Can a guppy *stay* pregnant?

[FalconStorm]

I've got two female guppies with one male in a five gallon tank. About a month ago, we found four babies in the tank, but both females still had fairly large gravid spots. I figured one had given partial birth and would finish it in a few days. Well, a month later, we've got three half grown fry (one was lost, unknown cause, probably eaten) and two pregnant females. I have seen no other fry in the tank and both females have maintained a large gravid spot. Is this possible? It's as if they are just *staying* pregnant and never giving birth.

Also, can someone let me know at what age and size I should be able to sex guppies. We're wanting to give the babies names, but I'd like to know if they're male or female first.

 

[ScoutCarcer]

They might just be fat or yes guppies can stay pregnant I think. How old are the 3 baby guppies?

 

[Annastasia]

I've noticed in my females, the gravid spots never go away, but they do get a lot thinner. Or maybe I just never noticed they gave birth before they got pregnant again.

I usually sex my Guppies at about 4-5 months, and even then there can be some doubt, because some Males are late devoloping, and look like females for a while.

I have been able to sex them earlier, at about 3 months...but you have to look really closely. And my Guppies never hold still long enough.

 

[FalconStorm]

Tell me about it! I'm trying to get a look at their slowly emerging markings and they're zipping around so fast I can't get a good look. The little suckers are getting huge! Although still only about half the size of their parents. At least they're too big to fit in mom's mouth anymore. They're tough little buggers too. They survived a full ich treatment days after they were born. I thought we were going to lose them, but they survived it. I'm so proud of my little babies. They're definitely keepers. *grin*

 

[Annastasia]

Wow! They do sound pretty tough!

My Guppies tend to slow down a Little (Just a little) once they are mature. They slow down a little more when they are fully grown. But they are still little zippers!

 

[FalconStorm]

Well, mom and dad are pretty fast themselves, so it's not surprising. Actually, I don't know who dad is...probably not my male as they were born less than a month after I bought the guppies. Heh...I guess futures ones may or may not be by my male, but I hope I get some. He's gorgeous.

 

[ScoutCarcer]

Heh...I guess futures ones may or may not be by my male, but I hope I get some. He's gorgeous.

What does he look like?

 

[Annastasia]

This is just speculation...but I'm thinking if she has a male in the tank, she won't retain sperm from other males. I think retaining sperm is for when there is no males, so they can still have babies. But if there is a male...and they are mating...it seems to me she would have babies with that male.

But I have no clue how this works. Just speculating...

 

[FalconStorm]

Oh, that would be nice.

Let's see...Kyle has a silver body shading to metallic blue on the underside with black spots, stronger and thicker on the underside. His tail fin is a brilliant yellow shading to orange. I'm not sure what tail type he would be considered. It's more rounded than the really fancy guppies. A fantail maybe? I'm not as familiar with guppy tail types as I am with betta tail types.

 

[Karah's_Mommy]

A guppy can have up to 3 different lots of fry from one encounter with a male. One of my girls had 10 fry, then 3 weeks later a single fry, and 2 weeks after that had 40+ fry. I'm gonna have to get her fixed, I can't keep up with all the fry (fries?).

 

[Annastasia]

Actually, they can store sperm for up to 7 pregnancies, but I know what you mean about the fry!

Sometimes I wish I could "fix" mine too.

 

[mlee0332]

they always retain sperm for a short period of time... I was told that if you use a magnefying glass, you can see the gravid of the female at the age of 6 weeks.

 

[Annastasia]

See the gravid spot?

I didn't think it was even POSSIBLE for them to be pregnant at 6 weeks.

 

[mlee0332]

i dunno!, but thats what I was told by "a breeding expert" so he/she claims to be. He/she said they can do it at that age, and that they develope sexually between 4-6 weeks hmmm...