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how can you tell when guppies are preg.
By kitkat, Section Ask Guppylog Posted on Wed Aug 29, 2007 at 12:25:10 PM PST Tags: (all tags)

we have 3 male guppies and 3 female guppies.the 3 male have been chasing one of the females and not giving up. we suspect that she might be pregnant . how can you tell? we have a guppy birthing-center-type-thing and we don't know when we should put her in it. how can you tell when guppies are pregnant? please,please reply!!!! WE REALLY HAVE TO KNOW!!!!!! THANKS!

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how can you tell when guppies are preg. | 6 comments (6 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Reply to HELP HELP HELP (none / 0) (#5)
by Angelee on Wed Nov 19, 2003 at 06:42:39 PM PST

Some female guppies I have found out the hard way,...ahem .. can be a little picky about where they have the babies. If you put her in the small, uncomfortable egg laying plastic doo-hickey (no, I don't prefer the technical term, that's what it looks like and that's what I call it),too soon some females will refuse or become stressed and sometimes may even have them too soon. I try to separate them into a larger tank if I have enough warning. Unfortunately, like all babies they usually like to come in the middle of a might, a blizzard preferably,..you know.. Don't worry. The female will tend to suddenly become a loner, and sometimes a once popular female will suddenly become decidedly unpopular to the males (if you have other females in the tank). Get a small fish brine net, if she has them in the large tank. Transfer them to the smaller tank, or the plastic thing until you acquire a (I use a 20 gallon, but I'm told that's overkill) small 10 gallon baby tank. If you want to leave them in the tank. Get some java moss and attach it to a plastic log or floating ornament, then you won't have to move them at all.
"The Rocky Mountain Gupster" ANGELEE

small, uncomfortable egg laying plastic doo-hickey (none / 0) (#6)
by unclescott on Wed Nov 19, 2003 at 08:01:06 PM PST

is kinder that what a lot of people call those floating chambers. "Death traps" sound harsh, but been there, mourned that.

[ Parent ]

pregnant guppys (none / 0) (#2)
by debbie on Mon Nov 17, 2003 at 08:27:49 PM PST

hello, about if your puppys are pregnant i have found they get fat is the first sign, it seems to take a while,they are due to drop when they get a black spot at the back you cant miss it also they seem to chase the other fish and stay alone a lot, i was very lucky to see one of my females giving birth (14 of them have made it and are really growing now)i only noticed she was having the babies because of her chasing the other baby fish, i went to have a look what was wrong with her.
good luck
thanks debz

mine gave birth today (none / 0) (#3)
by parttimer on Mon Nov 17, 2003 at 09:56:51 PM PST

the boys were still trying to you know (mating). are we that bad ?

[ Parent ]

"We Kimosabe?"? I would hope we would no (none / 0) (#4)
by unclescott on Tue Nov 18, 2003 at 02:05:47 PM PST

comparisons between male guppies and males of a human sort ("above the beasts, a little lower than the angels..." etc...), however at least one disgruntled party has accused some male Homo sapiens of having their brains in their gonads.

Serious fish note since the topic came up: Noticed that in the program of an icthyological conference held a couple of years back, a paper on guppies by an ichthyologist was listed. The title claimed benefits for female guppies who underwent multiple matings. This was in reference to a study of those living on Curacao (an island just to the north of Venezuela). The text of the presentation was not available. Wish we had it so as to avoid risque suggestions. ;)

[ Parent ]

How big are your female guppies? (none / 0) (#1)
by unclescott on Sun Nov 16, 2003 at 04:58:20 AM PST

How long have you had them in your tank? Were they housed with the genders in the same tank at the LFS (live fish store)?

To be a healthy female guppy is usually to be a pregnant guppy. :)

The only females over 2-3 cm which are not pregant are those the from a tank where the aquarist carefully removed young males (as they "sexed out" or showed adult phyical features) from their batch of youngsters. That way there would be virgins and it would be easier to selectively breed them.

Since female guppies can carry sperm from matings which can be used to inseminate batches of fry for over six months (and six or more batches of fry) they are probably already "with child."

That doesn't usually stop males from wanting to mate. They are (ahem) highly motivated to do so. (Sort of a hormone attack.)

Studies have shown that it may make sense (from the perspective of keeping a specific male's line going) to continue to mate. Newer sperm stored in the female's body will produce fry, sometime in greater numbers than seed from older matings.!

If you have had the guppies for over a month and have noticed females getting "broad of beam" and then thinning out, they are dropping babies. Whoever your tank residents are, they are enjoying a guppy fry snack.

Ancient truism of the hobby: "If a tank mate can fit in another fish's mouth, it will." :(

how can you tell when guppies are preg. | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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