egg bound females

[green eyes]

Help!! I have had several female bettas in my 55 gal and everyone of them eventually became egg-bound and died. (One of them got so big that she actually split open.) Does anyone know of any method to help them release the eggs or anything that might inhibit egg production? I've tried keeping them with one male, and just keeping them without a male. It didn't seem to matter either way.

 

[EddieW]

Hi Green Eyes,

Sorry not in the know about betts, but found this which might be of help:

Egg Bound No More!
by Stephanus Budidharma

Being egg bound is a condition where the female can't release her eggs. Some females became really large where the egg sack is located in the abdomen after attempting to spawn. Some people believe that spawning the females at an early age can reduce the chance of being egg bound. Recently, I have successfully released the eggs from an egg bound female. The female is still alive, swimming around and eating. Hopefully, in the future I will be able to successfully spawn her.

If you have an egg bound female, you can try this trick. However, you should remember that this is not a recommendation. It is for educational and informational purpose only. You are responsible for any loss if you decide to perform this to your fish. Your result might not be the same as mine. If you decided to do this, then you should get a towel to put the female in and a small container filled with water in which to drop the eggs. Take her out of the water. Gently put her on the towel. (continued)

 

[EddieW]

From underneath the towel, hold her upside down. With your thumb and index finger (which ever hand that is free) gently massage her from the ovary area to the ventral papilla (location of openings from genito-urinary tracts and intestine). Repeat this one-way stroke for a few times. The yellowish eggs will come out and you can collect them and release them into the small container. Repeat the process for a few times. Occasionally, you should drop her (while still wrapped inside the towel) into the water to remain moistened. When you see that her size is reduced somewhat, released her. You can put the eggs into other spawning tanks you have. It may be good to do this when you have another pair spawning. You also might want to be careful when presenting the eggs to the spawning pair so they will not be spooked.

(sorry had trouble posting)

A lot of the pieces I saw suggested that a female is likely to become egg bound when kept alone but as you have tried keeping with a male that's not much help. Hopefully one of the people who knows a lot about bettas will see your message soon.

Cheers, Eddie

 

[playfulalliecat]

I did a search and all I came across was this.....

Remove her from the view of all other bettas. Do not feed her for 2-3 days and keep her bowl covered with minimal light. Keeping her in a warm place also helps.
You can also carefully remove her form her bowl with a damp paper towel coated in Stress Coat and gently rub her ovipositor with a wet Q-tip to encourage the release of the eggs.
Prevention : I really don't know, I am not sure what the exact cause is.


This came from www.bettasrus.com

Hope it helps!