Balloon Molly sick or near birth?

[CrazyBettaLady]

Hello fellow fishkeepers! I was hoping someone on here has enough experience with breeding balloon mollies to tell me if this is normal "very pregnant molly going to give birth" or some kind of illness like dropsy (which I know can look similar)? I've had my balloonies since around last Thanksgiving, I think, so I'm aware they've had ample time to breed. (The one in question has the white coloring around her anus)

Just in case the thumbnails don't work:
https://ibb.co/h2RzrCD
https://ibb.co/0FxqBHj
https://ibb.co/cQDpNmK
https://ibb.co/wgYzsTc
https://ibb.co/T4MJ9j3
Thanks!

 

[FishFinatic77]

When you look at her from above, do her scales stick out like a pine cone?

 

[CrazyBettaLady]

No, no pineconing. I thought it could be dropsy but other than near her anus she has no swelling either.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Definitely not normal but I'm not sure what it is

 

[FishGuest5123]

Holy cow! That’s a problem that I have never seen. She looks like she’s going to explode, poor thing.

 

[FishFinatic77]

She really does look huge, even for a balloon molly. @Colin_T might be able to help.

 

[CrazyBettaLady]

She's one of my smaller ones too, the others I know for sure are pregnant. One of the others looks like she's about ready to pop, but she's been that way for a few months now. It's difficult to tell because they're so round to begin with.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Never seen this before.

@emeraldking @Colin_T

 

[JuiceBox52]

That's one of the reasons I dont like altered fish like balloon mollies. They are more prone to disease but it's harder to tell if bloated or pregnant or whatnot

 

[CrazyBettaLady]

Yeah, they're really cute to look at but I probably won't ever buy them again, I'm happy enough looking at drawings of them. Last night I netted her and (carefully) felt to see if it was soft or hard (like a tumor or something). It didn't feel like a lump or anything, and she's eating, swimming, and pooping just fine. The swelling is almost gone and she's looking pretty normal now. Maybe she had a few babies in the night and I didn't see them, or something. Thanks for the replies though! I'll have to post some happy stuff about my bettas instead of "Yo is this fish gonna die or have babies?".

 

[emeraldking]

Sometimes it happens that a female gets an infection around the anus but that's a matter of days before it disappears. If something is blocking for a while and she can't defecate or release fry, an infection can develop. Most of the time the infection will disappear by itself in a couple of days. But if it's gonna stay like this for weeks, than it could cause serious trouble.

 

[CrazyBettaLady]

Okay, it may have been that, then. She was like that for a few days but is fine now. Maybe it's time to give everyone peas...