Female betta getting beat up

[Xellos69]

I know the female betta is supposed to get beat up during mating, but exactly how beat up should she get? i mean ... she's pretty much lost a GOOD chunk of her tail fin and barely has any other fins on her.

do i stop the breeding? its only been an hour thus far and shes looking pretty stressed

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Xellos69

I'm going to move this thread into the Betta and Gourami section where it will be more likely to get a quick response. I'll also keep my eye open in case I see someone who might know what to tell you.

 

[Xellos69]

thanks inch, i was acctually wondering if i should post there instead.

the female betta stopped moving, and is remaining perfectly still ... i thought she was dead but when I turned off the lights she ambushed the male lol ... kinda amusing, but I'm still worried about my near finless female.

again, is there a point where i should remove the female and stop the breeding process?

 

[juliethegr8t]

I would suggest you remove her, mating can get pretty darned aggressive, but if she is nearly finless, that is going too far. If she was ready to breed she wouldn't be allowing the male to bug her so badly, unless he's just overly aggressive. Either way, if it were me, I'd take her out!

 

[Xellos69]

deng. she was barring with high contrast today, I don't know whats up

i was wrong, shes not finless, but he bit off bits so it looks like shes a crowntail. but shes not a crowntail.

 

[juliethegr8t]

Taking the female out is touch and go and unique with every situation, so it's hard for me to tell you what to do. I just think if it were me I'd have her out of there. Especially if she looks stressed or is showing horizontal stripes. She just might not be ready! Or she decided she doesn't like the male you picked for her... Did you condition them for at least 2 weeks before trying to spawn?

 

[Xellos69]

well ... 1 week ... and the female was barring so i figured I'd just let em go

the female isn't showing any horizontal stripes, i just realized that.

 

[juliethegr8t]

Well, it's good that she isn't showing any horizontal stripes. However, just because she was barring doesn't mean she is ready. Breeding bettas takes TONS of patience!!! Most of my females will bar up as soon as they see a male, without any conditioning or anything. So that's not necessarily enough of a sign. Did you decide what you're going to do yet? Beware, if you leave them together overnight you could either end up with a spawn in the morning, or a dead fish. I tried it and ended up having my female be bitten to shreds. Good luck!

 

[Xellos69]

i decided to put a seperator between them and let them heal.

then maybe try again in a LONG while

the female got beat up some more, one of her scales is almost off, she lost even more of her fin but she seems to be doing alright.

what's the protocol for removing the female? can i resuse her? (small budget)

 

[wuvmybetta]

Put her in some bettamax and she should heal up quickly. Keep in mind that it is rough on them, I would have suggested leaving her in because you said she attacked the male...which means she's not toooo scared. But I have gotten scared and yanked females out before, sometimes it's just too brutal to watch.
I've also pulled females out after spawning looking dazed and confused and beat to hell but they always recover

Also lighter colored females won't have any sort of bars

 

[Xellos69]

confusing, confusing bettas

the female is now trying to get into the male's part

at the same time the male has neglected building his nest and just spends all his time flaring and his bubble nest is slowly dissappearing

lol thanks for the help guys, ill just let them sit like this for a week or so because the female looks swollen. then ill try and spawn them again

EDIT: The swollenness doesn't strike me as normal now that i think about it.
its large, and long, about the size of the egg area but in the center of the betta

 

[MerryCat]

Well, maybe the swollenness is the eggs? Could be that she wasn't quite ready to breed earlier, and thats why she was getting beat up? Just a thought- i don't really know enough to advise.