.

 

[Coco the Clown Loach]

thank you, so she may have some time to go, I guess I will just have to put this first time down to experience and keep a close eye on her to see the changes. Thank you very much for all your help I've read your post and I found it very informative

 

[Coco the Clown Loach]

Still no sign of her babies! I think my black mollie is pregnant as well now too!

 

[Platygirl11]

You must be so excited! Post a new pic!

 

[Coco the Clown Loach]

This is one active molly! She seems to get excited everytime someone walks up to the tank, really lovely I just wish she'd give birth now! New pics arent great because she's moves before the photo is taken but here is an update

This is one active molly! She seems to get excited everytime someone walks up to the tank, really lovely I just wish she'd give birth now! New pics arent great because she's moves before the photo is taken but here is an update

and another...

 

[OldMan47]

I would be really surprised if your big girl is more than a day or two from a drop now.

 

[Coco the Clown Loach]

she doesnt want to let go of her fry! she's looking extremely square now!

 

[vandrez]

she doesnt want to let go of her fry! she's looking extremely square now!

Congrats in advance There are gonna be loads and loads of fry judging by her size